The bathroom of the future: Robots clean for you and doctors do checkups via the mirror

Recently, Ikea debuted its version of the kitchen of the future — grey-water systems, open storage, and a smart table were all part of the vision. But it’s not the only room in the house that will see technological advances in the next few decades. A more intimate space is also going to keep some slightly creepy tabs on you, according to Bathrooms.com and futurologist Dr. Ian Pearson.

In case you can’t tell by his title, Pearson studies the future. (He calls his title of futurologist “wacky” but says, “I’m just an engineer making logical deductions for tomorrow based on things we can already see happening,” according to his site.) In case you can’t tell by the name of its site, Bathrooms.com designs bathrooms in the U.K. and Ireland. In the next 10 years, Internet-of-things devices will be all over the room, and you could use smart jewelry to control them. You won’t be able to hide from the scale, as it will be built into the tile or rug.

At CES 2015, Panasonic showed off its concept of a smart mirror, which could project different make-up looks on the user’s face. The futurologist agrees they will have connected LED displays and high-resolution cameras. Mirrors will give you tips on shaping your brows and how to do the smoky eye (if that’s still a thing in 2025), but they’ll also be more health-oriented, Pearson thinks. It’s how you’ll communicate with your doctor, and the mirrors could perform health checks with retina scans and breath-analyzing sensors.

In 25 years, cleaning bathrooms will be a thing of the past, as we’ll have robots to do the dirty work for us. They’ll also bathe and groom us and will operate with enough precision to give people decent manicures. The A/C will do more than just cool down the room; it will emit perfume and eliminate odor and filter bacteria and pollen out of the air.

Having a bathroom-cleaning robot sounds like the best, but cameras all over that room sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen.

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/1WewZNh
Jenny McGrath