Office breakrooms are casual hubs where employees pause amidst their hectic schedules, grab refreshments, and engage in light-hearted interactions. These lively spaces foster camaraderie and a sense of community!
However, these little spaces hold great potential. In fact, in the future, office breakrooms will be redesigned entirely with automation and technology to offer employees great convenience.
If you’re curious about the breakrooms of the future, here’s a little sneak peek!
Contactless, autonomous checkout solutions
Autonomous and contactless checkout solutions are becoming a trend in most workplaces. More companies are switching to an autonomous checkout solution from a reliable, experienced company with quick deployment. This system is AI-powered and uses high-resolution cameras and sensor data fusion. Employees can enter a station in the breakroom, grab what they want (food or even stationery), and leave. The system automatically bills them for their items directly on a connected payment form.
The technology also reduces queues and wait times, helping employees grab their necessities sooner. This reduces frustration and helps them return to their desks sooner.
These systems can also track inventory and send signals when there are low stocks. Based on the data of what sells out quicker, offices can also personalize offerings to better suit needs.
Automated food/beverage solutions
An interesting futuristic office breakroom feature is the automated food and beverage solution. This includes computerized machines where employees can choose beverages, like tea, coffee, water, soda, and much more.
Certain companies are even adopting smart fridges and micro markets—a different kind of self-service vending machine. In these, employees can access fresh meals, refreshments, and beverages by scanning a QR code or other form of payment.
Another automated beverage vending machine is even more advanced, where employees can create their very own custom beverage from scratch. From flavors to the amount of milk and sugar, all ingredients can be customized using mobile apps through prebuilt options.
Wellness stations
Many companies are already embracing wellness pods or stations in the breakroom. 83% of US workers suffer from work stress, and 39% cite workload as the primary reason for stress. With the help of these wellness facilities, employees can take a break far from their desks when they feel stressed and overwhelmed. They can take a moment in this private space within the breakroom and relax with meditation and stretching. This reduces burnout and boosts job satisfaction.
Wellness pods have unique features, such as calm music, aromatherapy, and mood lights. These create a soothing ambiance to help employees wind down quickly and resume work.
Certain pods also have biometric sensors to track employee heart rate, breathing intensity, and stress levels. The pod personalizes the ambiance based on these figures, which helps employees understand when they feel good enough to return to their desks.
Eco-conscious automation
More and more businesses are embracing green initiatives so that eco-conscious measures will be common in breakrooms in the future. For instance, intelligent waste bins might sort compostables and recyclables automatically. Thus, employees and the cleaning team won’t have to sort through waste to divide it.
You can anticipate smart appliances like sensor-powered lights and heating and cooling systems that turn on only when there’s activity in the breakroom. There will be smart fridges that automatically control temperature based on the content. These will save energy, reduce utility bills, and diminish the company’s entire carbon footprint.
Entertainment and fitness features
79% of employees think sparing some time to have fun at the workplace boosts productivity and makes employees feel more productive.
Companies have started focusing on integrating entertainment and fitness in breakrooms, using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). These might be integrated with gaming setups and relaxing courses with visuals of virtual escapes in calm environments.
Improved connectivity and collaboration solutions
In the future, companies will also consider enhancing the connectivity of breakrooms to create a collaborative space besides one for relaxation. For instance, they’ll install video conferencing technologies, projectors, and high-resolution displays so employees can collaborate virtually and in person. This will help them discuss work in a more casual and relaxed setting.
This arrangement, where everyone relaxes and sips on coffee, promotes more spontaneous idea-sharing between in-office and virtual teams. It also creates a sense of unity while ensuring nobody feels too pressured to stay formal.
Conclusion
With these technologies, future office breakrooms will be much more advanced. They will also serve a broader range of functionality, including relaxation, entertainment, and even collaboration, offering the ultimate convenience.
