Robot Furniture Friends

Furniture with a mind of its own. Benches that get moody and maybe decide they don't want you sitting on them. Maybe a bed that tells you a bedtime story, rocks you to sleep, then wakes you gently in the morning.

The Lonely Home bench

The Lonely Home bench, by Tobi Schneidler and m.a.o.works, is a "socially intelligent design object", part domestic furniture and part robotic pet. You can use it as a normal bench but it will come alive unexpectely to confront you and challenge your presence. It might, for example, try to throw you off when you sit down and moves when you stroke it.

The Lonely Home bench is at Victoria & Albert Museum London, until August 29th 2005, as part of the Touch Me exhibition.

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we make money not art: The Lonely Home bench