20.10.2008

The “Mood Office” at Orgatec 2008

The “Mood Office” is presenting the “mood wall” system at Orgatec 2008

Whether a wall divides or connects depends on your point of view. The “mood wall” range is an innovative partitioning system that combines the original purpose of division with functions like sounding, fragrancing, lighting and planting.

The “mood wall” system, which Sedus is presenting at its Orgatec stand (Hall 8, Stand B50), is ideal for use in open-plan and combi offices and in open spaces, in fact, anywhere new spaces and zones need to be created spontaneously without a great deal of effort and where elements conducive to an atmosphere of well-being are desirable.

The “mood walls” were developed in response to the demand for an innovative furnishing system which is flexible, mobile, allows permanent spaces and elements to be installed cost-effectively in any building, and improves the sense of well-being in the office. They screen office noise and counteract it with active sounding. Plants filter the air and add greenery to the office environment. Changing scents and lighting create ambiences that had previously only been possible at great expense and with complicated technology.
The appealingly curved design makes the “mood wall” a particularly classy item of furniture. In rows or alternate formation, they make for striking yet elegant furniture. Beyond the integrated technology, the “mood walls” of course also fulfil the traditional functions of partition walls. They can be a notice board, a projection screen, a flip chart easel or a display stand at the point of sale.

The system comprises curved walls (140 cm and 180 cm high, each 100 cm wide and 35 cm deep) with a convex front and a concave back standing on a straight base element. The rounded version (H 180 cm) forms circular spaces with an outside diameter of 600 cm, which, with right angles and when combined with the straight version, allow for any conceivable wall configuration.

The individual features are limitless. The convex and concave surfaces can alternately be surfaced in any of the Sedus finishes like veneers or laminates or covered with any of the fabrics or leathers from the Sedus collection. A special opal glass panel ensures perfect LED light. The really special thing is that the “mood walls” can even be equipped with a fragrance machine and hi-fi technology. The light, scent and sound can be individually set by remote control.

The “Mood Office” has taken it upon itself to develop products that go beyond traditional furnishing and give office workers that little bit more. The “mood wall” marks the first substantial milestone.
The “Mood Office” is a collaborative research project involving the companies Barwinske (mood marketing), Dichro (light and acoustics), Et-Projekt (air and scent), Die Raumbegrüner (planting), LaSenzo (communicating spaces), Sedus (office furniture systems) and Sennheiser (office communications). Since 2006, the “Mood Office” has been based in the Finbox pavilion on the former Expo site in Hanover, and holds regular seminars. Visitors are welcome by appointment.

Further information:
Mood Office/ Büro der Sinne
Barwinske Moodmarketing GmbH & Co. KG
Boulevard der EU 7; 30539 Hanover, Germany
Tel. +49.(0)511.300.344.0
Fax +49.(0)511.300.344.20

Sennheiser is working with the “Mood Office” to reduce noise and increase well-being in the office.

One of the most topical challenges in the workplace is the improvement of acoustics. Noise is proven to be one of the main causes of stress in the office. But there is a tendency to forget the real reason for the noise in the first place. Poor sound quality and serious difficulty understanding people not only cause stress but trigger a vicious circle of events. The noise level rises notch by notch, making it extremely hard to concentrate. People become increasingly sensitive to acoustic signals and the effects become more and more pronounced.

Sennheiser offers effective solutions to maintain performance levels in call centres in particular:
Dynamic Volume Control™ ensures that all incoming calls are at a constant volume.
Sound Clarity System™ filters out disturbing background noises during telephone calls and enables voice transmission of optimal sound quality.
ActiveGard™ technology: The volume spikes are not simply cut, but compressed in such a way that keeps all of the voice and sound quality.
“As a package, the components protect your ears and help reduce the noise level because it’s easier to understand people, thus contributing to enhanced well-being in the workplace right at the source of the problem. We find it highly interesting that people are completely unaware of or simply do not try out these technologies,” sums up Torsten Stapel, Head of Marketing with Sennheiser, Hanover. “Many companies just do not realise that technologies that used to be dismissed as gimmicks are now key to maintaining performance at work. A good acoustic working atmosphere is now becoming a competitive advantage. Not just because the ergonomics are better, but because employees identify with their companies more. And they can hear during every telephone conversation,” adds Jens Barwinske, founder of the Mood Office in Hanover.

To let Orgatec 2008 visitors experience the claims for themselves, Sedus, as an Mood Office partner, has set up a call centre zone at its stand, where the above technologies can be tried out (Hall 8, Stand B50).

“The communicative table” or “When tables help communicate”
A whole new sound experience in conferencing

There can be big money in the way companies go about their conferences, training and presentations. These days it is becoming more and more important what “sinks in” with the listeners, what information speakers “get across” and, especially, what “sticks” with the participants. These are all different ways of saying “emotional listening”. Every speaker dreams of reaching his listeners at the emotional level. When high-level decisions are being made in particular, a gut feeling is often the deciding factor.

But often it is the speaker himself or a solitary pair of loudspeakers that is the source of the noise, such as natural differences in volume and/or disturbed sound localisation. Both greatly hinder our identification with the speaker.

What if it sounds like the speaker is sitting beside you? If you can even feel his voice?

The solution is an idea from the registered society “Mood Office”. “We work with the existing equipment in the conference rooms and turn them into sounding bodies. The meeting table is used as a vibrating surface, so the sound and the associated slight vibration come directly from the table,” says Martin Zimmermann, Technical Head of the project from the Mood Office, describing the set-up.

“Not only is it more pleasant, but more authentic as well.” It is much easier to communicate content and listening is less stressful. The benefits are longer spells of concentration, higher effectiveness and more enjoyment too. And since these days companies are living more and more off their ideas and the way they communicate them, our communicative table contributes to a creative atmosphere of well-being,” adds Jens Barwinske, Head of the Mood Office in Hanover.

The “Communicative table” can be experienced at the Sedus stand at
Orgatec: Hall 8, Stand B50.

Fragrant offices – Et projekt and the “Mood Office” develop special office scents.

The use of scent in the office is not by any means a new concept. Ever since Sick Building Syndrome emerged, brought on by unnatural clinical air conditions in many buildings, natural scents are used to restore a pleasant environment. Offices have been aired out and it’s time for the workplace to smell great. Also, word of the positive effect of scent is spreading. Almost any office can be fragranced with the right technology. But the scents available up to now often came from private aromatherapy or depended on the acceptance of the scent.

The two Hanover-based companies got together and combined spectra with functional requirements in the office and significant mechanisms. What they came up with is a range of 5 scents specifically for the office/work atmosphere. The individual blends target different things. “Coach” and “Coachess”, for example, are very distinctive and reflect the male and female respectively. “Concentration” and “Creativity” do exactly what the names suggest. And because practical relaxation is becoming more acceptable in the office, “Office Spa” eases the tension of the working day if it gets too hectic. However, the range of scents is not only functional; its wide variety of differing scents matches the spatial atmosphere of the office.

“If that’s not enough, you can create your very own company scent,” says Peter Hampel, Director of Et Projekt. More and more companies are availing of this option, as having a unique Corporate Scent is the logical enhancement of – mostly visual – Corporate Design.

Orgatec visitors can get a whiff of the scents at the Sedus stand in Hall 8, Stand B50.

“Business nap” – induced deep relaxation in the office

Every responsible manager knows by now that if you don’t get proper breaks, you can’t work efficiently. Many employers now insist that their staff not merely take breaks, but also make use of them. Having furniture which enable employees to take restful breaks is a help – furniture like Sedus open up: an office chair with an extra large opening angle; or the “KlangWoge” (German for soundwave) from the “Büro der Sinne” (Mood Office). Yet the reality in offices everywhere is that whilst “power-napping” might be much talked about and desirable, it is a rare occurrence.

“We wondered why this is the case. Everyone agrees that relaxation is more important than ever before. This raises the question: How does one relax in the office? Also, many people are afraid of falling asleep and waking up even more tired than before their break. This fear is justified if you take too long a nap and end up exceeding the optimal time.

“So, what is needed in the office is a device which induces relaxation but also brings the user back out of it, so he or she gets just the right amount of energy from the break. Chronobiologists have discovered that the ideal nap time is around 20 minutes”, explains Jens Barwinske, Head of the “Büro der Sinne”.

BusinessNap®, an induced deep relaxation technique in the form of an audio file, shows how this works in practice. BusinessNap® is an energising break at the touch of a button and can be used anywhere: first, create the right conditions for your break, put on the headset, press play and within 20 minutes the user is brought into a state of deep relaxation and back out of it again. It works just as well at work as it does after work, putting BusinessNap® firmly in the category of effective work-life balance products.

It can also be tried out during Orgatec at the Sedus stand in Hall 8, Stand B50.

The concept originated from the “Mood Office” in cooperation with Thomas van der Grinten, specialist in deep relaxation, and Sebastian Mauritz, innovative work technology consultant, from Göttingen. Lars Deutsch, composer of international film music, contributed the music and sound effects. As regards the hardware, Sedus supported tests on the swivel chair “open up”, which was specially developed for relaxation purposes, and the Noise Guard PXC 450 headset came from Sennheiser.