Breakthrough in soft material connectivity made possible to create endless variations of a couch
Living Spaces Ltd is taking pre-orders of a new set of modular soft elements that makes configuring a living room upholstered furniture as easy as working with a construction toy set. Furniture made of BiT elements can be completely resized, reformed and even change color to meet various environments, number of guests or intended event.
“Imagine a living room furniture capable of transforming into a larger number of seats for extra guests, then be reshaped for a gaming session amongst teenagers, as a castle for the younger children’s play center and as multiple beds for overnight guests. That’s a multi-functionality one can expect from a BiT elements.”, says the polytechnic designer Sanna Myllylä. She chose the magnetic connection method for the BiT elements. Her husband, an innovator Mika Myllylä designed the connector. Research and testing took five years.
BiT represents a minimalistic Scandinavian design but the functionality gives nearly infinite ways to construct furniture. “Our daughter, Taika, was born half a year after research was started. Above all, we wanted to make BiT as safe as possible for the kids. She once bumped her head to our previous sofa’s arm. We didn’t want that to happen again. Bouncing on a sofa is just what kids do.”, Mika recalls.
Not only castles and huts for kids, But BiT can also be equipped with latest game controllers using BiT adapters for a serious gaming event. Constructing a car, aeroplane or a tractor is limited only by imagination. “PC gaming was pretty hard on a couch before because they lack places for keyboard and mouse. BiT supports both PC and console game controllers. Flight sticks, throttle, wheels, pedals, keyboards and mouses are just a start of the long list of equipments attachable to BiT elements. Adapters have AMPS hole pattern which makes it easy to install phones, phablets, tablets, monitors, microphones and cameras to gaming cockpits. “If you can attach it on a car, motorcycle or boat, it can be attached to BiT elements.”, Mika describes.
Furniture constructed of BiT element is like a stripped version of traditional furniture since elements don’t contain any glue, paints, solvents, lacquers or even wood. Changing sofa color or cleaning is easy since upholstery is removable. All pieces are frameless for added child safety. Strong magnets keep pieces together. Fully automated and fast connectors are cast inside the soft foam.
The core functionality of a sofa has been unchanged for 400 years. Modularity made possible to align the sofa with the wall. BiT is the next step in evolution. Families are choosing smaller apartments which increase the demand for multi-functional furniture according to market research companies. “Smaller space can make limitations to hobbies or projects. With BiT furniture elements that restriction is gone. One of the features we wanted BiT to have is the possibility to pile the pieces against the wall when needed.”, Mika says.
“I’m confident we managed to make furniture which is fun for both children and adults.”, Sanna sums up.
Pieces are manufactured in Poland which is known for it’s large furniture manufacturing industry. Magnets are delivered from China. BiT game controller adapters are made in Finland. BiT soft furniture elements can be pre-ordered from Indiegogo crowdfunding platform. Orders are delivered worldwide on October 2019 by Amazon.
Link to Indiegogo campaign:
SOURCE: Living Spaces Oy
