Another gorgeous design, this time from designer Lotte Alpert:
A porcelain teapot is put in its associated holding device where it can be swayed forward well, directed so that the tea can be easily poured into a cup without having to lift the teapot. Furthermore the holding device is able to boil up the liquid in the teapot and to keep it warm precisely on different temperatures. The measured temperatures are read at the diodes in the region of the operational controls and compared with the temperature that was manually chosen. – Yanko Design
It’s perhaps interesting to note that every review I’ve read so far of this concept design (it’s not available to buy) remarks that it is indeed pretty, but useless. Who would be so lazy that they would not need to lift a teapot?
Well, maybe not lazy. Having spent a decade-and-a-half advocating for accessible web design, I can right away see a practical use for those who love their tea, but suffer from arthritis, or the grip weakness that comes with advanced age. There were a couple of times recently when I had trouble lifting a medium-sized teapot (filled with boiling hot water no less) safely – even with two hands – because of the osteoarthritis in my right hand.
I hope this concept design see actual production, and finds its niche in accessible design.