30 Sep The sci-fi future of house building
As cities grow and lifestyle demands change, the homes we decide to live in will need to change as well. In fact, we are already starting to see the future of the housing alternatives.
Such as self-healing concrete, which will mean that the hard to reach areas of a building will be able to maintain itself. This could see a building lasting for thousands of years as our climate conditions change.
We have already seen the impact 3D printing has had in the medical field, with replacing traditional prosthetics and patient specific implants. 3D printing will undoubtedly change how building materials are created. Objects will be made in one complete piece, including the wiring and the battery. Could a fully functioning 3D printed, off the shelf from IKEA, house soon be available.
Smart houses are already being developed. How about a house that will be able to tell us apart from our heartbeats. Homes could soon become intelligent enough to distinguish between the family members and guests and adapt to individual needs based on biometrics like fingerprints, body temperatures and even the rhythm of our own heartbeats.
It could be that In the very near future as you walk through your home, a small device worn around the wrist will authenticate your identity by pairing itself to your specific heartbeat, allowing your home to automatically adjust the lighting, room temperature and play custom music based on personalized preferences and pre-configured profiles.
Although some of these technologies are a bit more futuristic, a bit more wild in concept, a report released by Samsung called the SmartThings Future, think advancements in the way we do construction and the building materials we use will result in taller buildings, this could result in buildings becoming their own mini cities.
As buildings get taller, our entire living experience might actually take place in a building, according to futurist Ian Pearson, a fellow at the World Academy for Arts and Science.
"We might have… thousands of people living in a single building as a self-contained city," Pearson said.
But if heights aren't your thing, you could live underground.
The Samsung report envisions people will live in subterranean structures called Earth Scrapers in 100 years.
There could even be underwater cities.
The Samsung report envisions there will be aquatic communities in 100 years that will be powered by the waves and solar.
Although these ideas could be straight out of a Sci-Fi movie, these technological advancements in alternative house building methods are already in testing and production. Don’t expect to see some of these technologies in your local B&Q anytime soon, but who knows, maybe Pennyfarthing will be building you a underwater 3D printed house in the future.