New East Side condos will have robotic furniture

The homes at Fourth &, a condo development under construction in East Austin, will be the first in Texas to feature robotic furniture, according to a Monday report by KVUE, Austin’s ABC affiliate.

The Ori “all-in-one” furniture system is a single-unit piece with multiple functions that moves and reconfigures itself on command. It was created to maximize space in very small homes—Fourth& features “micro lofts” starting at 510 square feet as well as modest-sized one- and two-bedroom units—and can be configured for three uses: Storage, living room, and bedroom, according to KVUE.

The unit can be instructed to take its various forms “via a physical controller attached to the system, a mobile app, or voice commands for the Amazon Echo and Google Assistant,” according to Curbed’s Jenny Xie, who about Ori systems last month (it also has a manual mode for power outages). Watch how it works in the video below.

A secondary benefit of the units, in addition to saving space, is that they make micro condos and apartments more appealing. If buildings with those units are located fairly centrally (as is Fourth&) or on major transportation lines, residents are more able to ditch their cars if they’d like, KVUE reported.

According to Xie, the systems were available initially in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Boston only. They are now available in 10 U.S. cities, reports KVUE, but their installation in Fourth& marks their Texas debut.

As its website states, Fourth& is a 97-unit, 4-Star Austin Energy Green Building that offers solar panels for every resident. It’s constructed of concrete and pre-insulated, recycled steel panels and features variable speed A/C systems & LED lighting throughout.

• This robotic furniture system could be coming to an apartment building near you [KVUE]

• Robotic furniture system debuts at new East Austin condo [Curbed.com]