World’s First “Walking Room” With Long Treadmill Desks

In the wake of COVID-19, everyone is searching for creative ways to bring people back into the office and foster team spirit in the workplace. The Walking Room concept is one among them that increases energy and productivity in the office. The Walking Room is a company founded by a former tennis player and a physiotherapist who wanted to bring movement into workplaces. The company partnered with the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences to conduct a six-month-long study involving more than 150 office workers.

After using various walking methods on treadmills at work, at least 60% of participants said they felt more productive, less stressed, and more creative with the integration of walking into their office day.

Participants were more enthusiastic when treadmills were grouped and they did not have to walk by themselves. However, results from other studies focusing on treadmill desks have reflected mixed results.

Even a recent study found that treadmill desks increase your overall energy, but found no evidence of statistically significant changes in other metabolic outcomes, like blood pressure. Keeping these things in mind, the company launched its pilot project in EDGE Stadium, a new office building looking to lure new tenants in Amsterdam.

“Walking Room'’: Large Treadmill Made for Workplaces

This glassy conference room on the ground floor of an office building in Amsterdam has a carpet made of grass. At the far end of the carpet is a rectangular desk, a long wooden table with four steel legs, and a touchscreen embedded into its surface.

Touching the button on the screen will start the carpet to glide, slipping the entire room beneath your feet as it forces you to walk along. This contraption is the world’s first “walking room”. Instead of a narrow belt, people get a moving carpet the size of a 10-by-12-foot room that can fit at least 8 to 10 people.

Instead of sitting around a conference table, you can book a time slot in a walking room and walk on a giant treadmill during your meeting. The room has three speeds, with the most chosen is 1.5 or 2 mph, with the less popular option for “power walk” mode, which clocks in at just over 3 mph.

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The slower speed is ideal for taking phone calls and doing focused tasks, while the medium speed is perfect for group meetings and one-on-ones. For safety, two emergency buttons are located on either end of the table.

Two additional railings and sensors to automatically switch off the machine while getting too close to the back edge are present. At the EDGE Stadium, the walking room is raised on a plinth, about 10 inches off the ground, that can be accessed by a few steps or a switchback ramp.

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Sitting is the new smoking and taking a walking meeting can increase your overall health, boost your energy, reduce your stress levels, increase your productivity, and get your creative juices flowing more easily.

Hence, people can achieve their health objectives by creating something they can do during work hours and together. So, this new idea of a treadmill is to attract people to the treadmill and get them moving while working.



Source-Medindia