As technology becomes increasingly advanced, so to does it seem to encompass everything we do. Not only are you forever glued to smartphones and gadgets in order to satisfy your unyielding want for memes, our homes are also becoming havens for sweet tech that makes our lives easier.
And while we all hope for a robot assistant to cook us dinner and do our washing, we’ve still got a long way to go. Until then, here’s 5 of the wildest current smart homes from around the world. Gaze unto them and let a jealous rage fill your very being.
THE HELIOTROPE, FREIBURG, GERMANY
Apart from sounding and looking like the lair of Bond villain, this cylindrical German structure is the first home in the world to generate more energy than it uses.
The home rotates 180 degrees throughout the day to follow the sun’s path, ensuring it receives max sunlight at all times. The energy collected by the colossal array powers the climate and floor warming system while the rooftop collects and filters rainwater.
It also has its own human waste disposal system that turns your rancid turds into odourless solids for composting and makes clarified liquid from your piss for the cascading pool in the front yard.
HARBOUR HIDE, DORSET, UK
Six million dallarydoos is a lot of money, but can you really put a price on your own tech-loving happiness?
This unique slice of Dorset in the United Kingdom has Android tablets in each room that allow you to set the lighting, temperature, and mood for each section of the building. You’ll also be able to control the TV and audio systems, curtains, blinds and some bullshit-good photochromic glass, which darkens or lightens at your command.
Get your swim on in a hidden swimming pool with, of course, a tablet-controlled temperature system
BILL GATES’ MANSION, WASHINGTON, USA
The Microsoft founder’s Washington mansion is just as lit as you’d expect it to be, with changeable art displayed on $80,000 worth of computer screens around the home, an underwater music system for the pool and an electronically monitored tree… His favourite tree.
It also has a trampoline room, a 200-person reception hall, 24 bathrooms and 6 kitchens. Worth a staggering $123 million, house guests receive a special sensor that changes the temperature to their preferred setting upon entering a room. WILD.
THE ECOCAPSULE
Maybe you wanna be able to take your house with you like sophisticated snail shell, or if you’re boring, like a regular old caravan. But compared to this bad boy, your shitty caravan is merely a a rolling home for luddites.
According to their website, this comparatively affordable little home is designed to live off the grid for up to one year and can fit two people. It’s shaped like a cute little egg in order to efficiently collect rain water and minimise heat loss, keeping you warm at all times.
It can generate 1.35 kilowatts of power via solar panels and a wind turbine, as well as store up to 10 kilowatts, plus you can also plug her into the grid if ya wanna live like a normie again. It has a 4G data connection, standard smart home features and of course, can be controlled via a tablet. They cost around $122,000 plus $3,000 to ship over here. Not bad when you consider Sydney property prices.
CLOCK TOWER PENTHOUSE, BROOKLYN, USA
If you’ve got some serious love for any of the Back to the Future movies, this place will have you absolutely FROTHING.
Not only does this 98-year-old transformed clock tower look dope as heck, it comes with all sorts of technical nonsense for all you nerds out there. 12-speed CAT wiring ensures lightning fast networking, as well as a Crestron automation system that controls all ya heating/cooling, lighting, audio/video and shades.
And yep, the 4 clocks are absolutely still functioning. Awwww yeah.
ZERO HOUSE
Similar to the Ecocapsule, the Zero House aims for portable, zero emission living.
Besides looking like something directly out of an Air video clip, the easily erected houses have incredibly efficient photovoltaic solar panels that provide hot water indefinitely. According to architects, their efficiency won’t be affected by continuous exposure to the elements.
If left alone for extended periods, the house will enter a kind of hibernation mode to save power. Holiday house, much? As an added bonus, it can also withstand winds of up to 140km/h.
Photo: Corcoran.com.
