There are now plenty of standing desks for buyers to choose from, along with desks that allow users to switch between sitting and standing. The Ergon Desk, however, takes things a step farther. It's a six-person unit designed to facilitate teamwork, and it consists of individual sit/stand stations that adapt to the ergonomic needs of individual users.
Designed by Madrid-based Pynk Systems, the Ergon Desk features touchscreen controls at each station, allowing users to set parameters such as the desktop height and the angle of their computer platform. Once they have things set to their liking, the desk's software uses sensors to monitor their behaviour throughout the day, periodically suggesting that they switch from sitting to standing (or vice-versa), or that they even take a break from the desk altogether.
Because multiple employees might end up using the same station, the system 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 their pre-established setup. Due to the fact that multiple Ergon Desks in one room are interconnected, it's even possible to call up those same settings at another desk.
Teamwork is fostered by having everyone facing in towards one another, plus there's an Agile Meeting mode that automatically sets all the stations to the same height, so everyone's on the same level. The 180-degree wrap-around desktop design of the stations is also claimed to save office space, with one six-station desk reportedly occupying over 30 percent less floor space than the equivalent employee-number of traditional desks.
The Ergon Desk was developed through the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid's Science Park Business Incubator, and can be seen in use in the video below.
Sources: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Ergon Desk
