We've kept a pretty keen eye on the standing desk movement here at Gizmag. After all, us writers can spend fair chunks of time on our backsides. The team behind MisterBrightLight is the latest to take a stand on the stubborn nature of standard office furniture, launching a smart desk whose height can be adjusted by hand gestures when you've been seated for too long.
While we have seen desks with fixed heights for tireless, standing workers, many have also been adjustable, such as Ikea's Bekant and the StandDesk. But keeping tabs on how often you should be standing and for how long takes a certain level of discipline in itself. MisterBrightLight makes this process easier by sending an alert to its companion smartphone app to let you know when its time to ditch the chair, with the desk's height then adjustable by holding a hand over a sensor built into the top surface.
Available only on iOS for the time being, the app can track how many calories you are burning by standing up to work, with users able to set goals, earn virtual trophies and share progress on Facebook. Designed with productivity in mind, the desk also tracks temperature, and oxygen and humidity levels in the air, pushing notifications to the phone suggesting when it's time to open a window to help create a better working environment.
MisterBrightLight takes its name from an LED light that runs along the desk's edges. The color of this light can be altered to suit the interior design or the user's mood. But beyond the ability to customize the desk's appearance, its developers say this might also function as Do Not Disturb sign, where red might indicate you're hard at work and a more inviting green could entice your colleagues over for a chat.
Another neat feature of the MisterBrightLight is the wireless charger built into the desktop, meaning it can act as a charging pad for when your phone is low on juice. There's also an option to have a battery integrated into the desk, so it can run for 12 hours at a time without needing to plug in via the power cable.
Many of these features are optional extras, meaning that the MisterBrightLight desk can be tailored to each user. The cost will vary significantly depending on what is included, but a Mister BrightLight fitted with all the bells and whistles mentioned in this article is priced at €2,772.30 (US$3,413).
You can check out the promotional video below.
Source: Mister BrightLight
