1. Smart windows
Windows will have built in smart sensors and digital panels
that allow you to set the levels of light or dark, UV protection, and even
scenery just by touching them. The
need for window shades and coverings will be obsolete and of course the
exterior face of all windows will be equipped to capture and harness solar
energy.
2. Computational
surfaces
Additionally, mirrors, shower glass, and just about any
surface can be made “computational,” accepting our commands by touch screen and
customizing our living experience.
3. Solar technologies
Likewise, a good portion of our power needs in the home will
come from solar energy by 2020, no matter what the climate. Remember the solar
road concept that basically made solar conductors out of paving tracks and
materials? It’s a bad idea for roads but a great idea for homes, where roofing
materials and even siding will all have solar cells implanted, finally taking
us away from non-renewable fuels.
4. Personal 3D printing
Do you need a tool around the house? A part to fix a leaky
faucet? Even a custom welcome sign with your address and family name on it?
Instead of driving to the store, the average American will be able to just plug
in their personal 3D printer at home, download the plans just like we download
apps now, make adjustments online, and print these things. Very soon, we’ll be
able to print custom clothing, toys, artwork, school supplies, and even medical
tech, as the future of 3D printing is exciting and limitless.
5. Holograms
Sure, television screens will get thinner, more clear and
interactive (such as with OLED technology already in development), but the NEXT
revolution in communications and entertainment will be in 4D holograms,
displaying television, video, phone calls, gaming, chats, etc. all in near-life
like displays.
6. Closed water systems
Sadly, the UN reports that 75 percent of our world’s
freshwater is already polluted. As we become more environmentally conscious and
water becomes the most valuable substance on earth, even wastewater from our
sinks, showers, toilets, and hoses won’t go to waste. Homes will have complex
systems that allow for evaporative water and rain water to be captured,
channeled into the system, filtered and used around the house. Likewise, wastewater
won’t be expelled but refiltered and recirculated in our gardens, toilets,
fountains, and hoses, etc.
7. Fingerprint scan
security
“Do you remember back in the day when people actually
carried these little metal key things around with them?” That’s what we’ll be
saying in 2020, when unlocking your front door will be a matter of placing your
finger on a sensor so the system can scan your fingerprints and approve you for
entry.
8. Ocular scanning and
facial recognition
We’re also likely to see ocular scans and face recognition
technology for more advanced security systems, but in 2020, fingerprint
security will do just fine for shedding these metal keys.
9. Biofuels
By 2016, the majority of people will be feeding condensed
pellets made of waste, organic materials, agricultural byproducts and even
garbage into heating and energy systems in our homes, allowing us to get
further away from fossil fuels and save money with clean energy.
10. Light Peak technology
Light peak technology is a technology that allows super fast
data transfer, eventually allowing us to sync and share terabytes of
information in microseconds.
11. Personal computing
will only need personal data
Information sharing will allow us
to walk around with our own personal “computer” full of files, data, and
storage, in a watch, pendant, pen drive or other vehicle, plugging in and
accessing any portal in any room, home, business or office, anywhere in the
world without relying on personal ownership of devices.
12. Personal food
production
Everyone eats, and every home and even apartment has plenty
of space to grow food with green roof and green wall growing systems. Spare
closets, basements, attics, vertical gardens on the inside or outside of walls,
and floating agriculture are all going to allow the average person to grow and
consume a significant portion of their food, allowing us to save money, better
monitor what goes into our food, and live healthier lives.
13. Shifting walls
Instead of applying a coat of paint when you want to change
the color of a room, you’ll be able to program the exact color you want into
digital walls and room, instantly turning it the desired color shade, design,
or even replicating a scenic landscape.
14. Watch command
Everything in our homes – from entry to security,
temperature control, appliances, filtering systems, and lighting, etc. will be
controllable and adjustable by touching your watch – whether you are home or
not.
15. Gesture Control
Lighting, televisions, appliances, window shading, and many
other functions around the house will respond to voice commands and gestures,
not with archaic keyboard strokes and mouse clicks.
16. Conversing with the
central computer
Likewise, you’ll be able to program every alarm clock,
reminder, and appliance with simple voice commands to the home’s central
computer, which will unify every electronic and digital function into a single
easy to operate system.
17. Light-up flooring and
furniture
Just about every surface will have intricate LED lighting
systems or digital programming, which means you’ll be able to set your floor
panels to light up when you walk on them (making your own disco dance floor) or
allow furniture to light up and shift in color like a lava lamp when someone
sits on it. Of course, the uses of this technology will have more practical
uses like security.
18. Programming based on
our heartbeats
Your home’s central computer will be able to read the heart
rate and biometrics of the people in the room, adjusting the temperature,
lighting, oxygen content, filtering system, and even noise levels to their
individual pre-settings. Your home will also be able to detect if someone is
sick or unusually angry, anxious, or tired, adjusting the environmental
settings accordingly.
19. Storage solutions
With our population set to double by 2050 and the
urbanization of living in mega cities, space will be at a premium. Innovative
storage solutions that we can’t even dream of will make sure every inch of
space in the home – like in the basement, attic, between the walls, etc. is
used efficiently – but adaptable and flowing enough for a modern aesthetic.
20. Self-cleaning
bathrooms and kitchens
We might not have maid robots in 2020 but the cleaning
systems will be pretty self reliant, with intricate sensors and ultrasonic
self-cleaning systems installed in the most germ-addled areas of the home like
toilets, showers, sinks, garbage cans, water spigots, and on kitchen and
cooking counters.
