news & blueViews

Future Workstation: The eRUG

25 July 2007

Have you ever looked outside the office window on a nice sunny day and wished you were out there? I have. But with emerging technologies these wishful looks could be a thing of the past.

The eRUG is a futuristic design that carries the office into the outdoors.  The ‘picnic rug’ style concept has a flexible touch screen display and flexible solar panels that allow the user to work in any outdoor environment. The user simply unfolds the eRUG onto the ground anywhere their imagination takes them. This could be a park, building site, farm paddock, backyard or even a cemetery. Anywhere you can go, so can the eRUG.

Voice recognition software allows the user to power the computer up with a simple voice command. This ensures that the power is not accidentally switched on when the eRUG is transported or folded away.

The eRUG also has a unique electrical charge capability hidden inside the rug. This function enables the user to create numerous shapes with the rug. The user can create backrests, change the position of the display or even form a cocoon like shape for warmth and security. This technology is already being employed in falls prevention for patients with dementia. To utilize this function the user simply holds the rug in the desired position and then with a voice activated command the electrical current passes through the rug to form these shapes. A green LED light can be seen on the display when the current is active.

The eRUG has been designed to blend into the natural environment. The shape is organic and the colour is a leafy green. A tree motif has been used to help add to this environmental connection.

The tree motif is also used to draw attention away from the flexible solar panel ‘slivers’ that are embedded in the black fabric. The invisibility of the solar panels allows users to feel a little more comfortable about sitting on them. This ‘sliver’ solar panel technology is currently being developed by Origin Energy.

The user interface for the display is a simple touch. The display is sensitive to fingers, a stylus and can even pick up on texture, for instance, from a leaf or a woollen jumper. This technology is already used to some extent in tablet displays but more recently in the development of HP’s interactive coffee table.

eRUG
A camera is located in the top of the display and is intended for video conferencing but also comes in handy when the user needs to take photos of the environment. The flexible nature of the rug and the display allows the user to manipulate the rug into any position for taking photos from any angle.

Another inclusion in this product is the holographic projection technology. The display is capable of beaming a 3D holographic image in to the air. The uses for this are limitless and not to mention a lot more sustainable than having to make a physical prototype. This function can be used to present designs to a client in the environment they are being designed for. For instance, an architect can project a 3D model of a building design to a client while sitting on the actual building site or a landscape designer can show the client their new garden in their own backyard. Alternately, it can be used to keep in touch with the boss or other work colleagues virtually.

Not only do the solar panels and the holographic technologies make the eRUG environmentally friendly but the materials used to make the rug are also sustainable. The rug is manufactured from a co-extrusion of rubber from recycled car tyres and Ingeo™, which is a fabric made from straw and cornstalk.

The eRUG is a fresh solution to the boredom associated with office work. It incorporates new technologies that will allow workers to efficiently and effectively work in outdoor environments while still keeping in touch with the office. So it may not be long before you can tell your boss “if you need me I’ll be in the park”.

Lorrin Windahl

eRUG

Lorrin Windahl is a Product Engineering Designer for Cobalt Niche. She is also currently completing her Master of Design (Industrial Design) at Swinburne University.