The modern day Jetsons – what could the family of 2062 really look like?

When I was a littlun one of my favourite cartoons was the Jetsons, I loved all the gadgets and gizmos that surrounded their lives and dreamed that one day I might be able to try them out. Many of which have become a reality now, alright so maybe we don’t have flying cars (yet!), but who needs them. I’m talking mobile phones, talking computers, robots (well nearly, not quite Rosie the maid but … see here), machines communicating with each other independently of humans (M2M) and much more. Technology is advancing at such an awesome rate and recently I was introduced to this awesome video of an augmented reality kitchen of the future … very cool stuff huh!

Thoughts of the Jetsons made me start imagining what the family of the future would really look like. Let’s use the year the Jetsons is set in, 2062, as a benchmark. The thing I loved most about the Jetsons was how the gadgets always took a complicated/laborious task, say the washing up, and made it much simpler … I guess we could say that dishwashers fill that role now. The exciting thing for us is that many of these labour saving devices have already been created. Now we have lots of new things that we don’t even know we need (yet) to look forward to … all from advances in things like nanotechnology, biotechnology and artificial intelligence!!

Lets take entertainment first … 3D viewing is already a reality and that in itself feels very futuristic. When I went to see Avatar at the cinema I was genuinely excited and impressed. The fact that we can watch 3D TV at home now as well is awesome. Granted I do not have it, but I am sure that one day I will have that or something similar in my house … maybe without the glasses! Another very cool thing that has been speculated about for ages is Microsoft’s ‘Project Natal’ or Kinect as it has recently been revealed as. Twenty years in development, Kinect promises controller free motion-sensored and intelligent gaming. The Milo video is a great example of what we could expect and if you’ve not already watch it please so here.

Devices, oh lovely devices, are being released thick and fast from the likes of Apple, BlackBerry, Dell and so many more … they offer us communication through voice, web and messaging, sounds simple but it is how they do it. Take the iPad, the internet will never be the same for me, touch just seems so intuitive. The speed at which these devices are working is incredible now too, processors are constantly being upgraded and bug fixed … networks (fingers crossed) are offering high speed broadband … will LTE ever make an appearance? High speed fixed-line and mobile broadband offer us so much for these connected devices.

So how about travel/communication/businesses of the future … flying cars? Houses on Mars? Time travel? A star trek style ‘transporter’ beem me up Scotty? I’m not sure that these types of things will really ever happen as they seem a little more science fiction then something that could happen in reality. When it comes to communication and conferencing though, there are some very cool things going on. Businesses are much more money conscious and keen to keep up a green profile and this has been reflected in investment in conferencing technologies. The best known is probably Skype video calling, cost effective and fairly reliable … but not quite futuristic enough for me! I want to see holograms of the people in the room, a virtual conference room with everyone at the table … now that would be cool!

Environmental and medical technological advancements will make a real difference … we’re talking cures for cancer, malaria, HIV and AIDs. The advances in this area are not just down to the scientists but the people making the equipment that they use for their research. For example the electron microscope, which allows scientists to view specimens in a way never seen before, has lead to many exciting developments. At home monitoring and hospital-like home care is slowly but surely also becoming a reality. We can now buy simple monitoring devices in a chemist, which share valuable and life saving information with your doctor without you having to step out of the house.

Looking at the future of energy, could all homes of the future be fitted with their own renewable energy source – feeding excess back into the grid for additional storage and shared resources. Advances in for example photovoltaics could spell an end to our energy crisis. Or perhaps someone could work out how to harness the energy made when water is created/separated between two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen?

Many of these things of here and now already, and I am sure that I have missed a million-and-one cool new advances in this post. I am always looking forward to new technologies that not only make our lives easier and more fun, but also safer and more advanced. Who knows what the real Jetsons house of 2062 will look like … but I can’t wait to see it!