The Home of the Future - A Living Creature

Big companies have used censor technology for years. It is still expensive though but the investment pays off because major companies can save substantial amounts on for instance the electrical bill. It is common knowledge that having installed movement censors all over the company's buildings and/or the factory, lights will be turned off automatically when there hasn't been any movement in the building for some time. This technology has been moving into the private market for some time now but the opportunities are yet to be explored. Leading scientists claim that the home of the future will be a living creature controlled by censors of all kinds.

There seems to be two major digital gateways to the private home of the future. First of you have the media centre. That is the family's collection of music, movies, photos etc. that already now is gathered on one external server that can be entered from the computer or the television. Secondly, there will be the - the brain - home gateway that gathers information from censors all over the house and in this way controls the heat, the air conditioning, the lights, burglary alarm etc.

All this is not big news but as the system of censors now is based on several separate censors the technology is developing towards one system that controls everything in the house. And the possibilities are vast. You will have a system that tells you if water is running in the house, if the temperature is rising, if the door is open, if the dog ran out etc. etc. And of course your house will be able to report to you even if you are not at home. Through the internet or mobile phones you will be able to communicate directly with your home as if it was a living creature.

As technology develops the censor based gateway will be run on batteries that recharge on electricity generated from the sun shining through windows with build in solar panels. In other words the home of the future will be able to live on electricity created in or by the house. Another aspect of the technology is the development of censors that are build into the fabrics of the house. For instance it is not a wild fantasy that the doors of the future home will be painted in a special paint that glows if the door is left open or if the dog ran out.

It may sound scary but the perspectives point towards a safer house. A house that you can leave every morning knowing that if a fire brakes out or the there is a leak in the pipes the house itself will alert you and the fire department or the plumber. Or you could imagine older persons living alone falling sick and not being able to reach the phone. Then the censors will note a different pattern of movements in the house and again the house itself will alert a doctor or call an ambulance. In this way the risk of older people dying in there home without a chance of getting help drops.

All in all the home of the future has many interesting aspects that lead to the conclusion that we might witness a home with a likeness of a living creature. Scary thought or progress of science? That's a question only the future can answer.