The bathroom of the future is going to make your electric toothbrush look decidedly low-tech. A futurologist has predicted that in less than 25 years smart mirrors could perform health checks, while robots will be able to do a person’s make-up and even paint their nails.
This will be possible because almost everything in our homes will be connected to the web as part of the ‘Internet of things’ trend.
Dr Ian Pearson made the predictions for Bathrooms.com, saying: ‘By 2025, bathrooms will be rich in internet-of-things connectivity and by 2040, it may be the norm to have a robot clean your bathroom.’
As well as performing cleaning duties, robots could massage and even bathe people as well as apply make-up and nail varnish.
The futurologist at Futurizon pinpointed the humble bathroom mirror as one essential feature that will get a massive makeover in the coming decades.
In 10 years’ time he said they will be capable of performing health checks as well as advising people on their hair and style.
They will have millimetre-thin organic LED displays, will be fully connected to the internet and have high resolution cameras embedded inside.
Smart mirrors could also be used for video check-ups with doctors and could even perform retina scans that could indicate illnesses.
Some mirrors may also have chemical sensors that would analyze users’ breath for health indicators too.
To complete the daily health check, special floor tiles or rugs could replace the bathroom scales of today.
Smart mirrors could also change the way people get ready and apply make-up.
And as augmented reality becomes more popular, Dr Pearon believes people will use their bathroom mirror to coordinate their virtual appearances using avatars, as well as to act as a magic mirror to try out new make-up products, hairstyles, jewellery and even clothing.
Smart mirrors may even offer ‘make-up by numbers’ guides, instructing people how to create a certain look, a little like YouTube vlogger tutorials available today.
By 2040 ‘active skin’ will be common, with graphene-based electrical circuits printed onto and even into the skin itself.
Dr Pearson predicts make-up will have evolved to smart makeup, with self-organizing particles that adapt instantly to their location on the face, so that someone will be able to simply smear a cream all over their face and touch an icon on their video mirror to make it activate and look like the picture on the packaging.
As well as becoming more useful, bathrooms will become more entertaining with personalized lighting and entertainment systems the norm in a decade, Dr Pearson said.
Polymer screens will likely replace ceramic tiles on walls so changing images can be shown on them, while baths and showers could have LED lighting that adjusts to a person’s mood.
Images and article via Daily Mail
