How will your home look in 2050? With technology continuing to evolve at a rapid pace, it’s sure to look a lot different to how it looks today.
Diligently working behind the scenes, tomorrows inventors are already coming up with solutions that solve many of the problems we face today.
From saving the environment with powerless fridges through to wardrobes that clean your clothes, there’s a lot to be excited about in the homes of the future.
We take a look at 9 of the most futuristic gadgets that could be in your homes by 2050.
1) Bio Robot Refrigerator
The humble Freon fridge has remained virtually unchanged since it was invented in the 1920’s. It’s surely time it got an upgrade?
Step forward Yuriy Dmitriev, a Russian student who became one of the finalists of the Electrolux Design Lab Competition in 2010 with his Bio Robot Refrigerator design.
The open-fronted fridge uses no power and takes up substantially less space than even the slimmest models available today.
That’s because it uses an odourless, non-sticky gel that ‘wraps’ around food placed inside to form a protective barrier. The cooling of the food is achieved by the gel absorbing heat energy and radiating it in a different range of wavelengths. The gel also protects from UV radiation that can damage the food.
It looks like something off a spacecraft and the technology is promising, though we are still a little unsure how you would keep it clean!
2) Urine Analysis Smart Toilets
If you’ve ever been to Japan, you’ll probably have encountered a toilet that seems like it can do everything for you at the touch of a button.
Self-cleaning toilet seats with controllable bidet functions are nothing new, but the smart toilet may be about to get another upgrade.
Cambridge University nanotech researchers are working on a toilet that’s able to analyse your urine each time you use it.
Special sensors can perform a urine analysis and then transmit the results straight to a laptop or mobile app used by the homeowner or their GP.
Early feedback suggests the toilet could save patients and health authorities worldwide millions of pounds while ensuring the right drugs are given to individual patients at the right time.
3) Clean Closet
When was the last time you put dirty clothes in your wardrobe and removed them a few hours later completely clean? Right, never. But that could be about to change.
Laundry baskets and washing machines could be a thing of the past if the Clean Closet ever becomes reality.
From the same Electrolux Design Lab competition as the Bio Robot Refrigerator, the Clean Closet first scans your clothes for impurities, then cleans them using molecular technology.
This means that no water is needed, helping to save the environment and give you cleaner clothes more quickly.
4) Aeroball
With the modern industry-heavy world, clean air is harder and harder to find, even in your own home. However, the Aeroball is aiming to create a cleaner, more habitable home.
The concept is simple, it’s an air freshener and purifier. Yet the technology is somewhat amazing.
Say goodbye to plug-ins and sprays, the Aeroball simply hovers in a room, cleaning and filtering the air. Then, as it reaches capacity, it falls slightly, so you know it’s full.
If that’s not impressive enough, it also absorbs light during the day then radiates the light back out at night.
Although only a concept at the moment, designer Jan Ankiersztajn did go on to win the Electrolux Design Lab contest in 2012.
5) SmartPlate
First, it was your phone, then your TV. Now the humble dinner plate is becoming ‘smart’.
Billed as ‘your personal nutritionist’, the SmartPlate helps you track the nutritional content of each meal you consume.
Using tiny cameras and advanced image recognition, this gadget can recognise the items on your plate and then tell you the amount of fat, calories, protein, and more that are contained in your meal.
Using the linked app, you can set goals and monitor your daily intake directly on your phone.
The inventor received funding for this technology and is now offering the SmartPlate in the form of a memebership with other benefits.
6) Milkmaid
The stench of sour milk is enough to turn even the strongest stomach, however, curdled milk could soon be a thing of the past.
The Milkmaid is a milk storage vessel with added smartness. It can tell you how much milk you have left, alert you when you need to buy more, and even tell you when your milk is past its best!
Want to know something even more impressive? It was developed over the course of a single month for The Quirky + GE Project. That’s barely even enough time for the milk to go off!
Do we NEED it? Probably not. Do we WANT it? You betcha!
A word of warning though, despite being announced in 2012, things have gone a little quiet since. So, don’t hold your breath for this being in your fridge any time soon.
7) The Transparent TV
Imagine if your TV was completely see-through…… that would be….ummm…..pointless?
Not entirely! TVs are great when switched on and in-use. However, when they are without power they are just black marks in the room, destroying your ‘zen’ (yep, you have it!).
Introducing the transparent TV that’s coming to a living room near you soon.
In fact, its thought that most of the major manufacturers are working on transparent TV prototypes at the moment.
That may mean we’ll soon see the first commercially available set in the next few years, though there are still some issues to resolve around picture quality.
8) SONTE Film
Looking to avoid dreary curtains or temperamental blinds in your home? Step forward SONTE Film.
You won’t see far into the future with this product installed as it has the ability to turn your windows from clear to opaque at the touch of your smartphone.
The self-adhesive film is simply cut to size and applied to the window. You then use an app to control how much you are able to see through the glass.
This makes it perfect for bathrooms, skylights, and any other windows where you want control over your privacy without the need for curtains or blinds.
Better yet, it’s designed to be installed by the homeowner and is already available here.
9) Robotic Kitchen
Love good food but lack the time, energy, or know-how to make it yourself?
At the moment that means you either need to buy pre-prepared meals from the supermarket, order a takeaway, or hire a chef! But, one company is looking to change that.
Introducing the Moley Robotics Kitchen, the kitchen helper of the future that knows how to cook up a storm!
Simply select your meal from the app and the robotic arms will mix, pour, and stir until your chosen meal is complete.
With input from some of the leading chefs in the world, this is one that really could bring home the bacon (or at least cook it, anyway!).
The One That Got Away…
As is the nature of futuristic technology, not everything makes it into mass production.
Step (or rather, roll!) forward Kuri, the interactive home robot that’s sadly gone to the big robot graveyard in the sky.
Created in 2015 by Mayfield Robotics, an independent entity of the Bosch Startup Platform, this cute little robot was essentially an Amazon Echo device on wheels, with a few more bells and whistles added for good measure.
It could respond to careful touches, capture picture and video as it navigated around your home, and respond to voice commands, much like Amazon’s Alexa assistant.
Unfortunately, in July 2018 it was announced that Kuri was to be canned as parent company Bosch decided it was “not a business fit”.
So, we’ll have to wait a little longer to see whether robotic home assistants ever become a common sight in households across the country.
