Hasta La Ideas

Furniture with built-in blueprints hints at the localized future of manufacturing

One of the design leaders in the movement to erase boundaries between digital and physical worlds, John Kestner’s company Supermechanical recently brought its first product to market. Kestner, a MIT Media Lab alumni who we first profiled for his earlier interactive projects and went on to include in our Audi Icon series, has created Rev–>Table, which rejects the modern model of hard goods consumption by empowering the owner to become the manufacturer.

Each Rev–>Table has the CAD file etched into the surface; if something breaks, smartphones can simply read the code to access the complete design schematic. Using that file, you can modify the design or use the information to create your own replacement parts. As we progress toward a future of nearly-disposable luxury electronics, inherent to Kestner’s concept is nostalgia for a time when things were made to last—yet it’s unlike anything we’ve seen previously. With longevity in mind, Kestner harnessed digital technology to create a sustainable product that can be continually regenerated by the user. A truly holistic approach, his thinking hints at innovations in quality-goods manufacturing at the local level, as well as a future of high-tech production far from the factory line.

The Rev–>Table is available for a limited time at an introductory discount price of $500 from Curisma (another MIT startup).