From outside, the futuristic
house looks like something from a Disney production, an immaculately sterile
structure from the not-too-distant future. On Microsoft's sprawling, rustic
campus, this home is a maze of futuristic rooms, a digital kitchen and
interactive walls. Recipes are projected onto the kitchen counter, children can
play video games from a table's surface, and bedrooms have interactive wall
posters that can be changed daily, based on the occupant's mood. No one lives
there, but it is a template for the future.
The rise of intelligent devices,
ongoing breakthroughs in robotics, cloud computing and other newfangled
technology promise to usher in a new phase in luxuriant and wired home living.
Hyperbole of years past has quickly melted away as a pantheon of tech titans —
ranging from Apple and Google to Samsung and Microsoft — vie for home-field
advantage. Home increasingly is where billions of dollars are expected to be
spent on technology as consumers nest in their living rooms and bedrooms on
smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles.
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