This Piece of Furniture is All You Need in Your Micro-Unit

• May 30, 2014

by Lark Turner

A new project puts together all the furniture you’d ever need in a micro-unit into one big, voice-activated module.

CityHome, which is being developed by MIT’s Changing Places initiative, could make a tiny apartment feel two to three times as big. MIT envisions it as a marketable product that makes sense for young people priced out of regular-sized rental markets in big cities.

“At $1,000 per square foot in Boston, the extra cost of technology is trivial compared to space saved for a furnished apartment,” the lead researcher on the project, Kent Larson, told FastCompany.

The “transformable wall system” includes furniture, like a bed, table, kitchen counter, and more, along with a stovetop, exercise equipment, office equipment and entertainment systems. It also comes with its own customizable light show.

“One potential scenario for the CityHome is where the bedroom transforms to a home gym, the living room to a dinner party space for 14 people, a suite for four guests, two separate office spaces plus a meeting space, or an a open loft space for a large party. Finally, the kitchen can either be open to the living space, or closed off to be used as a catering kitchen,” the researchers state in a project description.

The whole thing can also be controlled by voice, touch and gestures. Larson plans to bring it to market. You can check a video of the system in use here.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/this_piece_of_furniture_is_all_you_need_in_your_micro-unit/8552