The SOFT Rocker project was conceived by the students at MIT, under the supervision of professor Sheila Kennedy. It essentially represents a lounger on which people can rest while being able to recharge the batteries of any eventual devices they have got with them.
In order to create an interactive 1.5 axis, the owner is given the possibility to balance it. The solar tracking system measures 35 W in power. An interesting fact is that the lounger boasts with a 12-ampere hour battery that stores the solar energy gathered during the day, making it possible for its owner to recharge the batteries of his/her devices after sunset as well.
We’ve learned, from MIT’s press release, that the leaf-shaped loop form of the lounger expresses the way softwood panels can be customized to match the angle of the sun and the latitude at every user resides, via parametric design software and automated fabrication by a Kuka robotic arm.
This stunning lounger features both brand new, state of the art features and low tech integrations. In addition, it is crafted from soft, friendly materials, thus making for a great piece of furniture to move about and to configure at your will.
The SOFT Rocker supports, as the MIT press release describes: “Blurs distinctions between pleasure and work and recasts power generation as an integrated and distributed public activity rather than a centralized, singular off-site project of engineering.”
What remains now is to see it in mass production and to find out its financial value. Stay tuned!
[Freshome]
