High-Tech Homes

Everything around us is constantly being given the makeover treatment by technology. And the home is no exception. Come with me as I build up a dreamy high-tech home, just for you that would make even James Bond swoon.

 

Step 1: The entrance

Behold! The front door that not only recognises you, but greets you too! Just wander up to your door and OPEN SESAME, your smartphone will grant you entry. Send access codes to family and friends, set parameters defining when they are allowed to enter and video-check who is at your door. Oh, what’s that? You’re worried about hacking? Then how about doubling up with a finger print scanner?

 

Step 2: The living area

Ah, your centre of relaxation and entertainment. Let’s satisfy both those needs with some high tech additions. First up is the transparent television that astounds the senses with crystal clear sound and vision when it is turned on.

Then maybe add in a smart coffee table, with an inbuilt touchscreen that can communicate with microchips in drinking glasses to monitor all your guests’ needs. And, of course, a living room is not a living room without a fancy fireplace – click here for more red-hot information.

 

Step 3: The kitchen

A technological haven. I dare you, for example, to test out this incredible De Dietrich piano smart hob for yourself – a heat source follows the pans wherever they’re moved, it turns itself off when water boils over and the unused areas cool down instantaneously.

Add in a dollop of interactive cooktop from Whirlpool, a dash of multi-use faucet fun (I’m talking coffee, juice and boiling water all from one tap) and a sprinkle of smart-fridge sorcery, and we’ve got a high tech recipe for success!

Check out this Al Jazeera news video describing these kinds of features and more…

 

Step 4: The bedroom

Customise your bedroom anytime you like by swiping designs from your smartphone to your interactive walls and picture frames. Then set up your window blinds so that they close at specific light intensities. Finally, when you’re ready for some shut-eye, the ‘Sleep Number x12’ bed will track your snoozing patterns and suggest adjustments to help make the most of your 8 hours. You can boss it around too, with integrated pseudo-Siri command software included. But, if you don’t fancy that, just go with the hover bed.

 

Step 5: The bathroom

Upon entry to the bathroom, activate the intelligent mirror and catch up on the news, weather and gossip (yes, you are the fairest of them all), before choosing between a bath or a shower in the interchangeable Tulip pod design.

If nature calls, sit on the no-mix toilet that filters your number 1s and processes your number 2s into odourless fertiliser for the garden. When you’re all done, ensure hygiene is maintained with self-sterilising door handles.

 

Step 6: The garden

It’s a common dilemma, I know. Pool or decking? Well, worry not homeowners, because now you can have both, what with movable pool floors actually being a thing. Have a look at the video below and watch how the rustic decking drops down through the water. Dinner party on the deck anyone?

 

Step 7: The exterior

If all houses could go the way of the Heliotrope in Germany – the first house ever to obtain more energy than it uses – then the world would be a happy place. Slap some solar panels on the roof and get the whole house to rotate to track the sun, then I think we’re good to go green.

 

Step 8: The complete picture

So, these gadgets and designs are all well and good, but we need something to bring them all together. The answer is probably in your hand right now – your smartphone or tablet. With an integrated system, you can control the heating, lighting, entertainment systems, garden conditions, front door and even the toilet, all at the touch of your index finger. And the cherry on top? Oh, just a holographic guard and his dog to patrol your pad.

 

by Joe Baylis