Virtual assistants, levitation and interactive wardrobes: the future of the bedroom

Beyond the bed

When imagining the bedroom of the future, the first thing that springs to mind is the bed or sleeping arrangements. As this is the primary purpose of the room, it’s where we start our visualisations – what will it look like, how will it function and what new, exciting things are in store?

With climbing populations, room space may become increasingly smaller, so it’s likely foldaway furniture will become more of a trend. The next generation of beds may fold away into the walls or even ceiling at the touch of a button.

A study conducted by The Sleep Council in London found that the most desirable technology in the future bedroom was self-cleaning and bacteria-resistant mattresses that can sterilise germs.

Thinking even more sci-fi, Thomas Frey, founder of the DaVinci Institute, suggests that the sleeping surface won’t matter in the future as air-jets will suspend the sleeper into mid-air, free of friction. Effectively, we’ll be levitating when we sleep, and we will be able to alter the air flow instead of worrying about the mattress firmness.

In conjunction, our sheets and pillows will be embedded with sensors to gauge body temperature, heart rate and other vital signs, tracking our sleep and calculating wake-up times. Looking further, imagine if your covers could monitor your temperature and automatically use heating and cooling systems to keep you comfortable (no more fiddling with the thermostat or opening/closing windows in the middle of the night).

Futurist Melissa Sterry believes that one day there could even be a holographic companion to read bedtime stories and soothe people to sleep. Mr Darcy, perhaps?

A look into the wardrobe

Now that we’ve climbed out of bed in our future bedroom, it’s time to get dressed. Not unlike the mirror described in our future bathrooms blog, expect the mirror on your future wardrobe to be interactive with a smart interface. Code Computerlove has developed an intelligent interactive surface to superimpose images of your clothes onto a life-size video of your body. You will be able to scroll through a variety of outfits with a simple gesture. The system will also be able to pull in external information like the weather forecast and your diary, tailoring outfits for each specific day.

Surround light and virtual help

One of the big changes we will see in future bedrooms will be related to the windows. They will be multi-purpose, acting as a normal window but with the ability to darken to black out external disruptions, or even display electronic scenes of your choice. The ‘smart window’ could be set to automate with the time of day or the season, displaying deciduous trees in Autumn or snowfields in Winter. It could even display TV programs or allow you to surf the Internet. This isn’t as far-off as it may seem, as Samsung has already developed a concept smart window. 

Our media will need to get smarter and more perceptive too; in the mornings, we will be eased into wakefulness, have hands-free control on devices and alarms, and hear friendly, personal messages rather than automated recordings.

The ABC R+D team believe we will have virtual assistants for easy wake up in the morning, sensors that detect who is in the room, wearables to monitor our physical data and voice or gesture controlled projects to use on smart surfaces.

The rest of the room will also glow to produce various levels of lighting and incorporate voice-commanded and sensor heating and cooling systems.

More Information

To learn about more future trends in the home, read our other blogs in the ‘Homes of the Future’ series.