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Concept for a Wrist Rest That Heats or Cools You

For office workers fighting over the thermostat

By Rain Noe - June 24, 2022

in Object Culture

Those who work in offices know the universal temperature settings rarely please everyone. With this in mind, UK-based industrial designer Tony Elkington of Studio Elk conceived of this Stratum – Workplace Thermal Comfort concept:

"Stratum is a desk mat that gives office workers control over their own temperature by applying heating or cooling directly to the forearms."

"It works on the principle of spatial alliesthesia - the same way you quickly feel more comfortable when you wrap your hands around a hot mug on a chilly day, or run your wrists under cold water when you're too warm. By localising the application of heating and cooling, Stratum can keep users feeling just right in a wide range of office temperatures, using a fraction of the energy and with no impact on those around them.?"

"Stratum is designed to be unobtrusive and facilitate productivity by minimising interactions with the device. The mat self-regulates to maintain users' desired temperature, and it takes just a matter of seconds to switch between heating, cooling and neutral presets. If the full desk space is needed, Stratum can be simply rolled up and moved aside."

I would be so curious to try this, but alas, it's just a concept.

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Mrten Boi

2 years ago

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Bit afraid to share a link here, but https://dewarmemat.nl/ is a bit the same concept. The site is in dutch, I'm sorry, but it's a heated writing mat that can be placed under the keyboard and the mouse. It uses about 40 watts of AC and really helps a lot in cold periods of working at home.

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William Barton

2 years ago

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Great concept, I'm sure it would be well received especially if it isn't bulky. Under forearm placement is a good choice.

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