GRAND RAPIDS — Steelcase Inc. has partnered with a global tech firm to capitalize on the growing market for connected devices in the office.

After years of increasing the technological content in the modern office, Grand Rapids-based Steelcase (NYSE: SCS) has created five office layouts — dubbed “Creative Spaces” — that integrate Microsoft Corp.’s Surface devices.

“As a company, we see the future is going to involve more smart and connected things that can augment the way that people go about their daily lives,” said Sara Armbruster, vice president of strategy, research and new business innovation. “We’ve been thinking really hard about how a smart and connected office can support people in accomplishing their goals in a number of ways, at work, in health care environments, in educational settings. I would say that Steelcase was already on the path of thinking about this exciting new feature of the workplace, even before we began discussing the opportunity with Microsoft. But obviously, there is a lot there that we found we had in common to dig into.”

Read full article, by John Wiegand, at MiBiz.com.