Tables to help collaboration

Today, there are a lot of standing desks available for buyers to choose from, including those that allow them to switch between standing and sitting. A newly developed ergon desk, however, takes things a step further. It has been developed and designed as a six-person unit that facilitates teamwork.

It consists of individual sit/stand stations that adapt to the ergonomic needs of individual users. Designed by the Spanish firm Pynk Systems, the Ergon smart desk features touchscreen controls at each station that allows users to set parameters such as the desktop height and the angle of their computer platform. Once they have set it up to their liking, the desk’s software uses sensors to monitor their behaviour throughout the day and periodically suggests switching from sitting to standing and vice versa. They could also take a break from the desk.

As multiple employees might end up using the same station, the system — developed through the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid’s Science Park Business Incubator — can also remember individual user settings. Whenever one user takes over a station from someone else, they just log in, and the station will automatically revert to its pre-established set-up. As multiple Ergon Desks in one room are interconnected, it is even possible to call up those same settings at another desk.

Teamwork is fostered by having everyone facing in towards one another, and there is also an agile meeting mode that automatically sets all the stations to the same height, so everyone is on the same level. The 180-degree wrap-around desktop design of the station is also claimed to save office space, with a six-person desk reportedly occupying 30 per cent less floor space than the same employee-number at traditional desks.