House of Tomorrow in Brussels

by Jordan Yerman | June 6, 2008 at 12:01 pm

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Since I've posted nothing even vaguely robot-related today, here goes: a house of tomorrow! The term is a bit old-school, so Living Tomorrow, the Belgian builders of this beauty, are calling it "House of the Future". That's more like it.

Living Tomorrow, which specializes in high-tech consumer goods and design, is exhibiting its "House of the Future" in Vilvoorde, a suburb of Brussels.

"We're quite confident this is pretty much what the future can be," said Peter Bongers, the co-founder and chief executive of Living Tomorrow.

Bongers brought together companies eager to show off their high-tech innovations and provided the perfect setting with his high-design museum.

This abode will take you through your morning routine, but draws the line at going to work for you.

Features of the house include a mattress that gently nudges you out of bed, a mirror that displays weight and other medical information and the climate-controlled Wellness Cocoon — a seating area pumped full of oxygen where kids can play games and watch TV.

The house isn't just great to look at: It's green, too.

Bongers said the house consumes one-half of what a comparable building would use.

All this comes with a price tag of $30 million — just for the demo model.

My mattress would have to do a lot mroe than nudge me. It'd have to roll me up like a flauta, spit me into the shower, and douse me with iced coffee. And then yell at me, "Get uuuuup, Jooooor-dannnnnnnn!"

Come to think of it, though I don't consider myself change-averse, I think I like my human-powered living quarters just as they are. Though I want a robot shop assistant like in Iron Man.

Of course, there are certain drawbacks to living in a robo-casa:

Usability issues abound in the house. The guide used a wireless microphone to speak to the tub. The tub has no hot and cold handles—only the microphone. If the electricity fails, you cannot take a bath. It would be rather dangerous to drop the microphone while taking a bath, and I don’t know how you would turn off the shower without dripping on the floor.

Something in nearly every room of the house requires a connection to a server room in the basement. If the server goes down, the homeowner may need to call a technician not only to get the heat back on, but also to close the curtains or to watch television. Emergency visits from plumbers and electricians are quite expensive. I have no idea what a system administrator would charge at 2:00 a.m. to fix a registry problem.