From comfort to stretch: A new solution for electric sofas

Even in well - established traditional sectors, technology can unlock new possibilities.

In industries with a century - long history like the automotive industry, there has been a recent revival: new players in car - making have emerged one after another, and traditional automakers are transforming... Over the past decade, Chinese car companies have reversed the industry's situation with technology as the fulcrum, enabling "Made in China" to truly enter the upper reaches of the value chain.

Interestingly, while the automotive industry is upgrading, another field closely related to family life - electric sofas - is facing a different kind of industry competition dilemma. In recent years, many brands have entered the electric sofa market, but there are also many low - quality and low - price products flooding the market, passing off inferior goods as high - quality ones. Traditional electric sofa brands are caught in a vicious cycle of "mediocre technology and low - price, low - quality competition", which has invisibly damaged user value and led to the phenomenon of bad money driving out good.

Meanwhile, consumer demand is quietly upgrading. As technology - hardware manufacturers of new - force cars, mobile phones and other products continuously iterate their technologies to provide users with "beyond - expectation" functional experiences, contemporary users' demands for electric sofas are also constantly evolving - they are no longer satisfied with basic functions such as "adjustability and reclining", but expect upgraded experiences such as better sitting and lying comfort, better body - curve fitting, more attractive design, easy cleaning and more convenient operation.

For example, after a busy day, users yearn for a zero - gravity sofa that can help them relax, stretch their bodies, support the whole body and relieve fatigue. These demands may not be explicitly stated by users, but they are real expectations.

On October 15th, Kuka Home held the launch event of its flagship new products of electric intelligent sofas with the theme of "Showcasing the New Generation, a Sincere Creation" in Hangzhou. The content of the launch was completely user - centered, supplemented by a highly technological on - site atmosphere. This means that in the "traditional industry" of home furnishings, Kuka Home has chosen to communicate with users in a more user - friendly way and empower products with more innovative technologies to enhance user experience.

Of course, this breakthrough is not just about "form". At the launch event, Kuka Home newly launched three flagship products, namely the Cloud Stretch zero - gravity experience sofa, the Hertz zero - gravity Pro version, and the Smart Realm. It also defined four standards for the stretch zero - gravity experience: immersive floating (after the functional reclining position is unfolded, the knees are slightly higher than the heart, the seat cushion is tilted upward by 20°, the angle between the thighs and calves is 160°, and the angle between the waist and legs is 135°); full - body support (the maximum stretch length of the functional reclining position reaches nearly 180 cm); no fatigue after long - term sitting or lying (the new cloud - like elastic sponge enhances support); NFC one - key stretch to zero - gravity (customize and adjust the seat memory mode on the mobile phone).

On - site photo of Kuka Home's launch event of the new generation of flagship electric intelligent sofas

At the same time, Kuka Home also grandly launched the fully self - developed K - TRON® Space Z functional frame. This technology directly overcomes the long - standing "impossible triangle" in the industry of "zero - gravity, zero - wall clearance, and real high legs". While achieving the stretch zero - gravity experience, it solves the pain points of needing to leave space behind the sofa and the inconvenience of cleaning the bottom, to best meet the practical needs of various family space forms and easy cleaning.

From new - energy vehicles to electric sofas, these two seemingly unrelated industrial paths actually follow the same underlying logic: when "Made in China" breaks away from the dependence on scale dividends and turns to technology - driven experience dividends, even the most traditional sectors can show new imagination.

01. The leap from "comfort" to "stretch"

What should the new generation of electric sofas be like?

While the industry is still arguing about "which functions to add", Kuka Home has given a different answer: the most authoritative voice doesn't belong to brand manufacturers, but to consumers.

Currently, the number of Kuka Home members is approaching 7 million, and this number is increasing at an accelerating rate every year. Facing such a large user base, Kuka Home didn't choose to self - define, but activated user participation, shifting product R & D from brand - subjective definition to user - demand - driven. The three flagship products launched this time are the fruits of co - creation with members.

The Cloud Stretch electric sofa is undoubtedly the focus of this launch event. It upgrades the electric sofa experience from "comfort" to "stretch", turning the concept of zero - gravity into a tangible stretch experience.

Kuka Home's Cloud Stretch sofa

In the on - site experience area, this feeling is very intuitive: after starting the switch, the backrest doesn't unfold rigidly and mechanically, but moves slowly in sync with the footrest. The body seems to be gently lifted by an invisible hand; the head, neck and back are relieved of stress at the same time. The design with the knees slightly higher than the heart ensures smooth blood circulation, and the spine naturally bends to maintain its physiological curvature. One feels as if floating in the clouds, enjoying an "immersive floating feeling".

Kuka's engineers call this state the "heart - knee balance" state. It's not just a simple angle adjustment, but a re - calculation of multiple sets of data to find the best pressure - releasing state that can relieve the whole body of stress. Coupled with the design of the golden zero - pressure angle, when the body is fully stretched, every muscle can be relaxed, making the posture more stretched.

The golden zero - pressure angle of Kuka Home's Cloud Stretch sofa

This sofa, which can be stretched to nearly 180 cm at its maximum, combined with the waist - chasing lumbar pillow design, can support users of all statures, whether petite or tall. With the support of the Fly Bounce™ cloud - like elastic sponge, users won't feel tired even after sitting or lying for a long time.

Fly Bounce™ cloud - like elastic sponge

How was this unprecedented experience achieved? The launch event revealed one of the important technological bases of the flagship new products - the K - TRON® Space Z functional frame, which fundamentally overcomes the problem that "zero - gravity, zero - wall clearance, and real high legs" cannot be achieved simultaneously.

Kuka Home's K - TRON® Space Z functional frame overcomes the impossible triangle

Normally, for an electric sofa to stretch at a large angle, it needs to be 10 - 15 cm away from the wall; if it's placed against the wall, it can only be adjusted at a small angle, and users may feel uncomfortable in the back after lying for a long time. The squeezed bottom space is not conducive to cleaning, leaving "cleaning dead corners".

Kuka Home's Cloud Stretch sofa's zero - wall clearance design

The K - TRON® Space Z functional frame re - calculates the mechanical curve of the slide rail and finds a solution called the "miracle curve", allowing the backrest to stretch up to 180 cm even when placed against the wall. The bottom uses a double - chute structure, embedding the driving components inside the frame, so that the ground clearance reaches 14 cm. This allows mainstream floor - sweeping robots on the market to pass freely while keeping the structure stable.

Kuka Home's Cloud Stretch sofa has a ground clearance of 14 cm

In the market context, the experience breadth and technological depth of Kuka Home's electric sofas are already sufficient to set it apart from other competitors, but Kuka Home wants more.

Therefore, in the fields that can quickly resonate with consumers - appearance design and intelligent operation, Kuka Home also continues the same demand insight and product exploration.

In terms of appearance, Kuka Home has shifted from empiricalism to data - driven design. From the massive data of users on social media platforms, it transforms consumers' perceptual aesthetic preferences into real digital charts, replacing the traditional heavy - feeling with Morandi colors, soft - light leather, and woven details. The sofa is no longer just a tool for resting in the living room, but has become a product with emotional value that enhances the scene atmosphere.

In the intelligent part, it returns to intuitive operation, with functions such as proximity activation, NFC one - touch access, and five - gear posture customization and saving. Kuka Home believes that the value of intelligence lies in "reducing actions and bringing convenience", rather than creating more troubles.

Kuka Home's Cloud Stretch sofa's NFC one - key stretch to zero - gravity

It's not hard to find that Kuka Home's innovation thinking always puts people first: first understand the lifestyle, then define the structure. The task of engineers is not to invent new actions, but to make relaxation easier.

While the entire industry generally adds functions, Kuka Home's approach is more like a "subtraction experiment". What it wants to do is not to make the sofa more complex, but to make the experience more pure. It brings a piece of furniture back to its core value, from "comfort" to "stretch", from "function" to "experience".

The transformation of new - energy vehicles also starts from meeting the new needs of users' life and travel modes: everyone can copy the mature foreign solutions, but the brands that truly win the market are those that understand Chinese road conditions and family usage habits. Electric sofas in home life are also undergoing a similar reconstruction.

Copying never equals adaptation, and Kuka Home's choice just proves this point.

02. From a niche track to an anti - cycle engine

Currently, the market for electric sofas is indeed heating up. But when the Kuka team decided to enter the market, it was a niche track.

In 2015, one year before Kuka Home went public. Logically, it was the time when they needed to "play it safe", but the company went against the norm and chose to open a second channel - electric sofas.

This was a decision that went against business intuition. At that time, the market penetration rate of electric sofas in China was less than 5%, and the overall scale was small, far less than that of the ordinary sofa market. More importantly, the industry had a long - standing structural dilemma of "scattered demand and difficulty in building large brands".

Kuka Home's Cloud Stretch sofa

This bet is not just about developing a new product category, but a firm belief in judging consumer trends. From a higher - level perspective, it may reshape the industry pattern.

On the one hand, electric sofas have the characteristics of "electrification and scale - up", can be industrially produced, and have economies of scale. On the other hand, new demands are emerging rapidly on the consumer side - people are willing to pay for functions and care more about the certainty of experience. More importantly, the international market has provided a clear reference. In the United States, the penetration rate of electric sofas has already exceeded 50%, and the success logic of this category has been verified, waiting for localization on the supply side.

However, from judgment to realization, it needs to overcome long - term real - world resistance.

At the beginning, what Kuka faced was not market competition, but the "misunderstanding" within the system. Terminal stores were worried that new products would take up display space, the supply chain hesitated whether to open new production lines for an uncertain category, the R & D department had to coordinate multi - dimensional processes such as motors, iron frames, and leather materials, and market data showed that it was difficult to scale up this track in the short term.

Kuka Home's K - TRON® Space Z functional frame

But Kuka Home is very patient.

First of all, it really dares to make upfront investments in R & D, technology, and manufacturing. Although it suffered large - scale losses in the first few years, the management still firmly laid out the strategy.

At the same time, it promotes structural reconstruction at the organizational level, implements value - chain integration, and avoids internal resource - grabbing and strategic mis - focus. It unifies product planning and resource allocation to avoid internal competition diluting the strategic focus.

In terms of product strategy, Kuka abandons the "scatter -