Smart homes of the future

In the house of the future, a “MotherHen” will use the latest technology to organise family life, from food to fashion

Close your eyes and imagine it is the year 2040. What will your home look like? Are you imagining something along the lines of the cartoon The Jetsons or do you think it will be pretty much the same? Well, no one knows for sure but we have used current opinions from around the world to forecast how key spaces in the home could change, as well as what we believe will stay the same over the next 22 years or so.

Technology will play an important role. Each home will have a central tech unit that connects all rooms and occupants. It’s called “MotherHen” and it’s responsible for all the day-to-day household goings-on. MotherHen will monitor energy levels, battery storage, room temperatures, humidity, and even how many lumens of sunlight enter the house at any given time. MotherHen will know what food you need to order, maintain schedules for everyone and monitor home security, right down to the facial recognition software that scans each face to make sure the person approaching your front door is friendly.

Smart wristbands that connect us to our homes will also monitor our health, hydration, sleep cycles, nutritional requirements and nutrient levels and, for the kids, can even track things like GPS.

Our impact on the planet and maximising sustainability will also be of critical importance. New buildings and renovations will have energy and technology fully integrated. Solar panels and solar bricks will generate power and energy for each household; this energy will be stored in battery units with any excess sold back to the grid. All water will be recycled through the home. Rooftops will be designed to incorporate habitats, allowing species such as bees to flourish.

Overall, homes will be smaller, space will be maximised and not everyone will have a backyard.

Here is a room-by-room guide to what might be coming our way and what is likely to remain unchanged.

Kitchen

In the kitchen of the future, technology will be implemented in clever ways that are central to the kitchen keeping its status as the family hub.

Smart surfaces on the front of cabinets and on benchtops will connect in with MotherHen, monitoring weather, energy consumption in the house, where