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Coming soon. Hold one of the first hundred numbers for a dollar, refundable any time.
TheoMate
Reserve
Listening

Turn these rough launch notes into a one-page brief.

Working
Ready to review

TheoMate Desk

The placeyour dayreturns to.

A quiet object beside your screen. One state, never a feed, and whatever you said on the way, ready to work with.

Reserve your placeA day with it

A day with it

Three moments. One quiet object.

  1. TheoMate Desk showing the day in focus.Ready

    Before it starts

    What is on my calendar, and what should I prepare first?

    A short agenda and one useful first task, on the face. The day has a shape before you sit down.

  2. TheoMate Desk showing ready to review.Ready to review

    Mid-afternoon

    Turn my meeting notes into a follow-up email. Keep it as a draft.

    The desk says ready to review. Open it when you choose to, and shape it into something real.

  3. TheoMate Desk showing needs you.Needs you

    Something needs you

    Send it.

    A decision is waiting. The desk asks; it does not act. You approve on a screen you trust.

TheoMate Desk

One key. One face.

A soft-cornered block with a tilted face and a single round key beneath it. Matte where your hand goes, glossy where the day is, and one ring of light that only means something when it is on.

  • The single round key of the Midnight desk, its ring lit, the theomate wordmark beneath.
    One key.
  • The theomate wordmark etched into the Midnight shell.
    Etched, not printed.
  • The seam where the Cloud desk's shell meets its removable base.
    Where it meets the desk.
  • The microphone openings in the edge of the Midnight shell.
    Listening, only when asked.

Drawn from the record

One object, described exactly.

31°

Face tilt

Glanceable from across the room, not another monitor.

3

States on the face

Working, ready to review, needs you. Never a feed.

2

Finishes

Cloud and Midnight. Soft geometry, matte surfaces, one lit detail.

110

Millimetres across

110 × 100 × 65 mm overall. Polymer shell, soft radius, removable base.

Every figure is read from the TheoMate Desk design record. This is a pre-production design; details may change before release.

A woman writing at a desk in an open-plan office, the Midnight desk turned towards her, its face showing the day in focus.

Lifestyle photography on this site is computer-generated: the settings and the people in them are created, not photographed. The products are shown as pre-production renders.

Midnight

Glanceable

A state you can readfrom across the room.

The face

Three states. Nothing else.

The face is a status surface, not a second monitor. It says working, ready to review, or needs you, and it never says more than it knows. Received is not done; the two cues are never merged.

On the face

  • Working

    Theo is running permitted tools. Nothing needs you yet.

  • Ready to review

    Something finished. Open it when you choose to.

  • Needs you

    A decision is waiting. The desk asks; it does not act.

What the desk is for

  • Start the day with a shape

    Speak the day before it starts. A board card for the follow-up you would otherwise forget.

  • Turn talk into an artifact

    A conversation becomes a note, a document or a deck in your OpenCharts workspace.

  • Show what is ready for you

    A glanceable state from across the room. Open it when you choose to.

Our technology

Four decisions, and what each one cost.

A desk object earns its place by what it refuses to do. These are the four choices that shape it — the problem each one answers, and what it gave up to answer it.

The TheoMate Desk showing the ready-to-review state on its inclined face.

01 / 04

A face, not a feed.

Every screen already on your desk is competing for your attention, and winning. Adding another one that behaves the same way makes the problem worse, not better.

So this face is allowed to say one thing at a time, and only three things in total: working, ready to review, or needs you. It sits at 31 degrees — angled to be read from across the room rather than leaned into — and it never merges “received” with “done”, because those are different facts and conflating them is how software teaches you to stop trusting it.

You glance at it. That is the whole interaction, most of the day.

The TheoMate Desk showing the needs-you state, waiting on a decision.

02 / 04

It asks. It does not act.

An assistant that can act on your behalf is an assistant that can act against your interests, and you will not find out until afterwards.

So the most capable object on the desk has exactly one verb. The centre key starts a request and cannot finish one: anything consequential — a message sent, a document shared, a decision committed — waits on a screen where you can see what is actually proposed and say yes to that specific thing.

It can start anything and approve nothing. The asymmetry is the point.

The microphone openings in the edge of the Midnight desk shell.

03 / 04

The microphones are cut in hardware.

A desk object lives in the room where you have private conversations. A software mute is a promise; a room does not care about promises.

So a physical slide switch cuts the microphone rail, backed by a load switch and line buffers rather than a flag in firmware. The rail defaults to off at power-on, which means the failure mode of a crash, a bad update or an unfinished boot is silence rather than an open microphone.

Off at power-on, off when cut, and a witness light that only hardware can turn on.

The seam where the Cloud desk's shell meets its removable base.

04 / 04

It stays plugged in, on purpose.

An object that never leaves one square foot of desk does not need to carry its own energy — but giving it a battery anyway costs volume, cost, a component that ages, and a runtime figure to defend forever.

So it does not have one. A single tethered supply, and everything a battery would have occupied goes to the things you actually notice: a real display behind the face, a real speaker in its own sealed chamber, and a shell that can be quiet because nothing inside it is fighting for room.

No cell to age, no runtime to argue about, and more of the object spent on the object.

TheoMate Desk is in development. Geometry and behaviour come from the design record; details may change before release.

Inside

Built to sit still.

A tilted face, a single centre key, a lit ring for state, and room for a real display and a real speaker. It stays plugged in because an object that lives in one place does not need to carry its own energy, or a runtime claim to defend.

  • A status surface

    Working, ready to review, or needs you. Never a feed.

  • One key

    Hold it to speak. It never grants approval.

  • Two finishes

    Cloud and Midnight. Soft geometry, matte surfaces, one lit detail.

Line drawing and exploded study from the design record. Proposed engineering, not a released schematic.

Line drawing of the TheoMate Desk: the tilted face, the centre key and the lit ring, seen from the front.
The TheoMate Desk in the Midnight finish alone on a dark graphite field, a single light raking the soft radius of its shell, its tilted face showing the day in focus above the round centre key.

Lifestyle photography on this site is computer-generated: the settings and the people in them are created, not photographed. The products are shown as pre-production renders.

Midnight

Soft geometry.Matte surfaces.One lit detail.

Make it yours

Cloud, or Midnight.

One material language: soft geometry, matte surfaces, one lit detail. Cloud disappears into a bright room; Midnight sits back and lets the face do the talking.

TheoMate Desk in the Cloud finish: a tilted face showing the day in focus and a single centre key.

A warm off-white shell for bright desks.

The Cloud and Midnight desks side by side on a pale field.
Two ways.

Where it lives

A desk you return to.

  • The Midnight desk on a marble counter, its face showing the day in focus.
    Against the grain.Midnight
  • A woman pours coffee in a plant-filled kitchen, the Cloud desk on the counter beside her.
    The room it lives in.Cloud
  • The Midnight desk on a bedside table at night, a lamp and a book beside it.
    Last thing, quietly.Midnight
  • A man reads at a library table, the Cloud desk beside his book.
    Quietly, so nobody hears.Cloud
  • The Cloud desk on a bookshelf beside a trailing plant.
    Where it lives.Cloud
  • A man at a desk before dawn under a single lamp, the Cloud desk beside his papers.
    Before anyone else is up.Cloud
  • The Cloud desk on a shared kitchen island in morning light, among fruit, cups and a folded cloth.
    The family shelf.Cloud
  • The Midnight desk on a window sill on a grey, rainy afternoon.
    A grey afternoon.Midnight
  • A woman at a plant-lined studio apartment desk, the Cloud desk beside her laptop.
    Home, mid-sentence.Cloud
  • The Midnight desk on a wooden nightstand at night, its face lit beside a lamp, a glass of water and a book.
    Charging, quietly.Midnight
  • A woman writing at a desk in an open-plan office, the Midnight desk turned towards her.
    Mid-morning.Midnight
  • The Cloud desk set down on a hallway console beside a small tray.
    Set down at the door.Cloud

Lifestyle photography on this site is computer-generated: the settings and the people in them are created, not photographed. The products are shown as pre-production renders.

Tech specs

The whole object, written down.

The enclosure is read from the TheoMate Desk record; the rest is what is inside it, from the panel behind the face to the switch that cuts the microphones.

The TheoMate Desk in the Cloud finish, its inclined face showing the day in focus above the round centre key.

Enclosure

110 × 100 × 65mm

Moulded shell, on a removable base.

A soft-cornered block that sits still. It is a desk object, not a device you carry.

  • Envelope110 × 100 × 65 mm
  • Face tilt31°
  • Base96 × 86 × 6 mm, removable
  • ShellMoulded PC+ABS
  • FinishesCloud and Midnight
  • MarkEtched 0.3 mm deep

Enclosure, 1 of 5

The full sheetAll 26 lines, each with what it does and does not mean.

Enclosure

  • Envelope

    110 × 100 × 65 mm

    A soft-cornered block that sits still. It is a desk object, not a device you carry.

  • Face tilt

    31°

    Angled to be read from across the room rather than leaned into.

  • Base

    96 × 86 × 6 mm, removable

    A separate carrier with an isolating foot, so the soft parts can be replaced on their own.

  • Shell

    Moulded PC+ABS

    Matte where your hand goes, glossy where the day is.

  • Finishes

    Cloud and Midnight

    #E7ECF2 and #131F32. Soft geometry, matte surfaces, one lit detail.

  • Mark

    Etched 0.3 mm deep

    A 6.5 mm emblem beside a 7 mm wordmark. Etched, not printed.

Face and sound

  • Display

    4.3-inch, 800 × 480

    A real panel behind the inclined face, rather than an array of indicator lights pretending to be one.

  • Touch

    Integrated capacitive

    On the panel itself. The face is a status surface, not a second monitor.

  • Backlight

    Constant current

    Its own boost converter, so the face holds its brightness whatever else is drawing.

  • States

    3

    Working, ready to review, needs you. Received is never merged with done, and there is never a feed.

  • Speaker

    28 mm, in its own chamber

    Sealed away from the rest of the object and driven by a digital class-D amplifier.

  • Indicator

    Ready #6F8395 · Recording #D4FF00 · Mic off #E10A20

    One ring of light. Red is the microphone being off; it never means recording.

Controls and capture

  • Hold key

    One momentary centre key

    Beneath the face. Hold it to speak; it can start anything and approve nothing.

  • Microphones

    Two, bottom-ported

    Digital MEMS, powered only while the key is held.

  • Lockout

    A physical slide switch

    Backed by a load switch and line buffers rather than a flag in firmware. The rail defaults off at power-on.

  • Witness

    Red means the microphone is off

    Shown by hardware, reported by software, and reversible only at the switch.

  • Approval

    Never here

    A consequential action waits for a screen you trust. The desk asks; it does not act.

Silicon and connectivity

  • Controller

    A dual-core module, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

    It drives the face and holds the link. Everything consequential still waits for a screen you trust.

  • Memory

    16 MB flash · 8 MB RAM

    Enough for the interface and the connection, and deliberately not for a library of audio.

  • Link

    Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

    The desk connects on its own; the band never does.

  • Slow control

    An I²C expander

    For the witness light and the signals that have no reason to be fast.

  • Panel interconnect

    Flex connectors

    Between the panel and the board, inside the shell.

Power

  • Input

    USB-C, 5 V tethered

    With role detection, protection and fault containment behind it. It stays plugged in on purpose.

  • Main rail

    3.3 V

    A buck converter, with the backlight's boost kept separate from it.

  • Battery

    None, by design

    An object that lives in one place does not need to carry its own energy, or a runtime claim to defend.

  • Calculated draw

    2.6 W connected · 6.5 W bench stress

    Calculated scenarios from the engineering record, not measured results. The four are set out below.

Geometry and finishes come from the TheoMate Desk design record, and every position is sourced. This is a pre-production design: packaging, finishes and final component selections may change before release.

Power

Four loads, calculated.

The desk never leaves the mains, so the interesting figure is not how long it lasts but what it pulls. Four scenarios from the engineering record, drawn against the same scale.

2.6W

Microphone off, speaker off. The state it spends most of the day in.

0.52 A at 5 V

Calculated from the engineering record's rail currents, converter efficiencies and stated losses. These are calculated loads, not measured results.

Energy

Why the desk stays plugged in.

An object that lives in one place does not need to carry its own energy. Two hours of the calculated bench-stress load would need roughly 13 Wh, about a phone-sized battery, before any safety system. The decision is a 5 V tethered reference, with no runtime claim to defend.

Figures are calculated from the engineering record, not measured on hardware.

Continuity

The desk says the same thing.

One state, two faces. The desk's screen and the phone in your pocket never disagree about what has happened. Ready to review on the desk is the same note, the same request identity, ready to open on the phone.

It asks; it does not act. The desk can start anything and approve nothing.

The details, quietly.

110 × 100 × 65 mm
Envelope
Polymer shell, soft radius, removable base
31°
Face tilt
Glanceable, not another monitor
3
States
Working, ready to review, needs you
2
Finishes
Cloud #E7ECF2 and Midnight #131F32
4.3″
Display module
A real module with cover and retaining bezel, in the study
5 V
Tethered reference
Stays plugged in; no runtime claim
1
Centre key
Hold to speak. The key never grants approval
Red
Means microphone off
Never recording

Values come from the preserved desk record and the Engineering Atlas v002: proposed geometry and calculated scenarios, not a released schematic or fabrication CAD.

The first hundred

A hundred places.Then never again.

The first hundred TheoMates are a closed edition. Each one carries its number and its owner's name cut into the case, and a refundable dollar is what holds one of those numbers. Places are given out in the order they are taken, so the only thing that decides your number is when you decide.

Cut into the case

No./ 100

Your number, out of one hundred.

One hundred numbers in the whole edition. One of them can have your name under it.

The edition number and the name of the person holding it, etched where the case meets the wrist. It is struck once. There is no second run of a first hundred.

  1. 01

    Your number, cut into the case

    One of a hundred cases carrying its edition number and your name. Whoever arrives at a hundred and one cannot buy their way into that, at any price.

  2. 02

    Founder pricing, held for you

    Your place carries a price below launch, applied the day there is a launch price to be below. You are never asked to guess at a number now.

  3. 03

    A strap that is never restocked

    A strap and a finish drawn for the first hundred and retired the day they go out. They do not come back in a later colourway.

  4. 04

    Called first, in the order you reserved

    When there is something to buy, the hundred hear before the list, in the order the places were taken. Reservations for both objects are called before singles.

This is what we are working toward rather than a guarantee. There is no final price and no date yet, and your deposit comes back in one press for as long as that stays true.

Take a number.

One dollar for one object, five for both. Refundable in one press, for any reason or none.

What would your number be for?

No deposit, and you still hear from us. You just will not be one of the hundred.

  • Not a purchase. The deposit holds your place. It is not payment toward a price.
  • Not locked in. One press gives it back, any time, and the only thing you give up is the place.

Refundable in full, any time, without a reason. You do it yourself, in one press. Manage or refund a reservation or read the reservation terms.

Why now. Numbers are assigned in the order they are reserved. Waiting costs you nothing except a lower number, and reserving costs you nothing you cannot take straight back.

What it will never do.

  • Listen when you have not asked. Capture is a deliberate hold, every time.
  • Track your body. There is no medical or fitness sensing in this product.
  • Carry your location or your money. Maps and payments stay on your phone.
  • Approve anything from your wrist. The band can request; only you can authorise.