Furniture

The challenge facing furniture manufacturers and the supply sector is what do I need to do or take into account to support the trend toward providing universal multimedia access? What requirements does my furniture need to meet in this age of multimedia? Mediapoint at ZOW is a display of specific interior settings which demonstrate how living rooms and workspaces, kitchens and bathrooms can be designed and fitted out right now to support media access – and networked with each other. Mediapoint is the interface between furniture, electronic entertainment systems and home automation.



Living in the digital age



Flat screen TVs, surround sound systems, the world of the iPod/iPhone, games consoles, netbooks, digital cameras and MP3 players of all types – these are all today’s hot products. However, the familiar electronic home entertainment systems will be no less important in the future. The categories to look out for are DVD/hard disk recorders and media servers/clients, which send or receive music and videos on the net. PCs are moving into living rooms - smaller, slim and elegant - in the form of touchscreens or High Power PCs. The kitchen becomes a central food station networked with the media world in all its manifestations, while entertainment and information are in demand in the bathroom.


The erstwhile computer network, Ethernet, and its wireless spin-off, W-LAN, now also provides a suitable highway for digital entertainment. The competition in wireless systems, mainly for portable devices, is the short range radio, Bluetooth. HDMI cables are indispensable for today’s best picture quality. Portable devices use a USB port, while external hard drives, notebooks and others use an Ethernet cable for a fast connection. Even the power supply is used now for the transmission of data. Don’t forget that, as well as built-in storage devices or hard drives, flash drives are also absolutely ideal for transporting and exchanging data. Practically all PCs and portable devices can take USB sticks and memory cards.



New solutions for furniture in demand




Individual compartments in furniture can be designed to take specific products or a class of device. But the size, ventilation and built-in connections must be right. Measures to simplify the transmission of data include built-in card scanners and connections in the plinth or front panel leading to a counterpart located in the cupboard interior via a pre-installed cable. The popularity of wireless transmission calls for designs which avoid too much metal in surfaces. Even the thinnest vapor coating of metal for glass panels will cut off the signal for cell phones or W-LAN networks from receivers located on the inside of a cupboard.

The new Mediapoint at ZOW in Bad Salzuflen on February 9-12, 2009, demonstrates the absolute latest in options for integrating modern electronic home entertainment systems into new or existing interior settings, with the individual solutions just as central to the display as the networking of rooms and systems.