time table
We have a new table in the Cole building, created for us by Ico Design in partnership with Sidekick Studios. It's not working at the moment, typically, because we've lost the little USB stick that contains the sound files, but the idea is nice. We're not always great at managing our time, particularly in meetings, so this table alerts meeting attendees to how much meeting time remains.
Ico say:
TimeTable helps meeting participants better manage their meetings by instilling a shared awareness
of the passing time. It controls the meeting in an elegant and unobtrusive manner. A simple twist
of a dial sets the length of the meeting at the start and a recorded voice announces, “Welcome to
TimeTable”. Then ten illuminated panels appear in the surface of the table, each panel representing a
tenth of the meeting time. As the time passes, panels are switched off and a sound effect is played,
and once the allotted meeting time has elapsed TimeTable politely informs attendees, "This meeting
is now complete, please leave the room in an orderly fashion."