In the last year and a half the impact of smart speakers has been felt in homes across the country. Now, we're all asking devices to tell us the weather, order our groceries, play music and keep our lives in order.
With self-driving cars in development and the wearable technology market set to double by 2021, notions of robot assistants and fully-automated homes are no longer the far-flung predictions of Tomorrow’s World.
We’ve already taken a look at what’s been predicted for the office of the future, so now it’s time to ask the experts what the home of the future has in store for us. This is what we have to look forward to in the year 2050!
Living Room
One mainstay of the home seems to have fallen by the wayside in the name of health – the TV. Don’t worry, we’ll still be able to kick back and relax thanks to augmented reality and projectors.
“I think the lighting in our homes could be improved to better reflect the range of light spectrums that are emitted naturally by the sun. Also, more homes set up with projectors rather than LCD TVs to again limit the amount of unnatural light our eyes and skin are exposed to after sunset.” Dan Trussler, Ancestral Health
“[T]he biggest leaps forward in home cleanliness will come from advancements in the material sciences. Fabrics, countertops, cabinet handles – future home renovators will have the option of buying fixtures and finishes made from materials that are resistant to scratches, stains, and all manner of bacteria.” David Tal, Quantumrun
Kitchen
The quantified self has emerged from the use of health apps that track everything from the steps we take to the food we eat. The kitchen of the future will help us reach our fitness goals by synchronising with our tech and preparing the food we need to stay fit.
“To support the health of young people and adults, smart fridges with display screens that can suggest grocery lists, meal plans, and even cooking instructions, all customised to the owner’s health and fitness goals. It could be a game changer.” David Tal
“The kitchen will become an integrated refrigerator, conveyer belt auto-dispenser, stove, sink and dishwasher and storage system. It means that without human intervention, it maintains an inventory of food items and reorders as needed. It will dispense the ingredients for the robotic chef arms to make meals and then the workflow proceeds to clean the dirty dishes and place the clean plates and utensils in the right location.” Scott Amyx, Venture Capitalist and Author
Bathroom
Our bathrooms will see a great influx of technology to prep us for the start of the day and keep track of our health. Our bathroom mirrors will also be able to preview potential new hairstyles, making getting ready in the morning a breeze.
“In the future, personal assistant technology will become more integrated with the structure of the house. We are starting to see this now with bathroom vanities with fully-integrated technology features that show the news, weather and traffic with a simple touch.” Dayna Hairston, Freelance Interior Designer
“Bio-electrical impedance scales and 3D scales will perform a body scan and provide updates and progress for home members on their health journeys. They will report on body composition and provide forecasts of when we can accomplish our health goals.” Ronnie Rich, Fitbanker
Bedroom
Thankfully, the home of the future will remove much of the hassle of keeping our bedrooms tidy and comfortable. Solar energy will also play a significant role keeping our homes self-sufficient, meaning you don’t have to worry too much about those heating bills.
“Automated temperature regulation will be key, such as self-regulated fans and heaters that automatically adjust to temperature fluctuations. I also foresee solar panels becoming a normal part of building construction, especially in newer areas where homes can be sited with the proper orientation to maximize solar exposure.” Dayna Hairston
“Home decoration will change as more people opt to buy virtual paintings, virtual home décor and virtual paint and wallpaper options. That also goes for clothes. Clothes can change shape, texture and style instantly on demand as well as be superimposed with augmented reality to have viewers see different effects. That means your outfit may look different to a stranger than it might do to a family member.” Scott Amyx
VR Wellness Room
Health is a major driving force behind the technology in our future homes, with the wellness room being a prime example. We’ll be able to exercise, meditate, or just relax in digital environments using advancements in virtual reality technology, meaning you don’t even need to leave your home to go on the trip of a lifetime.
“Humidity and temperature will be more accurately controlled, and small intelligent indoor gyms will be adapted to an individual, responding to the fitness and current state of motivation. However, technology that isolates people and keeps them indoors, away from green space, will have a negative effect on health so there will be indoor, climate-controlled plants so that gardens will be more indoors than outdoors, purely for the health benefits.” Dr William Bird, Intelligent Health
“The future of entertainment will be very much virtual, yet social. Virtual reality, mixed reality and direct brain-computer interface can create on-demand vacations. At any given moment, people can choose to weave in and out of multiverse or dimensions created by virtual realities. People will experience multiple parallel lives through avatars and created realities that will start to blur physical reality with created realities.” Scott Amyx
One aspect you might notice about the home of the future is the lack of a garage. You can thank self-driving cars and the sharing economy for that:
“Aside from the rich, most of the population will opt to sell their cars in favour of dirt-cheap, self-driving rideshare services that can transport us to wherever we need to go, as needed. As a result, those who still live in detached, single-family houses will convert their garages into additional liveable spaces.” David Tal
You’ll also be able to choose exactly how your home is built, thanks to developments in pre-fabrication technologies:
“In my humble observations, these premises are on a steady trend to dominate the market because people can rely on getting exactly what they opted in for. A little something peculiar I noticed is a few companies that actually sold pre-fab (or otherwise called ‘ready-to-assemble’ or, the most common term, ‘flat-packed’) houses strictly in Bitcoin!” Dmitri Kara, Fantastic Handymen
What do you expect to see in the home of the future? Send us your future requests on Twitter @plusnet.