Welcome to the Home of the Future
Self-cleaning clothes, checking Twitter in the shower, scales that tell you how much to eat & ‘grow your own’ indoor veg – welcome to the Home of the Future. Rightmove today reveals what the home of 2030 could look like, according to a group of tech experts.
A social media shower curtain, smart scales and a magic mirror that gives you outfit suggestions are among the technological advances that could start making their way into the UK home.
Rightmove, which celebrates its 15th birthday this year, has partnered with experts from PC Pro, Pocket-Lint and Future Timeline to look at how homes could evolve over the next 15 years.
An interactive tool that tracks the changes over the next 15 years is available to view at Rightmove’s Home of the Future.
Those not yet ready to embrace the new tech can click and take a trip back to the year 2000, to reminisce about the days of the hi-fi and mechanical scales.
Abiola Oni, Research Manager at Rightmove, said:
“New technology will transform the home of the future. Complaints like an internet black spot at the back of your kitchen or worrying if you’ve switched your heating off could be a thing of the past. It’ll be fascinating to see how people adapt to these new products and tailor them to suit their lifestyle. Of course such advanced technology won’t appeal to everyone but those who are prepared to push for the latest and greatest could find their property stands out from the crowd when it comes to selling up and moving on.”
Here are some of the key changes that could be coming to a home near you sooner than you might think:
1 Internet-enabled doorbells
“Who’s that at the door? Sorry, I’m in America”. This could well be something you have to tell your friendly visitor in 15 years’ time. Pocket-lint’s Stuart Miles says that every single electronics device in the home will be connected to the internet, including the doorbell. He thinks they will become a must-have item in the next couple of years, as people get excited by the idea of having their phone ring wherever in the world or house they are when someone is at the door.
2 How much milk is in the fridge? Did I leave my straighteners on?
Tim Danton, Editor of PC Pro magazine thinks that smartphones will advance to the point that we’ll be able to control nearly everything in the house with them – even if we’re not home. “You’ll be able to check how much milk you have in the fridge whilst you’re at the supermarket,” he said, adding that smart security systems will also give us constant updates on who’s in the house and what they’re doing.
3 Mirror, Mirror on the wall…
A smart mirror, which is a screen with an integrated computer, features a virtual wardrobe function so users can try different garments on a model of themselves before getting dressed. The magic mirror can even make polite outfit suggestions, to make sure you’re looking your best before leaving the house.
4 Smart scales
There are numerous apps that tell you how many calories you should eat a day, but in the near future this could extend to your bathroom scales. The scales would be integrated into a sensor pad in the floor and connected to the shower curtain screen, and could provide you with a detailed assessment of your vital statistics, letting you know many calories you should plan to have that day.
5 Self-cleaning clothes
These might sound too good to be true, but nanotech clothes could mean the end of the weekly wash. Self-cleaning fabrics, truly waterproof materials and personal climate control are all being developed right now, and could be available from a retailer near you in the future.
6 The social media shower
That’s right, in the future you could be washing your hair while checking the news. Using flexible display technology, your boring old shower curtain could double up as a screen. You can check social media, listen to music or catch up on the headlines while you shower.
7 Grow your own veg – indoors
No outdoor space for starting your veg garden? No problem. The need for more and more reliable crops will lead to a surge in the use of hydroponic technology, while will spread into the home with indoor gardens providing fresh fruit and veg all year round.
For a chance to win an Apple Watch and to see how your home could look in 15 years, take a tour of the Home of the Future by visiting:
