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Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 7:37 pm
by Lighthawk
The 2006 Millionaire Fair in Kortrijk, Belgium saw the debut of a magnetic floating bed that pretty much takes the cake for the coolest bed in the world—and the most expensive. Conventional beds and mattresses haven’t changed much over the years, and that’s where Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars comes in. The goal in his project was to make a usable piece of furniture that wasn’t constrained by the laws of gravity.
Ruijssenaars reportedly worked on the technology for six years in collaboration with Bakker Magnetics. Permanent opposing industrial-strength magnets allow the bed to float around 1.3 feet off the floor while holding almost 2,000 lbs. This aesthetically pleasing technology could also be applied to other areas in home furnishings like coffee tables, sofas, and Japanese dining tables. How cool would it be to eat sushi and drink sake off a floating table?
While the expensive bed will run you €1,200,000 (US $1.6 million), a smaller unit, one fifth of the full size, costs €115,000 (US $153,000). If you are a millionaire and simply must have this eye-catching bed, the people at Universe Architecture would be happy to make it happen for you.
Source
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:14 pm
by Tyyr
Cool idea, not wild about the guy wires running around the room.
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:42 pm
by Mikey
The guy wires are indeed a Very Bad Idea,TM and all in all I'm not sure what advantage this has over any other bed. I've somehow managed to live almost 39 years without having a bed platform that doesn't touch the ground.
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:52 pm
by Lighthawk
You're looking for a practical reason for this? Ha, it's a toy for the rich to show off that they're rich enough to buy cool but impractical novelties.
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:48 pm
by Mikey
Hmm. I must not understand being that rich. A waste of money is still a waste of money, no matter how little you feel the loss.
*EDIT* While I don't drink nearly as much as I used to, those wires are just an invitation to hit oneself in the face with his own bedroom floor.
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 12:44 am
by Tsukiyumi
Mikey wrote:A waste of money is still a waste of money, no matter how little you feel the loss.
Thank you.
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 12:47 am
by Captain Picard's Hair
Tsukiyumi wrote:Mikey wrote:A waste of money is still a waste of money, no matter how little you feel the loss.
Thank you.
If you have enough money to waste on something like this, you have more money than there is any practical use for. One could argue that in itself is a waste (or a misallocation) of society's resources.
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:15 am
by Nickswitz
If it didn't need the wires and the whole floor had the magnetism I could see the practicality for a table, not as much a bed. A table could be freely moved around without damaging the floor, and it not having any friction would make it much easier to move, I would think, although, I'm not sure if it would work that way if your just making it float, that would probably require much more technology in it for the 'real' antigravity.
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 6:05 pm
by mwhittington
Nickswitz wrote:If it didn't need the wires and the whole floor had the magnetism I could see the practicality for a table, not as much a bed. A table could be freely moved around without damaging the floor, and it not having any friction would make it much easier to move, I would think, although, I'm not sure if it would work that way if your just making it float, that would probably require much more technology in it for the 'real' antigravity.
The problem is if the whole floor was magnetic and there were no guy wires of any kind, it would flip over due to the opposite poles attracting each other, and then you have a million dollar 2000 lb. brick. Instead of guy wires, why not steel loops on the corners of the bed, and steel poles in the loops anchored to the floor? That would keep it from flipping over and keep people from smashing their faces in the floor.
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 6:28 pm
by Lighthawk
The real problem being overlooked here...imagine what that kind of magnetic field would do to any of your electronics you got too close to the bed.
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 7:39 pm
by Mikey
mwhittington wrote:Nickswitz wrote:If it didn't need the wires and the whole floor had the magnetism I could see the practicality for a table, not as much a bed. A table could be freely moved around without damaging the floor, and it not having any friction would make it much easier to move, I would think, although, I'm not sure if it would work that way if your just making it float, that would probably require much more technology in it for the 'real' antigravity.
The problem is if the whole floor was magnetic and there were no guy wires of any kind, it would flip over due to the opposite poles attracting each other, and then you have a million dollar 2000 lb. brick. Instead of guy wires, why not steel loops on the corners of the bed, and steel poles in the loops anchored to the floor? That would keep it from flipping over and keep people from smashing their faces in the floor.
Wait, wait... I think you're onto something! A bed that, instead of floating and being held by guy wires, is actual held aloft by posts or some other material extensions between the platform and the floor. That's brilliant!!!
Oh, wait, I think someone else may have hit on that already. I think they called it a "bed."
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2011 10:02 pm
by RK_Striker_JK_5
Yeah, with Mikey and Tsuki on this. It's an expensive and rather impractical toy. It's just... why? It's one of those things you look at, cock your head to the side and shrug.
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 1:44 am
by Mark
I swear to god.......I look at that thing and I get a vision of Peter Griffon from Family Guy laying on his back with a plastic tarp over him for a second, before he jumps up and yells "Ha, look at me! I'm Han Solo, and I'm frozen in Carbonite!"
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 10:45 am
by Graham Kennedy
I gotta say, on seeing the pic my first thought was to wonder if there's a big version of it floating around Jupiter.
Re: Anti-gravity bed
Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 3:23 pm
by Mikey
GrahamKennedy wrote:I gotta say, on seeing the pic my first thought was to wonder if there's a big version of it floating around Jupiter.
"My G-d... it's full of pillows!"