The era of smart furniture dawns

Today's consumer wants everything in the home to make life more convenient, so it's not enough for furniture simply to sit there and look pretty.

Our furniture needs to be smart.

In the early 1990s, the National Homebuilders Assn. sponsored Smart House technology and its application to new homes. The "Smart" movement encourages linking information between the environment, home systems and people in order to respond to and even anticipate our needs. Computer technology, which constantly gets better, is obviously a key element here.

The auto industry has been a leader, with cruise control, global positioning systems and memory seat settings now common options. Lexus has just introduced a car that will parallel park itself. That may not be the most demanding task we face, but this surely rates high on the scale of cool.

When we don't have time to take care of ourselves, wouldn't it be nice to have your bathtub take care of you? A store near me demonstrates tubs and showers that work with the touch of a button. The UltraBain tub will fill itself to the proper level with the desired water temperature, remember your preferred wave action for massage and emit the proper light for chromatherapy. Once you've achieved total serenity, just towel off while the tub blows itself dry. That’s pretty cool too!

We are beginning to see home entertainment furniture that incorporates technology. For instance, Ferguson Copeland is offering its Electronic Infrared System that can operate eight electronic devices from one universal remote. The cabinet doors can remain closed — no clutter in sight! — while you focus on that big screen.

Entertainment provides hours of at-home escape, and now a chair from Empower Technologies offers total immersion. It's the first chair to integrate iPod docking, surround sound, and DVD, music and video game systems. No wonder the chair won the Consumer Electronics Assn.'s 2007 Innovations Award

Furniture that supports our technology is convenient and makes sense. The Taos end table by Peters-Revington has a built-in charging station to accommodate your iPod, Blackberry and cell phone, storing them for care-free take-off in the morning without a tangle of wires.

How smart can our furniture become? Wouldn't it be wonderful if your favorite lounge chair sensed your coming home and molded itself to caress your body? Of greater significance, what if a bed could monitor the temperature and breathing of our children and elderly?

Now's the time for furniture designers and marketers to start brainstorming ... and get smart.