The rather unappetizingly-named "Land Peel" is a concept floor-covering from Kyoto-based student Shin Yamashita. Like a hi-tech tatami, the mats cover your floor in a comfortable, insulating material. Unlike a traditional tatami, they can be folded to make tables, desks and back rests.
The desk/seat-back combo looks particularly useful, and much better for the posture than my current lean-against-wall-with-MacBook-on-lap setup. It does look a little toy-like thanks to the brightly-colored stripes and spots, like a pack of 1980s hair-gel, but fix that and I'm in. Even better would be to incorporate the folding, self-supporting structures into actual tatami-mats for truly invisible, pop-up furniture.
Shin Yamashita: Land Peel [Design Boom]
