Year 2116

Science Fiction will be real

Super-skyscrapers which will dwarf the Shard, under water bubble cities and origami furniture are all likely to be reality in 100 years’ time. That’s the verdict of a new study which paints a vivid picture of our future lives; suggesting the way we live, work and play will change beyond all recognition over the course of the next century.

The SmartThings Future Living Report was authored by a team of leading academics including TV presenter and one of the UK’s leading space scientists, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, award-winning futurist architects and lecturers at the University of Westminster Arthur Mamou-Mani and Toby Burgess, as well as pioneering urbanists Linda Aitken and Els Leclerq.

On top of looking at how we will live in 100 years’ time, SmartThings surveyed 2,000 British adults to pinpoint the predictions the nation thought were most likely to become a reality in the future.

James Monighan, UK MD of Samsung SmartThings, which commissioned the report, says: “The smart home revolution will have massively positive implications on how we live.  Our homes are becoming smarter and can now detect the presence of things like people, pets, smoke, humidity, lighting, and moisture.  And this is just the beginning.

SmartThings Future Living Report highlights:

Many of the predictions were influenced by environmental conditions, with growing populations leading to the development of structures that are better able to cope with space constraints and diminishing resources.

1. As city space becomes more squeezed, we will burrow deeper and build higher with the creation of:

• Super skyscrapers: carbon nanotubes and diamond Nano threads will help us create towering megastructures that will dwarf today’s skyscrapers
• Earth-scrapers: just as we build up we will also dig down – huge structures will tunnel 25 storeys deep, or more
• Underwater cities: are likely to become a reality – using the water itself to create breathable atmospheres and generating hydrogen fuel through the process

2. Personal flying drones replacing cars: some of us will be travelling skyways with our own personal flying drones, some strong enough to carry entire homes around the world for holidays
3. As technology develops, we’ll see:

• 3D printing of houses and furniture: we will be able to print exact replicas of large scale structures like houses out of local, recyclable materials so that we really can have all the comforts of home while we are away
• Flexible, smart walls: smart walls will mean you won’t need to decorate your home – LED room surfaces will adapt to suit your mood.
• 3D printed Michelin starred meals: When it comes to entertaining, there will be no more botched recipes or pizza deliveries – instead we will be downloading dishes from famous chefs that we will tailor to our personal needs. We will be able to 3D-print a banquet or a favourite cake in minutes
• Virtual meetings: our working lives will be transformed with the use of holograms which will allow us to attend meetings virtually, without leaving the comfort our homes
• Stepping into home medi-pods will confirm if you really are ill, providing a digital diagnosis and supplying medicine or a remote surgeon if needed

4. Colonise space: first the Moon, then Mars and then far beyond into the galaxy

SmartThings will work with hundreds of products from a wide range of brands, as well as working with all of Samsung’s TVs as well as refrigerators, washer machines, ovens, and robot vacuum cleaners.