A wardrobe that matches your outfit to the weather forecast. An online shopping assistant who knows you well enough to purchase new products for you. Art that adjusts itself to your mood.
These futuristic concepts are a reality in a 2,000 square foot "Home of the Future," created by News Corp. and ad tech company Unruly in partnership with marketers including Amazon Launchpad, PepsiCo, Heineken, eBay, Unilever, HTC, Nokia Health, and Tesco.
The installation opening today in London has been created to give marketers and agencies a first-hand experience of the connected home, and a chance to think about how they might use it to engage consumers. It will be a permanent fixture at Unruly's London office and a pop-up version will be installed at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity next month. Another temporary version has been set up at Unruly's New York office.
Unruly will add new partners and update the space regularly – runway show holograms and virtual furniture installations are not far off – as well as introducing seasonal and thematic experiences for Christmas or major sporting events.
Regular Facebook Live streams will bring audiences into the home, and provide updates on the latest "technosocial" trends and innovations.
The first iteration of the home is a deliberately cozy space. It's all soft lighting and inviting textures, with vintage pieces mixed in among the new technology, to conjure up a home with character that's an escape from the outside world.
Ad Age's personal Future Home experience was hosted by Simon Gosling, the futurist who has been working exclusively on the project since he joined Unruly in November last year.