Sensor-studded desks watch you work; guess who reviews the data?
The
desk of the future knows you, perhaps all too well. It’s a sit-or-stand desk,
of course, but it’s outfitted with sensors that learn your habits and
preferences through constant vigilance. When you’ve been sitting too long, a
gentle vibration reminds you to stand. Your chair, also lined with sensors,
tells the desk you stood up; the desk, which knows your height, adjusts
accordingly. All the while, it monitors your keystrokes and mouse clicks,
offering you (and your boss) helpful advice on ergonomics—and productivity.
Soon enough it knows whether you need a desk at all—a real question at $10,000
per desk per year—or if you can be consigned to the hotdesking pool, where
employees are allotted workspace depending on their demands that week, day, or
hour.
BLOOMBERG
For an employer, the long-term allure of the artificially
intelligent desk isn’t just a healthier workforce but access to data on how
workers use their space.
In
other words, say goodbye to your last shred of dignity in the modern, open
office.
“We’re
collecting a lot of objective data about every employee,” said Mark Benden,
director of ergonomics at Texas A&M University. His standing-desk stations
are equipped with 120 sensors that measure any move you could make at your
desk, short of an eye roll at your boss. “It’s kind of Orwellian,” Benden said.
“You think: ‘Wow, they are tracking all this stuff on me. Does that mean I’m
going to get fired?’” It’s a “normal human response,” he added reassuringly.
Now,
Herman Miller Inc., the second-largest office furniture maker, after Steelcase
Inc., has planted a ball bearing in this future. The Zeeland, Michigan, company
this month launched its Live OS Smart Furnishings line, whose sensors link up
with its standing desks and famous Aeron office chairs. The sensors and the
software that goes along with them sell for $136. The app goes for $60 per desk
annually. Furniture not included.
Live
OS offers an optional app in which users enter their height and targets for how
much they’d like to stand throughout the day. It also helps any connected desk
recognize the user the moment he or she arrives, for instant ergonomic
adjustment.
The
sensors help encourage healthier behaviours. They also measure space
utilization—how often you spend at any given workspace and how you use it.
Sensors
have found their way into every nook of the office, as companies push to learn
more about a workforce to improve employee health, office design and
productivity. Gensler, an office design firm, has 1,000 sensors in the lights
in its own Manhattan office space. Steelcase has experimented with connected
desks and chairs, using sensors to track employee mobility.
“We’ve
been looking at sensors in the work environment since 1999,” said Ryan
Anderson, director of commercialization and business development for the
internet of things at Herman Miller. “What could sensor-based technology do to
create a more interesting experience?”
Standing
desks, for one, are no longer a fringe perk of the trendiest workplaces but are
offered by almost half of US companies, according to a new survey of more than
2,000 human resource managers by the Society for Human Resource Management.
This year, 44% of organizations said they offer their employees sitor-stand
desks, up from 13% just four years ago. Studies suggest that sitting all day
poses health risks. Standing-desk enthusiasts report improved productivity.
Despite
the rising demand, however, after the first few weeks most users spend most of
their time seated, studies have found. A smart desk can nudge habitual sitters
to get up more often. Internal data from Herman Miller found that its connected
desk reduced sitting by nearly 40%. Benden, the Texas A&M ergonomist, has
seen similar results in his research, though it’s unclear if the prompts grow
less effective over time.
For
an employer, the longterm allure of the artificially intelligent desk isn’t
just a healthier workforce but access to data on how workers use their space.
“It’s
kicking out more data than what my team needs,” said Dusty Duistermars, a
senior managing director at the commercial real estate firm Newmark Knight
Frank. Companies can lose track of who sits where or how often employees work
from home, Duistermars said. A sensor provides a watchful eye.
Access
to granular and constant data, which helps create workspaces that people
actually use, is an office designer’s dream, and that’s just how Duistermars
plans on selling it to clients. “A part of it is looking at ways to save money.
This product will provide the data that will see if that is actually possible,”
he said.
Employees
will love some of these changes, such as better conference room access and
well-positioned meeting spaces. But along with them comes a loss of personal
space, an amenity already in short supply in the open office. If the sensors
show you’re at your desk for only three hours a day, congratulations: you’re up
and about, meeting with colleagues, getting things done. So why do you need
that desk?
Hot-desking,
the sharing of desk spaces, has already crept into the edgiest office spaces,
with lockers for personal items—if you’re lucky. Of 400 companies surveyed,
twothirds plan to adopt a shareddesk “strategy” by 2020, a CBRE report found.
Herman Miller’s Live OS and systems like it could shift more offices to that
model.
Data
collection on this order means constantly being under the microscope. Legally,
US businesses can track employees everywhere but the bathroom. As sensors have
taken up residence in office walls, ID badges, lighting fixtures, HVAC systems,
and now desks, workers have become accustomed to the scrutiny. Most employers
say they do it in the name of efficiency.
“We’re
not tracking people,” said Herman Miller’s Anderson. “We’re measuring the
effectiveness of the space and helping optimize the use of real estate.”
Source | Mint | 30 June 2017
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior Manager @
Knowledge Repository
Khaitan
& Co
Upcoming Lecture | ACTREC - BOSLA Annual lecture series (125th birth anniversary of
father of library science, Padmashree Dr. S. R. Ranganathan) on Saturday, 12th August 2017 at
Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC),
Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. (Theme |
'MakerSpace')
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