The Zen Table has two sizes – a coffee table measuring 56″ x 39″ x 19.5″ and a smaller desktop version measuring 13″ x 9.5″ x 2 1/2″. Both are made of bamboo and equipped with an SD card slot and a USB cable. The SD card slot is for the bundled SD card which will have several programs that instruct the table’s electronics to create patterns, but you can also send commands from a computer to the table via USB.

In addition, the coffee table version can also be equipped with a 3G modem that will allow it to receive new designs, as well as allow the user to control the table from an Android or iOS app that Hallam is currently developing. That means you can have the Zen Table write messages to people at the table or have it draw naughty images when your parents have a visitor. The possibilities are frightening. Here’s a demo of the Zen Table in contemplative action:

Here it creates something more modern:

Fancy eh? Kickstarter supporters thought so as well. Hallam put up a fundraiser on the crowdfunding website and was able to exceed his original target. I’m not sure when and for how much the final products will be sold, but the people who pledged at least $499 (USD) on the project are eligible for a kit containing the parts for the desktop version of the Zen Table, while $749 got them the same model but fully assembled. Two people pledged at least $4,999 to get their own coffee table Zen Table and one rich and lucky person shelled out at least $7,499 to get the 3G version of the coffee table. Meanwhile I’m still waiting for the iZen Garden app to go on sale for less than $5.99.

Head to Hallam’s YouTube channel to check out more videos of the Zen Table in action.

[Kickstarter via The Awesomer]

Well, I say it has to do with patience. And with intention.

All this talk about drawers isn’t about underwear, but about desk drawers. You know, the ones you slide out and push back in after you put some stuff into them. And not just any desk drawer, but just the drawers on Sanghyeok Lee’s unusual Listen to your hands table.

You see, when you push one drawer shut too fast, another one on the other end will open. Open one too carelessly, and another one somewhere will slam shut. This is because the drawers in Lee’s table are connected on the inside by a single, empty space. So if you push or pull too quickly, this pocket of air forces another one to open or close accordingly as well.

The lesson behind this interactive table is to “act with intention.” The only time when you can simply just open or close a drawer without causing one on the other end to close or open respectively is if you do it gently – with intention.

[via Architizer]

Not that I’m encouraging you to go out and join the riot when there’s one, but who knows when this might actually come in handy? Attached on the other side of the table’s surface are two handles that you’re supposed to use to hold the shield as you fend off whoever’s coming at you with broken bottles and bricks.

It looks heavy though, so you might need some help from the crowd to lift it from its horizontal position laying on the welded steel frame of the table.

The Riot Table was designed by Max & Max.

[via Yanko Design]

As you can see in the picture, the Delen has a camera mounted on a post so that it has a view of the whole table. It can take pictures at preset or specified intervals, then wirelessly transmits those pictures to a nearby computer. David’s custom software will then automatically upload those pictures to a social networking site. With this design, you can easily make a slideshow or even a stop-motion animation showing what your day is like – what you’re working on, what you eat, how many dishes have to be piled up on your table before you make an effort to clean it up, etc.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I think that the Delen is neat software in gimmicky furniture’s clothing. It’s not really the table itself that’s special or that handles the sharing part – it just happens to be where the camera is. In fact, I think David should just ditch the table and develop the camera or even just the software itself. Leave those thugs to answer their questions themselves.

[via Design Milk via NotCot]

These Pac-Man ghost tables are made by Austin, Texas artist Ryan Fitzpatrick of Masters of Fate, and can be made in pretty much any ghostly color scheme you’d like. Inky, Blinky, Pinky, or Clyde – they’re all available – since each table is handmade, of course.

Each  hand-painted wood table measures 33″ x 36″, and you can request whatever height legs you want, so Blinky can work as a coffee table, laptop desk, or even a small cafe table when you’re gobbling down some power pellets for dinner.

You can find the Pac-Man ghost table over at Etsy for $200 (USD).

For his Anrealage fashion line, Japanese designer Kunihiko Morinaga took inspiration from the squared-off pixel block to create his F/W 2011 collection, which includes shoes with pixel heels, pixelated prints on on jackets, sweaters and slacks.

But my favorite part of the collection isn’t the clothing. It’s the pixel furniture, which includes a pair of awesome blocky armchairs, a matching café table, a pixel-patterned Oriental rug, and some awesome pixel light bulb fixtures.

I would live in a house filled with this stuff if I could. But I can’t. So for now, the only way to experience this is to head to the Anrealage showroom in Harajuku, Tokyo.

[KoiKoiKoi via Fancy]

Pictured above is the Rev – ->Table, the first product from Kestner’s company Supermechanical. It has a solid oak surface and laser-cut cold-rolled steel legs. I’m sure those are great materials, but I’m more interested in the QR Code etched on its surface. You see, you can scan that code using a smartphone to gain access to the table’s CAD file, or its digital blueprint. Armed with that information, you can now make replacement parts or even modded parts, safe in the knowledge that they’ll be compatible with the table. Hell, I bet it’s even possible to replicate the whole thing if you like.

You can order the Rev – ->Table from Supermechanical for $667 (USD). I don’t need or want such an expensive table, but again, it’s the QR code concept that I’m stoked about. Imagine if everything we bought had a similar link to its schematic. Headphones broken? Well maybe you can still fix it, just look at the schematic. Want to mod your store-bought PC? Look at the schematic to get started.

A variety of third-party parts manufacturers would pop up as well, making replaceable parts more available and cheaper, so even if you can’t make the part yourself you can just order it. Combine this with 3D printers, and we’ll be ordering and receiving parts instantly. While we’re dreaming, why don’t we incorporate the manual and links to the support department on the QR code as well? That way if you lose the paper manual – and you will – you’ll still have access to the information in a digital format.

Then again, many manufacturers may not be so keen to reveal the blueprints and schematics to their products. Plus there’s the great inevitable – QR codes on torrent sites (Build.Your.Own.Xbox.720.Torrent, or DIYPioneerKuroQRCodebyEZTV.torrent). I guess it’s up to the folks at iFixit to make guides for every conceivable product.

[via Cool Hunting]

Created by Kyle Buckner Designs, the handcrafted iTable looks like a giant stack of iPhone 4s to me. It’s got a smooth black surface, and wrap-around rails that mimic the sides of the iPhone itself. I bet if you press your hand against the side of this, you won’t drop your phone calls though. The tabletop also has a pair of aluminum-lined cupholders to keep you from putting your sweaty soda cans on top of the table’s clean black surface.

With a swipe of the touch-sensitive controls, a motor-driven sound system rises from the surface of the iTable, surrounding your docked iPhone with 8 speakers to fill your room with sound. Under the hood, there’s also a 6-inch downward-firing subwoofer to round things out. See the iTable in action below.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I’m not sure how much the iTable costs, but from the amount of work that must go into these handmade tables, I can’t imagine it will be cheap. On the plus side, since each one is made-to-order, you can get them in custom sizes or to fit phones other than the iPhone 4 (although I’m not sure what the point would be of doing that.) If you want more info on the iTable, head on over to Kyle Buckner Designs.

[Thanks for the tip, Dogal!]

So what is this thing that reminds me of another technically unrelated term? (If you’re curious, the words I’m thinking of are “land fill.”) Well, it’s an innovative floor mat that’s setting out to change the world of mats for good. It’s flexible and foldable, and because of that last attribute, it’s also portable. Pull the folds open and spread it out wide on the floor to go from one tile to a full-sized mat in minutes (or maybe even seconds if you’re fast!)

Need an extra chair in that corner? No problem. Another table on your side of the mat? Easy peasy. Just peel some panels off the floor and fold it up, origami-style, and there you go: instant furniture. And if you find yourself low in energy, simply scooch on over to a flat panel of mat, prop up a pillow (or a pile of clothes) and lie yourself down for some quick Zzz’s.

The Land Peel is a project designed by Shin Yamashita who is a student at the Kyoto Institute of Technology. Since we all know that Japan is the place to be for all sorts of innovative and out-of-this-world gadgets, it won’t come as much of a surprise when these floor mats will be sold in stores there soon.

[via Fast Company]

Under the hood there’s an integrated HP computer, powered by a 2.93GHz quad-core i7 CPU, and an nVidia Quadro 600 workstation-class video 3D card. The system also has WiFi and Bluetooth in addition to Ethernet for connectivity. It’s also got a built-in Bose sound system and the ability to mirror output via HDMI. The system runs Windows 7 Pro 64-bit edition, and comes pre-loaded with GestureWorks software for quickly building multitouch applications and integrating with Flash and Flex.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It’s designed for use in galleries, museums, art installations and educational installations, so it’s made out of durable aluminum and steel, with a hardened, tempered glass top. It even has a battery backup and cooling unit built into the tower, so the system is definitely a turnkey way of building out a custom multitouch experience. For more information on the Ideum MT55 multitouch table, head on over to their website.

Good looks aside, the thing is still pretty boring to play.  The builder used four controllers with the knob on top that rotates from an old Atari to control the table. It supports up to five balls at one time on the screen, which makes thing slightly more interesting than the original.

It doesn’t use a modern LCD screen either. The game board is made using LEDs arranged in a grid. The display has 900 LEDs total in a 30 x 30 matrix. The table is controlled by an 8-bit microprocessor at 8MHz and power comes from four AA batteries.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Instructables]

The Float Table from RockPaperRobot is comprised of 64 blocks of wood, which appear to be floating independently of one another. They actually are, for the most part. A bit of steel cabling runs between them all, but they are primarily held in place by magnetic force. This make the table “sturdy, yet capricious.” For the $2,000 asking price, this conversation piece had better start some really good discussions.

[via Gizmodiva]

The guys over at 10up Deluxe have gone over the top with this precisely 10:1 scale NES controller table. Not only does the thing look awesome, the buttons and D-pad are much more faithful to the originals, loaded with custom springs and micro-switches to make sure it plays brilliantly. And they went one better than the original, placing a functional NES inside the table. No detail was spared – even the product details were carved into the back of the controller – in case  anyone ever flips it over.

Check out the Extreme NES Coffee table in action in the video below:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Kudos to the guys at 10up Deluxe for this major accomplishment. It truly is a spectacular work of retro gaming art. And I’m sticking to my story from back in 2008. Someone needs to mass-produce these.

[Thanks for the tip, Sam!]

While it’s name is clever, as with many luxury items the Converttable’s dual-nature is more of an exaggeration than an actual value. When the gaming components are folded and hidden, it’s a table, yes, but only in the sense that it has a large flat surface, and not an attractive one at that. Race-Star has a CGI video of the Converttable, but I think it’s better to see the actual table in action:

Overall, I think the most flaunted aspect of the Converttable is also its weakest. Still, if you’re a racing enthusiast and you’ve got the dough, you might want to check this thing out. You can order the Converttable at Race-Star’s eBay page for €4,999 (approx. $6,560 (USD)). Check out the Converttable website for more info. I’m sure Ben Heck can whip up something better though.

[via Luxury Launches]

The Super Nintable has a neatly-integrated SNES under the hood, with the cartridge port set nicely into the top of the table, and two controller ports in the front. The power cord and video cables emerge neatly out of the back edge of the table. Here’s a video clip of the table in “action”…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Action packed, eh? I really like the slots for holding on to the cartridges, along with the metal chains to keep people from stealing the carts like the security system they use for ballpoint pens at the bank or the post office.

The only other thing I’d like to see is an LCD screen built into the surface of the Super Nintable so it could be completely self-contained.

surface tensions’ Arcane arcade table not only looks great, it’s got a hidden Shuttle XPC, and an LCD screen (19″ or 26″) under the table’s toughened glass surface. The system loaded up with over 100 licensed games from Taito, Midway and Atari. Of course, it’s compatible with MAME, so you can run all of your personal favorite arcade classics too. The beautiful handmade table is available in walnut or oak and has a hidden drawer which contains high quality arcade controls including Sanwa joysticks and buttons, and a Happ light-up trackball and spinner.

There’s also a built-in sound system, with stereo 30-watt speakers. They’re also offering an optional Sonos Zoneplayer, so the table can be used as a music playback station from a Sonos base station. Of course, if you’ve got the computer inside the table turned on, you can just use Windows Media Center, iTunes or the music manager of your choice to play tunes or movies.

The Arcane arcade table starts at a rather pricey £3299 (appx. $5061 USD), but you can shave off a little more than $1000 if you BYOPC and software. Full specs are available here.

The Tablecloth Hour features a red “tablecloth” controller which players (or red bears wearing red fezzes) yank from the front of the machine as you watch various tabletop items wobble on the screen above.

I like how the controller has a button on it labeled “POSH” – I’m assuming that’s Engrish for “PUSH”, but maybe it’s just a very swanky game.

[Source Room Aries (JP) via Arcade Heroes via Tiny Cartridge]

The Dutch design duo Minale-Maeda have based this table upon a famous sideboard (for furniture junkies at least) by Gerrit Rietveld.

It’s not mentioned how long it takes them to make one of these, but from the picture below, it looks like the process is pretty arduous.

Only five of the LEGO sideboards will be made, and are available from Droog Design.

[via Designboom]

As you’ve probably guessed, the front half of the table is for the TV. Behind it on the upper left is the slot for the console – NES or SNES? – and on the upper right are cartridge and controller slots. Note the faded Nintendo logo at the lower left.

Available on eBay; bidding starts at $50 (USD).

[via gameSniped]

The table was made by abgc architecture for ad agency Boys And Girls. The agency revamped their new Dublin offices, which had “décor that was decidedly solicitory” and turned it into a simple and bright space similar to an art gallery, with the LEGO table as the centerpiece.

I bet the employees of Boys and Girls can’t wait for Bring Your Kids to Work Day. Visit Behance for more pics plus a stop-frame animation of the table’s construction and installation.

[via Behance via Josh Spear]