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Zero-Gee Computing Recliner Proves Our Fat Future is Now
Posted by John Mahoney at 4:20 AM on July 22, 2008
Everyone saw Wall-E, right? And how the luxury cruisers of the future glide around in floating touch-screen-equipped easy chairs? Then the Zero-Gee gaming/blogging "workstation" should look mighty familiar. Its ergonomic, reclining frame is designed to ensure your arse is free from the forces of gravity as you type, type, type yourself into oblivion. There's even a caddy for your liquified cupcakes-in-a-cup, and you're also positioned nicely for a root canal or any other minor surgeries here as well, which you'll need soon enough. [Product Page via Born Rich]
The Boom Arm Starbase Workstation--now there is a product aimed squarely at nerds. It combines computing and extreme laziness with a little "Starbase" sci-fi flavour thrown in. I mean, you could use a product like the 
The Ergonomic Workstation from Ergo Motions may look like a dentist's chair, but I must say that if my dentist had this thing in his office, I would be in there for a root canal right away. Ergo Motions mission is to help gamers and heavy workstation users avoid the repetitive stress injuries and posture issues that often result from sitting on your arse and typing away on a computer all day. The Ergonomic Workstation Phase I prototype appears to do that--and much more.
Behold the Greatest Workstation of All Time: the Emperor. I mean, come on, anything that looks like it can control a turbolaser battery or fire a giant anti-matter death ray must be the greatest workstation of all time, period. But according to Patrick Laflamme Duval—business developer for manufacturer Novelquest—the name is not a Star Wars nod, but a reference to the emperor scorpion's tail:
It may not look as hot as the 
Michael Dell, the king of Dell, just previewed his company's smallest and greenest desktop PC yet at FORTUNE Brainstorm: GREEN. There's no name for this mini green PC, shown rendered above, but it's 81% smaller than a mini tower and 70% less energy-consuming. It's also shipped in recycled and recyclable packaging, and look a whole lot like those cheapo Sun workstations that colleges love(d) to use. As long as this machine is at least as powerful as a laptop (we don't mean an Eee PC), we're all for Dell's enviro-conscious direction.
The Globus Mobile is a complete office workstation and chair hidden in a large ball. The concept by designer Michiel van der Kley can be moved to any place using its hidden wheels. When you want to work, you just swivel it open and bingo: you can slot in a laptop, perch on the padded chair and think up as many chicken-and-egg or ping-pong ball jokes as you like. [
My dad always said, computers are like women: if you need more than 2 or 3, you probably aren't using them correctly. But with a 32 computer capacity, the "Ultimate Workstation" spits in the face of average users and opens the door for the potential of...we actually have no clue that they intend on using it for (either cracking the Pentagon or late night WoW sessions, we'd guess). Eight 17" LCD screens are a bit of a letdown in the setup, while eight full keyboards and mice allow four people to dual task at a time, while dropping their Cheeto crumbs on a gigantic 6'x4' sliding keyboard tray.
