All I want for Christmas is a robo home

These clever inventions could be reality sooner than you think.
Ikea is working with a robotic furniture start-up from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create furniture that will transform our homes and our lives.
The challenge of fitting more people into urban centres has sparked the development of transformer-like furniture that converts a bedroom to a living room to a study – all with the press of a button.
This makes it possible to squeeze a truckload of amenity into a floor plan as small as 3m by 3.5m, reports The Conversation. That’s the size of an Aussie master bedroom in many homes!
Robotic furniture is already available today. Think of chairs or beds that tilt to help people stand up.
These mechanically assisted functions are great for convenience but can also help people with a physical impairment safely live in their home.
Next in line could be robotically optimised cupboards that help you access that hard-to-reach space or which slide away into a wall nook to maximise your living space.
The only limit is the boundaries of human imagination – and of course how much homeowners are prepared to pay. Let’s hope robotic furniture price tags won’t look too far out of place in an Ikea catalogue!
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