This smart desk moves up and down — and gets you into better shape

You don’t have to motivate yourself to exercise anymore. Your desk will do it for you.

Stir is unveiling a new version of its smart desk today in an effort to get people standing and moving more during their daily work. The Stir Kinect Desk M1 comes with built-in electronics and a motor that lowers or raises the desk so that you can either sit in front of it or stand at different times in the day.

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It’s one more example of how connected our world is becoming with the Internet of Things, or smart and connected everyday objects. It also intersects with the “quantified self” trend of tracking our health and fitness data. JP Labrosse showed me an older, more expensive version of the desk, the Stir Kinect F1, at the recent 2015 International CES, the big tech trade show in Las Vegas. That desk launched last year, and it still sells for $4,190.

“We think of the desk as the non-wearable wearable,” he said in an interview with VentureBeat. “You spend so much of your day with it, and it can have a lot of intelligence.”

This new rectangular desk, the M1, has a slimmer and flexible body shape designed for either individual consumers or large businesses. It is designed to be ergonomic, with a sloping-edge design for more comfort and easy resting of the arms and wrists while working. The M1 is cheaper, but its smartness comes at a price: $2,990 including shipping.

For sure, this is an impressive desk. It is indeed “kinetic.” You can control it with a 5-inch touchscreen display in the corner, and it will rise so you can stand in front of it. If it senses you have been standing for a while, it will recommend that it lower so that you can rest and sit in a chair. The desk has a sensor that knows when you arrive or leave. It learns your preferences, and it actively reminds you to change positions throughout the day.

The desk has quite a bit of smarts. It has a 1-gigahertz Cortex-A8 processor that is four times faster than the previous one, as well as double the data storage capacity of the prior desk. The display has a 800 x 480 resolution with a 360-degree field of view. It is very bright, and it has an anti-glare film so you can see it in the sunlight. All of the electronics are housed in a modular single-board computer that fits in a removable enclosure.

The desk allows for accessories such as monitor arms, keyboard trays, and task lamps. It has electrical outlets accessible via tabletop cut-outs on the top of the desk, so you don’t have to worry about cables when the desk is rising or lowering. The desk can connect to the cloud, and you can reconfigure it to your own tastes if you move from one desk to another at a workplace. Users can travel with their preferences and install them at any Stir Kinect Desk around the world.

In the future, the company will create Android and iOS apps for the platform. The desk can use a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth low-energy connection, and it is compatible with fitness devices such as Fitbit. It requires only eight bolts to assemble, and it can be fully installed within 30 minutes. You can buy an M1 from the Stir web site or at select Relax the Back stores and at allmodern.com.

Pasadena, Calif.-based Stir was founded in June 2012. It has 17 employees.

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