If You Work on a Computer All Day, This Desk Was Built Specifically for You

Even equipped with the knowledge that sitting for long periods of time is awful for our bodies, not much has changed about the office. We still sit at desks, bent over our keyboards. Altwork wants to give people another way to work. It’s no treadmill desk; rather it’s a product that tries to make the office a little more comfortable.

“We aren’t trying for a general-purpose desk. This is designed for people whose job is to operate a computer. We are looking at CAD engineers, financial traders, animators, technical writers,” CEO Che Voigt said in an interview with Wired.

The workstation looks like a modified examination chair from the dentist’s office. Users can arrange the desk and chair so the worker can sit up, recline, or stand. It sounds like how every office worker would like to work, given the option. It’s how I work on any given day out of my own home office.

After all, technology has allowed us to progress and work better, but the space where we work for eight hours of the day hasn’t changed one bit:

But the bigger question that needs answering is where does Altwork fit into an office building?

The truth is it probably doesn’t. Standing desks are on the rise, but treadmill desks have yet to become an office staple. The device has been proven to offset the health problems associated with sitting for long periods of time. Even with all the health benefits it provides, people are reluctant to adopt them because they feel self-conscious using one. “It’s a great idea in theory, but it doesn’t work over the long haul for most people,” said Lucas Carr, an assistant professor of health and human physiology at the University of Iowa.

Altwork’s alternative desk makes the standard sit-down desk look like a modern-day torture device, but the truth is this setup probably won’t be seen in most office spaces. This might be the setup a remote office worker purchases to replace their traditional working space. But having something like this in an established office for every employee would be a stretch.

Maybe as millennials take over the office the workstation can get the change it needs to make the office better.

Jamie Notter, co-author of When Millennials Take Over, explains how companies “used to sort of come up with our best practice and as soon as we had that, we did that for the next 20 years. That doesn’t work anymore.”

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Natalie has been writing professionally for about 6 years. After graduating from Ithaca College with a degree in Feature Writing, she snagged a job at PCMag.com where she had the opportunity to review all the latest consumer gadgets. Since then she has become a writer for hire, freelancing for various websites. In her spare time, you may find her riding her motorcycle, reading YA novels, hiking, or playing video games. Follow her on Twitter: @nat_schumaker

Photo Credit: Altwork