Based on an idea software developer Simon Hallam sketched in a notebook back in 1997, the interactive coffee table is built on the idea of a Japanese Zen Garden but incorporates electronics and robotics that that sculpt geometric patterns and images into a field of microscopic silicone beads beneath a glass top in real-time, sort of like an Etch-a-Sketch.

But there’s more since uses can experiment and come up with their own designs and patterns simply by connecting their computer to the table or using a simple SD card. There’s even an app that can communicate with the table via a 3G modem, while SMS messages allows owners to interact with the table from practically anywhere.

Another cool aspect of the table is that it’s also environmentally friendly. It’s made from renewable bamboo that’s durable. The Zen Table is also constructed using tempered class and has internal lighting. Currently a Kickstarter project, there’s two version of the Zen Table: a large coffee table and smaller desktop version. Those that pledge $499 receive a complete kit with all the parts needed to build their own desktop version of a Zen Table, while $4,999 or more will get you a full-sized Zen Coffee Table.

Monster’s new Inspiration headphone is breaking new ground in high-fashion and high-performance audio thanks to its trendsetting fashion-forward twist of interchangeable headbands in a variety of colors and materials. Now you can change the headbands to reflect your personal style, mood or a special occasion.

As the company’s first over-ear, noise-canceling headphones, they’re the company’s listening solution for business travelers and “everyone who wants a more powerful, deeper connection to their music.” The Inspiration headphones provide an optimum audio experience with its extreme clarity, deep bass and full power.

They’re available in either a titanium or pearl finish, and there’s a special silver limited edition version available. All units will start shipping this Spring and sell for a retail price of $279.95 a pair. Different headbands will be sold separately (so far there’s eight various styles) and they will sell for $29.95.

Multifunctional furniture provides space saving solutions, but the fusiontable by Aramith offers that and fun since it functions as a pool table that doubles as a dining room table/conference desk. The fusiontable would make a great addition to your gaming room, kitchen or even office given its double identity as a billiards table.

With measurements of 53″ x 91″ (standing 30”), the table is big enough for six friends to enjoy a friendly game of pool and is customizable in a variety of colors and materials so it will match any décor. The table comes in five different wood finishes and 12 cloth options and includes matching Fusion Bench and Fusion Stool that’s available in Light Cream or Dark Brown.

The pool table hides underneath the thin 4.5″ table top and unlike traditional pool tables that require leveling three separate slate pieces and stretching felt to create the base surface, this one uses one single piece of solid slate covered in Velocity PRO cloth that matches the pre-fitted rails. Specialized Ball-Slides allow balls to be stored above the pockets, so that everything is kept on the table when not in use. Installing the fusiontable is easy with its auto-lock and auto-leveling features, while pool enthusiasts can also opt for a spring assisted Easy-Lift system that allows  table to rise from the standard 30” dining height to the optimal 33” playing height (for more money, of course).

But function and fun is not going to come cheap…the fusiontable starts at $6,795 and goes up depending on how you customize it.

For $1,895 we’d expect to get the whole table, but that’s hardly the case with the Three Sixty Table from The Future Perfect.  Yup, it’s basically an upside down skateboard, minus the board of course and in this particular instance the glass.  You’ll need to find that on your own, which calls for at least a 40-inch diameter piece of whatever you decide to stick on their.  Keep in mind that it will need to be relatively heavy, otherwise there won’t be enough friction for the wheels to work accordingly.   The base is made from German Oak and while we’d hoped that the trucks and wheels – the skateboard part of this setup – we’re sourced from Tony’s Hawk garage, they’re not.  Come to think of it, if you have any wood working skills, you could easily assemble this yourself.

If you’re a racing game nut, there are a number of different ways to elevate your game to the next level.  You could just go with the standard “wheel and pedals” setup on your table, but where’s the real immersion in that?  Chairs for racing games have been around for a good while – hell Playseats makes a TON of them – but they’re almost always too damn expensive for a normal person, meaning that only those with a large amount of disposable income could ever get into the fun.  Now Viper has stepped into the fray, and they sent one of their first run 600 SR seats to me to check out, so how did this little red devil stand up to the competition?

One of the things that really stood out in Viper’s chair, was that it actually felt like they had designed it to actually be a chair first and foremost.  I’ve used some of these types of chairs before, and they were so hard that within a half hour of using it your rear end would be in some serious pain.  With the 600 SR though, I had almost as much comfort as my couch normally provides.  I used this chair for a marathon session, and wasn’t in any pain when it was over.  To me, that’s a real mark of quality.  Another thing that’s nice is that with how the chair is designed, it is extremely comfortable to stretch completely out in it – even when you don’t have racing pedals attached.

The speakers on the 600 SR really put out some nice sounds, and are incredibly clear to boot.  Not I have a middle of the line Denon system that I’m used to playing games on – the sound from this sounded damn well almost as good as what I’m used to.  Unfortunately there’s no optical or HDMI inputs, but as this is a first run I’m sure those will be added on later model revisions.  As it stands though, the component audio works a lot better than I expected it to.  While the racing sounds were good, I had the need to try this chair with other genres of games as well (since racing isn’t completely in my wheel house).

With FPS games (Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3) I found myself getting more kills than I was normally used to – primarily because of the speakers.  With how close they were to my head, I was able to instantly pick up on ambient sounds like foot steps, and react accordingly.  I was noticing things that I had never noticed when playing games through my main system, which really impressed me.  I also tried the chair with RPG games, and played both Skyrim and Demon Souls with it set up.  Much like with FPS games, I was hearing things that I had never heard before – in Demon Souls I was hearing the sounds of the creatures before I actually saw them, which gave me more warning to block than I had before.  In Skyrim, not only did I hear the bad things coming early, but I also heard some of the more amazing ambient sounds from the environment, that I had previously missed out on.

Now I’ve gone over the comfort levels, the sound levels, and how it works with other genres, but I haven’t hit on the racing aspect yet – and this IS a chair designed to play racing games in.  So for this, I had to outsource some of what I was doing.  Let me explain:  while it’s true that I’m not a fan of racing games (can’t stand them, although I did try one out with the chair but I’m getting ahead of myself), my son and step daughters all love that genre.  So rather than me write about something I dislike, I let them try it and let me know what they thought, then supplemented it with my own info (and own words).

For one, being able to adjust the seat to fit users of differing heights is an absolute must!  For the 600 SR, you simply undo two knob nuts, and then the whole front piece slides in and out.  It’s a simple solution, and means that you can adjust it on the fly without any special tools being required.When adjusting the height of the “table” for a raging wheel though, you do need the included wrench to take out two bolts and slide it the right place before putting the bolts back in.  I think the way that they did the main adjustments should have been carried over here as well, but the way they have it works.  At any rate, these simple ways to adjust it allowed a ten year old boy, and two eighteen year old girls to switch who was in the chair and who was out (winner got the chair) with hardly any down time from their gaming.  My two daughters that do drive loved how much it actually felt like driving, and my son likened the experience to working a go kart – which is about as stunning an endorsement as I’ve ever heard from them.  Looks like at tax time I’m going to have to get two more of these bad boys to keep them all happy.

One problem most people would have with a chair like this is finding a place to store it – luckily the 600 SR breaks down fairly easily.  Take off those two knob nuts I mentioned earlier, and it breaks into its two main pieces.  Take the four bolts off that hold the steering column onto the base, and you’re left with three pieces that are much easier to find homes for than the one big chair (unless you have a dedicated gaming room).  Another issue is the rumble, or “force feedback” feature of the seat.  As the 600 SR isn’t actually connected to your console by anything other than audio cables, you can imagine it’s not real force feedback.  What it ends up being is rumble units that trigger along with the bass.  I know that you’re not going to get the real rumble feature at this price point though, but a man can dream right?

Editor’s Rating:

5 out of 5 stars

Perfect!

The Bottom Line:  Cheaper than other gaming chairs that are dedicated to racing, and a hell of a lot more comfortable – the Viper 600 SR is the clear choice for anyone that is looking to buy chair that works for all games.

Pros:

• The seat is extremely comfortable, and is used for the majority of my gaming anymore
• Whether you use the speakers on the 600 SR alone, or to supplement your existing system through dual audio outputs, the sound that they put out is amazing
• Tear down and set up takes only a few minutes, and changing heights takes about one minute meaning there’s almost no break in the action

Cons:

• The rumble feature isn’t as good as I would really hope
• No digital audio inputs at all
• Makes me wish I had a bigger living room to hold it full assembled all the time

You can get the 600 SR from Viper’s website right now for the price of $349.00

Rocking chairs have long been a solo affair.  If you wanted to partake with a fellow sitter you had to resort to a hammock, which is hardly practical on a cold winter’s day. But, not any more.

The Sway chair is a double-wide rocking chair by Markus Krauss.  The frame is crafted from steel, while the seating area is padded for added comfort.  But there is more than meets the eye with this hip piece of furniture.  Hidden in the frame is a telescoping arm.  Extend it and the rocking chair converts into a fixed chair, otherwise known as a love seat – after all it is designed for two.  The Sway chair can also be configured such that the occupants can sit in the same direction, opposite one and other, or used as one large seat for one lazy person.  It looks like the angle of the chair can also be adjusted such that you can be propped up for reading or laid flat for a nap.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a price and we can only assume that the Sway Rocking Chair is purely a concept.

Retro styled furniture is generally inspired by, well, furniture form a time past.  But a video game?  That’s a new one.

The Retro Invader Couch, based on the 80s video game Space Invaders, will cost you $8,800.  But for that you’ll get a built to order, hand crafted piece of retro opulence made with premium materials, fine leather and memory foam cushions.  And while it probably is anything but comfortable, it will go stunningly well with those classic video game cabinets, that is assuming your name is Ricky Stratton (from the TV show “Silver Spoons”).

If you’re concerned about size, the Retro Invader Couch measures 196cm(W) x 84cm(D) x 75.8cm(H).

Apple’s iPhone 4s will fall into the hands of thousand upon thousands of people tomorrow.  And while the handset surely is great value for money, we can’t help but get that the feeling that West Elm’s Parson Audio End table from West Elm is anything but.  However, it’s not your average table and why the hell would we mention the iPhone if it were.

Integrated into its lacquered surface is an 30-pin dock allowing you to charge your handset and playback music through a built-in front speaker system covered by fabric.  Unfortunately, the cord doesn’t snake through the leg of the table and instead destroys the table’s clean lines.  It measures 20″ square and 22″ high, so might suffice as a bedside table.

The Parsons Audio End table from West Elm is available now.

Still debating how to finish off your living room?  And by that we mean what kind of coffee table to invest in.  After all, a coffee table is often the center piece to a any living room and tends to tie the whole aesthetic together.  But seek no longer, because we’ve got the answer.

The Star Wars Coffee Tables.  There are two to choose from.  Personally we’d go with the Millennium Falcon since the Han Solo in Carbonite version seems a bit too disconcerting for us to sit for long periods of time in a relaxed state.  But who knows.  Maybe you’re a satist at heart and the idea of Harrison Ford frozen in time, sitting in the middle of your home’s living room has a certain appeal.  Choose either one, though, and we’re sure you’ll have people gushing about how awesomely geeky you are.

But here is the bad news.  The pieces appear to be one offs. The Millenium Falcon sold for just 950 UK ($1530 US).  It’s made from a “cold cast bronze with retro veneers”.  Does anyone else see a wood grain?  On a positive note the Han Solo coffee table appears to be available.  It costs 1250 UK ($2000) and is made from cold cast aluminum.  There producing just 20 of these, so if you want one you best jump on it sooner than later.

It doesn’t get any basic than interior lighting as far as home furnishing items are concerned. Sure, you can use any old lamp to light up your place, but for those who want something a bit more unique and stylish, here are some interesting lighting choices that will not only light up your home…but light it up with a bit of flair!

Hyphae Lamp by Nervous System

The Hyphae Lamp might look like some a piece of futuristic alien debris, but it’s actually a series of organic lamps inspired by how veins form in leaves. Created by Nervous System, the lamps are lit by an eco-friendly 3-Watt 200 lumen LED light (with three bright Cree LED’s that will last for 6 years of continuous use) and allow for some very dramatic (not to mention cool) branching shadows within the space you place it in. No show lamps in the series are ever alike, given the lamps are made using a simulation that uses physical growth principles to build sculptural, organic structures. In essence, lighting your place with one of these Hyphae Lamps will provide beautiful lighting and be the talking piece for all your guests.

Joker Lamp by Volker Haug

While it may sound as if it’s something out of a Batman movie, the Joker Lamp by designer Voker Haug is actually a second-hand chandelier that gets a very interesting makeover. Haug actually created a custom-tailored zip-up leather “jacket” for chandelier out of recycled leather and fitted it accordingly. The result is a unique piece that will add character to any room.

Dom Lamp by Domo

Created by Barcelona-based Domo, the Dom Lamp is a very sleek and modern lamp that’s comprised of a geometric design made up of triangular sections. The entire lamp is made out of aluminum triangular shapes all pieced together, creating a very rugged and functional appearance. There are two sizes to choose from: Dom and Small Dom.

The TTi Group (makers of RYOBI and RIDGID tools) were kind enough to surprise me with their latest project – the STŌK Grilling System.  I’ll have a full review up next week, but for now you can enjoy the pics I just took of the grill, and it’s innovative grate system.  As an avid cook and griller I honestly can’t wait to put this beast through it’s paces.

The Lounge-wood is crafted of wood and steel and supports your notebook in a comfortable and ergonomic position while you sit on your butt and surf the web.  It’s fully height adjustable, while the table can be positioned in virtually any angle to accommodate even the most finicky of laptop users.  Examining the Lounge-Wood closely you’ll notice that there is a small tray to support your smartphone.  The translated text (from Italian), suggest that you can use it in your home or public places – think we’ll pass on lugging this to our local Starbucks, as it probably it probably weighs a ton.

The Lounge-wood sells for $378.  Ouch.

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Finally, when someone says Poker (poke her), you can now say “in the pool or living room”?  Amazon has it for $45.

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Pet beds are more often than not an eye sore, especially when placed in a lavishly decorated living room.  And hence why Corey Drew has taken a modern, and chic approach to his project and is now asking for your help to take it from concept to store shelf.

The Bambu Pet Hammock is built to support pets weighing under 30lbs.  The cushion is stretched out on all four corners and secured with stainless steel anchors and carabiners creating a sling type sleeping surface.  It’s fully washable and is made from upholstery grade ultra-suede.  The frame is crafted from exotic strand bamboo material, and is designed to mimic and blend in with human furniture.

Pledging $125 will get you a limited edition Bambu Pet Hammock, while pledging $275 or more will score you the raised the hammock and dinner bowl table.

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They might be called coffee tables, but the reality is they’re often stacked high with your monthly dose of unread magazines.  And while it might pay dividends to show your visitors that you’ve got a cerebral side to your good looks, it’s never a good thing when the stack of New Yorker magazine’s takes over the center piece to your living room.  The Drop Desk Coffee Table incorporates a carbon steel frame, but more importantly a center that can pull double time as a magazine or book rack.  You just drape the pages over the plywood slices and the magazines will hang freely and out of the way.

Sorry, no word on a price.

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The Funky Blast Chair takes some serious audacity, pizazz and risky behavior to add this piece to your home.  The UK chair is ironically crafted from American Ash and each leg, 31 in total, has received a hardwax oil finish, which we can only assume means it won’t crack or splinter over time. For $5,000, plus $250 in shipping, you can choose your color, but we’re digging the lime green.

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MIT has a habit of fostering the creative minds that envision our future.  So it should be no surprise to hear that these chairs, called SOFT rockers, come from architecture professor Sheila Kennedy and a team of students at MIT.

A built-in battery is automatically recharged when the sun appears thanks to a set of solar panels.  But that’s not the only eco credit this getup has.  Since they’re rocking chairs, the kinetic energy from shifting your weight back and forth can also be captured.

A set of internal lights can be powered off the battery for night time reading, while a USB plug charges whatever compatible gadgets you might be stowing in your pocket or backpack.

Still not convinced?  Go checkout them out.  They’re on display at the Killian Court at MIT in Boston, MA.

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We don’t know too much about this bookshelf, but to say we want it in our apartment has to be an understatement.  Its construction look relatively simple so you could probably have one crafted for you.  The seating area has an integrated light making it ideal for reading at any time, though the leg room looks a bit cramped.

Via: Buzzfeed

Moving most pieces of furniture is generally speaking a two person job.  Sure, you could drag the couch or table across the room, but that might result in a damaged floor, injured back or a piece of furniture rendered unusable.  And hence the genius of the Walking Table and Book Case by Wouter Scheublin.

They use a set of mechanics that when pushed, come to life, and walk like a giant spider.  It’s creepy and mesmerizing at the same time.

They’re available in a walnut edition of 8 pieces for an unknown price, but we’re gonna guess ultra pricey.  

Via: Tuvie

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The Bookseat is quite simply a bookcase and a chair in one.  Toss in a pillow and a ottoman, and it might just serve as a comfy spot to cruise through a book or two.  From a design standpoint it’s a bit bold, but what we really like is the designers forward thinking approach to space saving and storage.

Their website doesn’t make mention of a price, but you can contact them directly if you’re interested.

Via: Theawesomer

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