Big data, 3-D printing, and deep machine learning – 2018 has proven to be a watershed year in future technologies that will change the face of society as we know it.
The realm of homeware design was far from untouched by these technological revolutions, with Google, Amazon and a host of other corporations big and small making concerted efforts to automate the home by way of voice assistants and algorithms.
See more: Does Bose’s new neck speaker hit the right notes?
Now that the future has truly arrived, we’ve rounded up 5 home fixtures that look like they slipped through a time warp from the year 2038, with sleek, seamless design to boot. Bring yourself up to speed by scrolling through the gallery below.
In the same way that elevators made skyscrapers possible, CoeLux's lighting technology – which realistically simulates sunlight and a blue sky – could potentially bring the concept of subterranean skyscrapers that much closer to reality.
Thanks to a thin coating of nanoparticles that recreates the effect of light passing through the atmosphere known as Rayleigh scattering, CoeLux captures the temperature and quality of real sunlight, in the process offering a glimpse of a future where everyone can access a big, bright skylight with sunny blue skies all the time, no matter how far away from an actual window you are.
While the fledgling technology's high price tag limits it to business uses and luxury residences, here's to hoping that further advances will make CoeLux a mass-market proposition in the near future. Available at COLOURLIVING.
Like a circular version of 2001: A Space Odyssey's Monolith, this ultra-minimalist speaker from Bang & Olufsen is controlled in unique fashion – rocking it from side to side to change the volume. A proximity-sensitive touch display pulses from the polished aluminium casing, lighting up when you move your hand closer to show you the volume level.
Apart from this never-before-seen user experience, the statement speaker features five powerful amplifiers that can easily broadcast your audio across the entire floor of a home. Meanwhile, a proprietary active bass design controls the bass according to the volume, as well as allowing you to direct the sound towards a certain area. Perfect for minimalist, open-plan homes, the Beosound Edge is slated to arrive in Hong Kong in mid-November.
As minimalist as showers get, Dornbracht's Aquamoon concept is comprised of a halo-like opening in the ceiling, out of which an inverse cone of water gushes.
As part of the brand's LifeSpa collection, the Aquamoon features sensory lighting that it combines with three newly-developed flow modes: the Tempest, which simulates a rain shower; the meditative Aqua Circle in which water falls in a funnel-like curtain; and Queen's Collar, a continuous cascade of water that massages the head, shoulder and spinal area.
Designed to induce a meditative state of mind in the user, the Dornbracht Aquamoon is sure to find its fans given the present obsession with health and wellness. Available to order now from colourliving.
When switched on, Mirror is the home gym of the future, streaming classes – cardio, strength, yoga, Pilates, barre, boxing, stretching – to the home through a sleek, vertical screen. The responsive and reflective LCD display includes speakers, a microphone, as well as a camera (with a lens cap for privacy), all of which enable trainers to provide real-time instruction during a workout.
It also comes with a complimentary Bluetooth heart rate monitor and can be synced with Apple Watch, allowing Mirror to track users' performance, goals and preferences for a more optimised experience, enhanced only by the ability to select or create your own playlists. Unlimited live and on-demand fitness classes, streamed from its production studio in New York, are accessible with a subscription.
And when switched off? It's just as it's called: a mirror.
There's no place, it seems, that smart technology can't reach – not even home fragrances, which with Zenaura, users get full control over their home's changing fragrance needs with a tap on an app.
Resembling a desktop mouse, the Zenaura Pearls come in a set of three, each containing high-quality fragrances that can be diffused simultaneously to create your own preferred scent and ambience. The accompanying app allows you to control the pearls' fragrance intensity, scheduling and fragrance mixing.
A fully-funded project on Indiegogo, Zenaura is scheduled to ship November 2018.
For more home technology, check out our top 5 picks for pet-oriented gadgets.
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