KI's Web-surfing Lectern Earns Gold IDEA Award

Dave Platter -- Interior Design, 7/8/2003

KI's space-age design for a lectern that allows presenters to surf the net, use built-in cameras to zoom in on the audience, and to absently return a beverage cup to its appointed holder without fear of spillage, has won the Gold Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA).

The award is co-sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and BusinessWeek magazine, where the winners receive in-depth coverage.

“The winners this year used design to push traditional brands into new markets, extend well-known brands into new products, and invent something totally new, cool, and useful,” wrote BusinessWeek.

KI’s lectern is dubbed Wharton because it was developed in collaboration with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

It features push-button electronic height adjustments and an optional plasma touch-sensitive control panel for the room's lighting, sound, presentation technologies and Internet and LAN access.

It can also control cameras located in the room, allowing the speaker to zoom in on audience members on the lectern's screen. Wharton can even store user preferences, and immediately reset all functions to a given speaker’s preference.

In a convenient, but low-tech innovation, the lectern features swing-out cup holders for thirsty speakers.