General Electric (NYSE: GE) has revealed its designs of what a typical home in 2025 will look like. Home appliances from heat sensors to vital signs monitors are featured in GE’s design, largely banking on a trend that will apply to much of the senior population: aging in place.
A Gizmag article outlines the house with an eye toward aging. Helping the elderly is a concept GE plans incorporated into its designs for the home of 2025, joining other ideas for high-tech kitchen appliances such as smart faucets, storable cooking devices and compact food storage.
A heat-sensitive nightstand in 2025 that can be used to leave messages or can sense the temperature of what is placed on its surface is one of the concepts GE has going forward. The nightstand can even keep an object hot or cold using a thermo nano material.
A vital-sign reading mirror is another concept that can help elderly individuals remember what medications to take while living in GE’s Home 2025. The mirror reads vital signs and decides the amount of medication needed for the day, dispensing medicine in liquid cartridges that can be easily refilled.
To help caregivers ensure that the people they care for have a decent meal, the “Fresh and Serve” concept resembles something like a cabinet that can keep pre-made meals at the proper room temperature and humidity for up to eight hours. The Fresh and Serve wold not only heat the meal, but also tell an individual when the food is ready.
While these concepts are but a few of the designs meant to help people live less complex lives, according to a GE executive in the Gizmag article, they are also an imminent reality.
“This isn’t about the Jetsons or pie-in-the-sky ideas,” said Lou Lenzi, director for GE Appliances’ Industrial Design Operation, in the article. “Home 2025 is about reality-based innovation that will be possible over the next decade.”
Read more about GE’s “Homes of Tomorrow.”
Written by Jason Oliva
