In the office of the future, heat maps will facilitate employee interactions, and conference rooms will talk to you. At least if you're a member of WeWork.
The hipster coworking company has long thought of itself as an operating system for real estate, rather than simply a place to rent a desk. And WeWork offered a glimpse at how it's using technological insights to transform its offices during the first-ever "product innovation roundtable" at its Times Square location yesterday.
Constant throughout the presentation was the notion of a building as a living, breathing thing, ripe with data that can help guide WeWork’s business. "Buildings are literally becoming giant computers," said Joshua Emig, head of product research.