According to Kent Larson, apartments of the future will boast king-sized beds that retract into the ceiling, expanding countertops, and office space that transforms to host a dinner party for 10.
Larson, the director of the MIT Media Lab’s Changing Places group, presented his vision at IFA 2014, the global trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances in Berlin earlier this month. Larson’s research group wants to create “responsive” housing that allows people to live in small spaces that, thanks to technology, have the functionality of spaces three times larger.
There’s a practical reason driving this type of smart-home research. According to Larson, “Mayors are looking for new solutions for housing that will allow their cities to remain competitive and attractive to young people”—especially members of the start-up community, Larson said. According to a recent article in the Vancouver Sun, the smart home market is projected to reach $100 billion by 2018, and include 45 million smart-home systems.
Learn more about Larson’s work creating the home of the future.
We’ve all seen those videos of people that have turned 100 sq feet into a totally functioning apartment. While it might be hard to do for a family of four, it could really change the way students and young professionals live. When you are working 12 hour days you don’t need a ton of home space, so why not have spaces that can be custom fit to meet your needs?