Office desks have always been the same for countless decades. The desks, whether they be corner desks or rectangular desks are usually finished in a laminate or veneer wooden desktop. With the advancements in technology and having a multitouch table top computer as a desk was a thing that was only in science fiction films and novels however Samsung have created a table that does just that.
The Samsung SUR40 table that was unveiled during the last 2 CES conventions proves to be a product of the future. The table top features a massive 40 inch 1080p LCD screen that features full HD display and is protected by the world’s largest piece of Gorilla Glass that provides full protection for the computer that it houses. The desk runs Microsoft’s second generation platform that has been named the surface 2.0 and has PixelSense touch screen technology that will make Apples iPad look like a mere toy in comparison.
The SUR40 can be used as a desk that can easily fit an ergonomic office chair underneath or it can be mounted on the wall for use in presentations and boardroom meetings. The wall mountable function is a new feature as the table no longer uses cameras hidden under the table to recognise finger touches. Instead PixelSense allows 50 simultaneous touch points on the surface.
The computer itself is powered by an AMD-based Windows 7 technology that uses a Microsoft Surface 2 platform. The table itself does not come cheap. The price for the desktop only is $8,400 (£5401) or if you require the stand that will enable it to be used as a desk then that will set you back $9,049 (£5817.65) So not a desk for those looking for economy office furniture.

Doom and gloom seems to be on the menu for most businesses at the moment as even though we are out of the recession, companies are still going into liquidation. Huge household names such as Woolworths, Habitat, etc… have closed down and gone into administration. When you think about this, most people will only see the retail shops close down, however behind every big business there are head offices and offices that also close. You may be wondering then, what happens to all the office furniture when the company shuts down. The answer is that it all gets cleared by companies such as ORS and they keep anything that they can re-use or sell.
ORS are one of the largest removal and second hand office furniture companies in the UK and they are currently over run with second hand furniture collected from companies that have gone bust. To give an example, Barclays recently closed one of their branches in Coventry. The result of this is that ORS removed 450 office desks from the building before even starting on the other office products and office furniture. To cope with this, ORS have been forced to open another warehouse in the West Midlands, that adds to their already 3 full warehouses.
ORS used to only sell about 155 second hand furniture, however now they sell approximately 85% since the recession hit.
People just don’t have the money to buy new anymore. You can pick up a nearly-new desk that would have sold new for £2,200 for just £800. The stuff coming in has barely been used – it’s so different from the old tatty furniture full of cobwebs that we once saw.” claims sales manager Adrian Kowalski.
Adrian admits that this trend will not last forever as he feels that people will switch back to buying new furniture again.

Don’t let the title fool you, as a working nation; it appears that we do not stand up as often as we should be doing. It is a simple enough activity to partake in our working lives; however recent study has proved that we are not standing up as much as we should be doing. By this I mean that we work to long at our office desks and do not take a break. It seems that the most common form of communication within the office is email as opposed to simply face-to-face communication and if we carry on like this then it will be bad news for all of us.
A recent study that has been carried out at the British Psycological Society Annual Occupational Conference, claims that people spend on average 5 hours and 41 minutes sat at their desk every single working day. During these times, it seems that office workers do not take regular breaks from their office chair to move around and increase the blood flow to their body.
The main problem is that we are an, “ageing” population that appears to be working later into to their lives; however we do not take into account our health when deciding to stay late at the office. The situation is that we do not think about our bodies and health when we decide to either work late or take longer hours. The survey was undertaken with more than 1000 people from a variety of jobs including retail and telecommunications. It seems that sitting at your office desk on your swivel chair for hours a day has a link to your weight, surprise surprise.
What we need to do is to come up with a way of reminding people to get up and walk around. Unfortunately the only reminder we have so far is a post-it note on the computer screen. The advice is, from the experts, is to talk to colleagues face to face, rather than email.

It is now common knowledge that office workers are working longer hours and that this is having a direct impact on our health. There has been a rise in the amount of work related injuries as we choose to stay seated in our office chairs at our office desks while working. The reason for this is that even though you may exercise before and after work, the time that you spend at work is mainly in a sedentary position. There has been a rise in recent years for the purchasing of height adjustable desks that you can actually stand by and work at. For some however they might find this mad.
Retail workers and bank cashiers tend to stand all day whilst at work and this does have negatives effects on the body. Standing all day whilst working can actually lead to problems such as varicose veins and in some very extreme cases, spontaneous miscarriages. With this in mind perhaps the answer is not to get rid of our chairs after all but to make sure that we use them properly.
The main reason for the rise in height adjustable desks, including treadmill desks is that too much sitting can actually lead to higher risk diseases such as cancer and diabetes as well as cardiovascular diseases. The reason for this is that when you remain in a sedentary position for a long period of time the the enzyme that is designed to take the fat out of the blood stream drops in production leaving the fat to flow around your body.
There is no definite answer to whether we should just stand or just sit at work, but a combination of both. The recommended maximum time that you should spend just sitting at your desk before moving is 30 minutes. This does included getting up and walking around.

There aren’t that many people who get to work outside anymore, under the clouds. That is because many people opted for working at a computer desk or office desk rather than outside physical graft. There are issues with sitting for too long in an office chair that are becoming apparent in recent years, but ergonomic furniture seems to be saturated with ideas on how to overcome these problems. Fraunhofer researchers have created a prototype virtual sky that has the ability to imitate cloud movements to give the illusion of working outdoors
The prototype has been made using energy efficient LED lights, simulates the clouds moving across a blue sky and has the ability to change at a slow or rapid pace to imitate how sunlight will change the amount of light that comes from above. The idea of this is that it gives the office workers a pleasant feeling of working outside whilst sitting at their desks and office chairs, without feeling cold or the feeling of being in miserable weather.
The prototype that has been created has the ability to light up the ceiling with an intensity of more than 3,000 lumens per square foot (1 square metre) when at full power, which happens to be far greater than the 500-1,000 lumens needed to create a comfortable level of lighting for an office.
The virtual sky has already been tested on volunteers who found that they actually enjoyed working under this form of ceiling. They were tested over the course of three days, the first working under static lighting, the second under slow lighting fluctuations, and the third were rapid lighting fluctuations. After these three days, the volunteers were then allowed to choose which form of lighting they wanted to work under on the fourth day and a remarkable 8 out of 10 chose to work under rapid light fluctuations.
The lab where the volunteers were working was created by using 34,560 LED lights that covered an area of approximately 34 square metres. The virtual sky has already received interest from companies who would prefer to use this in conference rooms while sitting at their boardroom table.

Huge amounts of money are constantly being invested by furniture companies to try and come up with a chair that has an ergonomic design that not only does the job of making sure the user keeps a good posture, but also is aesthetically pleasing. Other countries around Europe do not seem as interested in the way a chair looks, as long as it performs well, however over here, in some cases, looks are everything. Designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby appear to have combined the two, to produce their latest invention, the Tip Ton chair.
On first glances, we see that this chair appears to be like most other plastic chairs around. However when looked at in more detail we can see that this chair has a forward tilting action that has only ever been used on mechanical chairs. This simple design allows the chair to tilt at an angle of 6.5 degrees which keeps the user’s spine straight and gives an overall better seated position. Not only this, the chair is designed to increase blood flow around the body which in time will help ailments such as back pain and other work related injuries caused by poor seated positions.
The chair’s design is incredibly simple. It is made using a single mould with no mechanical parts, which means that there are no joints in the chair which further supports the chairs strength leaving it virtually indestructible. Not only this, the chair is made from 100% recyclable products giving it an environmentally friendly quality as well.
This is the first time that a plastic chair has been made to be ergonomic and it is for this reason that the chair is an affordable solution to back care. The chair is also stackable giving it space saving properties, so there for can be used in schools and other public buildings.
This chair is very versatile and can be used as an office chair at an office desk or café chair at a café table. It can also be classed as education furniture as it meets with British Standards.

Office work can be stressful at the best of times. This can be your boss hounding you for work that you haven’t completed yet or clients chasing an important quote. It might be that just the monotony of the workplace and even that office screen that blocks your view of the window that’s giving you grief, or the fact that you’re sitting in an uncomfortable office chair with an office desk that is far too small for you and your work. In any case below are a few tips to try and release stress levels.

1. It may sound quite odd but the sound of running water has been proven to relieve stress. By just listening to it as background music it can evoke peaceful emotions. There are desktop water fountains that you can buy that can be placed on your desk. However this can cause a distraction to others so it may be worth getting permission before buying

2. Making sure you have a good posture at work can have a huge effect on your stress levels. By buying an ergonomic chair, will help you to alleviate back pain problems and help you to sit correctly at your desk.

3. Some people find that a stress ball really helps to relieve tension. This is an obvious one and unlike the water and aromatherapy tips, this can be allowed in a working environment as it does not distract others.

4. The position and tidiness of your desk can have a huge effect on the way that you work, and how you handle it. By keeping an organised desk, it will help you to find everything easier and a tidy space means a tidy mind