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Back to the Future: Get the Office of Tomorrow, Today

By J. Fergus Mar 7, 2023 9:48 AM

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From Marty McFly to Valerian, we’ve seen an approximation of how technological advancements will revolutionize our day-to-day. In real life, sure, we have Tupac holograms and 4K camera drones, but how often are the little things we do a reflection of the exciting age we inhabit? We might not have interactive holographic displays, but there are a few ways to at least have a more futuristic office. Strap in; your day job is about to really take off.

Magic Calendar

Magic Calendar — Image used with permission by copyright holder

As a part of an Android competition for developers, Kosho Tsuboi Design developed a concept that brings digital and analog worlds together. Magic Calendar gives you the feel of paper, but the connectivity of an app. The current prototype uses a low reflection screen to achieve this effect, but the designers are looking forward to a time when high-resolution electronic paper becomes a reality.

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Live OS

Hermin Miller Live OS — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Herman Miller, a leader in the modern furniture space, wants you to have a futuristic office. They recently debuted Live OS, a system of connected office furniture built to make your workday better. The main feature is a rising desk that can be programmed to adjust its height throughout the day and keep you on your toes (literally, if you’d like), but connected chairs are also in the works.

Bastron’s Glass Keyboard

bastron glass keyboard — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Are you ready to hack into a database or fly a spaceship? Though some might prefer a more natural look, with this glass keyboard, you can finally make sending emails look cool. As a completely flat surface with slightly larger than standard keys, the keyboard will initially decrease your typing speed, but it’s a breeze to clean and can withstand spills.

IFTTT’s Productivity AI

IFTTT — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Think about IFTTT as the internet of things for the internet of things. You likely already have connected gadgets and appliances that perform simple tasks, but wouldn’t it be great to get them to work together? IFTTT (If This, Then That) can put various services and hardware to work by creating conditional commands called applets. Whether you’re programming your phone to automatically disable WiFi when you’re not at home or work or connecting your Alexa to-dos to Evernote, life’s better when your tech talks to each other.

Altwork Station

altwork-Chair — Image used with permission by copyright holder

This chair might seem a bit like the future “Wall-E” warned us about, but it looks too cozy for us to care. Altwork Station allows you to sit upright, lounge, and stand with an adjustable desk and monitor. A potential gem for remote workers and gamers alike, Altwork Station’s greatest pro is how it can make office work more accessible to differently-abled people.

Nissan’s Intelligent Parking Chair

【TECH for LIFE】INTELLIGENT PARKING CHAIR | Inspired by NISSAN

If you don’t need all the bells and whistles when it comes to your desk chair, try clapping your way into Nissan’s cool/spooky, futuristic office. These chairs were built using Nissan’s parking assist feature, but are only in use at their headquarters. It might be time to dust off your resume (and your Japanese).

J. loves writing about the vices of life — decadent food, strong drinks, potent cannabis, and increasingly invasive… Read Full Bio

The Manual Library: 10 action franchises to pass the cold weekends

Cross

Guys need to read more. Every time I start doomscrolling on TikTok or Instagram, the BookTok world is almost exclusively curated for women. That is why we need to start pushing our love for the bang-bang shoot-’em-ups. The debonair spy. The man on his own, cut off from all help, with only his skills and his wits to help him overcome the obstacles between him and his mission. As men, we love these escapes from the mundane lives and diving into the hero fantasy we all have. When women talk about the mental load they carry every day, men are usually creating our own mental load with safety and security: “What would I do if someone attacked from here? Or there?” Really, what we’re asking is, “What would Jason Bourne do?”

I tend to live in this place in my head when I need to escape from the world, but it is more fun to read about it. As the weather begins to turn and our evenings and weekends are colder and darker, we need something to occupy our time to get us from now until we can escape to the great outdoors in the spring. Here are some action and adventure book recommendations to get your heart going and quench that hero fantasy without doing anything dangerous.

5 lessons the military teaches you that you don’t learn in school

Saving Private Ryan

This is not a knock on public school. I went to public school. I liked public school. There is a system of life training built into the social fabric of school where we learn a lot about ourselves and the lives we are about to live. But the truth is we don’t learn a lot about life from the actual curriculum in the classroom. We learn that Paul Revere rode through the streets to alarm everyone that the British were coming. We learned that A squared plus B squared equals C squared. We even learned what an electron is. But there are precious little practical life lessons you can take with you. For me, I picked a lot of those through movies (a lot of parents are shaking their heads right now, but don’t knock it completely; there is a lot you can learn from movie perspectives) and my time in the United States Army.

The military teaches you a ton of practical life skills that will elevate your life when applied to your day-to-day. Here are five of them with a couple bonuses at the end.

Coffee is for closers: How Blake from Glengarry Glen Ross’s iconic scene teaches you more than sales

Alec Baldwin

There are moments in movies that stand the test of time. They are the first thing we think of when someone uses a turn of phrase or references something that sends your brain down the rabbit hole of movie quotes. These become cultural stalwarts and embed themselves into the very collective consciousness of our society. Some become known for certain industries. Wanna know what law enforcement is like? Check out Training Day or End of Watch. Wanna know what being a firefighter is like? Press play on Backdraft. How about military life? Full Metal Jacket, Jarhead, or Officer and a Gentleman. Want realism? Don’t watch any of them. But what about sales? There are a dozen movies that can teach you how to sell. Boiler Room. The Wolf of Wall Street. But none of them are as iconic as Glengarry Glen Ross. In fact, one scene in that movie every salesman should watch. Blake’s 8-minute tongue-lashing at the office underachievers.

Alec Baldwin took less than ten minutes to cement himself in the lexicon of sales mentors. Walking into the office, he looks at Ed Harris, Jack Lemmon, and Alan Alda and rips them to shreds when one pours himself some coffee.