China seems to be a hotbed of independent development of new inventions recently.  Inventing’s a tough business though.  For example, “China’s Noah’s Ark” has dubious financial prospects.

However, in central Chongqing, China, the Wang family has been enjoying their much more promising invention: a floating bed that can be stored in the ceiling!

★It Floats?!
OK, the bed doesn’t really float as much as it’s suspended, but what exactly it’s suspended with is unknown.  In the photo it appears to be hanging by a thin linen curtain, but there must be some unseen metal wires or rods at work.

★Retracts into the Ceiling!
Details on how the bed works are unavailable at this point, but it looks like the bed retracts into the ceiling electrically. Beyond that, we can only speculate on other details, like how fast it goes.

★Opens Up and Decorates Your Ceiling!
Once retracted, the only thing that remains of the bed is a decorative blue circle on your ceiling with light fixtures built in.  This also frees up lots of space in your room!

The Wangs say they have been using these beds for three months without incident and feel comfortable with their safety.  They are considering mass production in the future.

These beds do challenge many commonly held phobias though.  I for one would be terrified to step under any bed in the ceiling for more than one second. Added to that is the less-than-stellar reputation of the “Made In China” label.

On the other hand, these beds are pretty cool and, if successful, could do a lot to reverse that bias against the quality of Chinese products.

Original Article: Kuno Kurosawa on Pouch
Source: http://goo.gl/57CiF (Chinese)