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CO.DESIGN

Why Sony wants to sell you invisible technology

Sony and Stellar Works envision a more design-focused future for the smart home.

[Image: Sony/Stelalr Works]

BY Elissaveta M. Brandon2 minute read

In 2018, Sony proposed a world with invisible technology. The Hidden Senses exhibition, which was held during Milan Design Week that year, included a candle holder that doubled as a light switch, a stone-like object that could change the volume of a nearby speaker when moved, and a bird sculpture whose shadow took flight when you grazed it with your finger.

The exhibition provided an intriguing design-first alternative to the smart home, where screens and dashboard were replaced with discreet technology that blends into your home. The objects on display were conceptual and only intended as conversation starters, but the underlying idea—that technology can be built into pretty much anything—is now one step closer to reality.

[Image: Sony/Stelalr Works]

Sony recently unveiled a series of furniture designs that were displayed at an exhibition called Staydream, at New York City’s design festival, NYCxDesign. Designed in collaboration with the Shanghai-based furniture manufacturer Stellar Works, the collection includes an array of subtly tech-infused smart home items including an upholstered room divider called Byobu that comes with an array of Sony speakers concealed within it; a surreal wallpaper with an overlaid video projection of moving elements that can be controlled by sliding a mug on a nearby coffee table; and an interactive glass screen displaying a misty mountain scene that disappears when you get close to it, leaving a crystal clear glass pane.

[Photo: Jonathan Hokklo/Sony/Stelalr Works]

According to Hirotaka Tako, Sony’s head of Design Centre in Europe, Staydream builds on Hidden Senses, but this time, the offerings are more geared towards the hospitality sector, where, of course, experience is everything. For example, the interactive wallpaper could jazz up the wall behind a reception desk, says Yuichiro Hori, the founder and CEO of Stellar Works. Meanwhile, the speaker-enhanced Byobu partitions could make a great addition to a hotel lobby.

[Photo: Jonathan Hokklo/Sony/Stelalr Works]

By partnering with Stellar Works, Sony is hoping to open up new business avenues and take their ideas from concept to market more easily. “We wanted to make it more real, with real piece of furniture that we can’t make,” says Tako. As of right now, the Stellar Works furniture pieces are prototypes that would be too expensive to put on the market, but within six months, the team is hoping to bring the cost down and create products that are easy to transport and assemble.

[Photo: Jonathan Hokklo/Sony/Stelalr Works]

Ultimately, the goal is to explore the intersection between physical and digital and bring people unique experiences by letting them interact with the spaces they’re in. A magic wallpaper may seem futile (and it probably is) but no smart home or high-tech hotel room can ever beat the giddiness I felt when I realized that I could make the moon on that wallpaper glide by simply sliding a mug on a table.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elissaveta is a design writer based in Brooklyn. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Wired, CityLab, Conde Nast Traveler, and many others More


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