HOUSES of the future will look very different to the ones previous generations grew up in – and hi-tech gadgets are to thank.
Humanity is just a few breakthroughs away from transforming the key parts of the home into sci-fi wonders that improve our everyday lives.
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Homes of the future will be loaded with tech-enhancements
Solar window panes
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This beautiful home has a solar skylight made by one of the leading manufacturers of photovoltaic glassCredit: Instagram / Onyx Solar
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Traditional solar panels are opaque and cannot be used as a substitute in windowsCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Solar window panes are an excellent way to turn a common household feature into a way to capture energy.
A traditional, non-transparent silicon solar panel will convert about 20% of the light that hits it to energy.
Recently however, a team of engineers claimed that a new type of solar window pane could manage an impressive rate of 15%.
While the energy conversion is lower, the most efficient solar glass technology now allows for 20% of visible light to pass through it to illuminate a room – versus the 0% of a regular solar panel.
There are scores of real-world applications for transparent glass that makes energy.
Though solar glass isn’t very popular yet, businesses think it could be a huge renewables opportunity – and could make running your home cheaper.
Power Technology reported that the number of photovoltaic glass patents has gone up by 200% in the last 10 years.
Robot butler
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Elon Musk’s calls the Tesla bot “Optimus”Credit: Tesla
Many homes have already been souped-up with digital assistants like Alexa handling mundane verbal tasks and managing Amazon orders.
For physical tasks, the Roomba is a neat, little vacuum that cleans the floors that people grow attached to, like a robotic pet – more advanced robots have been deployed in hospitals to undertake similar maintenance-adjacent tasks like lifting heavy loads.
German engineers developed a classy, humanoid robot that can take orders and make drinks while its artificial intelligence-powered mind develops.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk says his Optimus bot will undertake dangerous or boring tasks and will one day have a greater impact than Tesla.
“Those who are insightful or looking, listening carefully will understand that Optimus will ultimately be worth more than the car business, worth more than [full self-driving]” Musk said.
All signs point toward a robot-infused home where families can focus on being human and robots can handle mindless tasks.
Biometric locks
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You’ll never be locked out when the house key is your fingerprintCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Biometric locking technology is making the leap from sci-fi to the real world and some renditions are already available.
Many brands have produced finger-print-enabled locking technologies that can be installed around the home or even on the front door – even Samsung is in on the action with a $399.99 fingerprint …….
Source: https://www.the-sun.com/tech/5724847/inside-your-home-of-the-future/