Forget the sensor-stuffed smart home and opt for these bots made from warm Danish oak instead

Creating a cluster of compact quasi- anthropomorphized devices seems to be a surefire way of attracting attention. Teenage Engineering’s Wallpaper* award-winning Choir is a case in point, as was the Little Signals concept project by Map Project Office and Google, and the robotic companion component in Layer’s Concept T suite for Deutsche Telekom.

Now Danish studio Swift Creatives is on the case, only this time there’s even more of an android element. Conjured up by the studio’s Innovation Lab, this trio of wooden bots – Beamer, Hover and Bot – combine richly crafted and turned Danish wood with subtle notification-activated motions.

These motions are intended to tug at our emotions, not alarm us with lights or vibration, with what the studio calls ‘Kinetic Tech’. Each of the three smart objects has its own motion, with tilting, twisting and nodding ‘heads’ that serve as a visual (and gentle audio) cue that something has happened – be it a message notification, a delivery or whatever you desire.

The three are compact (153mm for Beamer, 164 mm for Bot, and 170mm for Hover), designed to slot into shelves of ornaments or among desktop devices. With their soaped and smoked oak finish, Swift Creatives describe the bots as a blend of ‘Danish design tradition with embedded sensors and software’.

‘In Denmark, we’ve always had a strong tradition of craft and natural materials, thanks to the work of designers like Kay Bojesen,’ says lead designer Lars Lynggard, ‘These wooden bots extend that heritage into the connected age, making technology that children, parents, and even grandparents can welcome into their space.’

Swift Creatives incubated the project in the firm’s Innovation Lab, what it describes as an ‘internal playground for future thinking’. Every aspect of the designs, from initial concept designs to prototypes and the final beautifully crafted oak objects was done in house.

‘The Innovation Lab is all about staying curious, experimenting, and making ideas tangible,’ says Carsten Eriksen, the studio’s CEO Founder, ‘Beamer, Hover, and Bot are perfect examples of how a small concept can evolve into something that blends design, craft, and technology – and can also be warm, visible, and joyful at the same time.’

SwiftCreatives.com, @SwiftCreatives_story