Your bathroom mirror is telling you something: The Smart Home's bathroom mirrors double as computer screens, displaying the weather, your weight and your Facebook friends' updates. Photo by J.B. Spector, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.
A Smart Home calls for smart tech, and thanks to Gizmodo, the home has had a tech makeover for 2011. An authority on how technology can and does change the way we live, Gizmodo partnered with the Museum to outfit the house with the latest in gadgets and gear.
A digital nerve center built into the home works constantly and automatically to save the homeowners time, reduce energy consumption and make life more fun.
The amazing home automation system monitors energy usage by room and even by appliance, allowing the homeowners to fine-tune their consumption. It also tracks the energy being produced by the home, whether in the rooftop solar film or the 45-foot wind turbine.
The automation doesn’t stop there. A media server can start a custom music playlist when you walk in the door. The house can adjust its shades when it gets too hot, and the whole house can be easily set to “hibernation” mode to minimize energy use while away or on vacation.
Just a few more of the high-tech innovations you’ll see:
The master bathroom’s mirror can report the time, temperature, news and traffic … even access your Facebook account.
An anti-bacterial solar toothbrush cleans without toothpaste by using electrons that react to acids in saliva.
Self-watering plants monitor their own moisture levels
It’s a walk through the house of the future that isn’t so far off.
New Meets Old
Continuing this year’s Smart Home blend of past and future, the Museum’s collection has provided some items (some not publicly displayed in decades) to elegantly contrast what was cutting-edge technology with their modern descendants. A wireless keyboard meets its forebear in a circa-1900 Corona typewriter. A 1970s Polaroid camera can remind you just how quickly an Eye-Fi memory card wirelessly uploading its images can become a part of everyday life.
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