The Intelligent Coffee Table

Great, now coffee tables are smarter than I am. The latest technological innovation bringing us one step closer to living like they do on the Star Trek Enterprise (because that looked so fun) is here. We knew this was coming; the enormously popular, can't-live-without-it tablet is being integrated into furniture including a coffee table, so in a work situation for example, small groups can gather around to view a presentation without fogging up the screen of your iPad with their morning coffee breath, although you may be at risk of knees touching. And at home, it's the ultimate coffee table book, in that the 'book' is the interactive table top. I have to admit, at the moment the most function I want out of a glass table at home is to be able to play Ms. Pac Man (best video game ever! don't laugh), and I do love the traditional, heavy, coffee table book which I hope never goes away. (Do you think one day we'll walk into a doctor's or dentist's office and find old issues of HEAT magazine loaded up on tablets built into the waiting room chairs? It's probably inevitable, but can you imagine how gross the screens would be? Then again, when's the last time you wiped down the keypad of a cash machine before using it?)

This is one of Mozayo's interative multi-touch tables. As the photo illustrates, wearing a suffocating dress will seriously hinder your ability to use it unless you have a freakishly long arm and panoramic vision.

Houzz.com has a great article on 'intelligent' coffee tables by Mike Elgan if you'd like to learn more about what you may be maxing out your credit card on in the not-so-distant future. That is, if you don't find the idea of banishing your fine mahogany coffee table in favour of one huge tablet somewhat creepy, like all of the commenters on the Houzz article at the time of publishing this post.