Guest Blog by Mxyl: Fact Checking the Future Part 1 - The Home of 2020!

Hello, everyone! One of my favorite childhood educational books was DK Publishing's "Future", a 2004 book (revised from a 1998 first printing) about predictions of the future, the past's thoughts on what it could be like, and present innovations on how to get there. However, many of its predictions focus on a specific year: 2020. I remember being amazed as a kid that, while it'd be quite a long wait, I'd eventually see the science fiction-esque world of The Future. 

Well, it was quite a long wait, but we're here! Now that we're in the future, it's time to see what the writers got right and what they didn't! (All the below images are used solely for educational purposes; I highly recommend getting a copy if possible to see it for yourself!)

First up is a massive segment on the virtual home of 2020! In 2020, it states, a "global communications network" will enable one to do nearly anything from home--which is quite true now, although I'm not sure why they didn't just say "Internet" to describe it. A bit of side content notes that automated homes in 2020 will be able to adjust temperature controls for year-long comfort, which is almost chillingly accurate with the advent of Google's Nest thermostats. However, the book also gives predictions of interactive, changing walls and holographic projectors, well... while the technology for holograph-like screens and adaptive screen-walls exist, the concept that they'd be affordable for general upper-class homes didn't age so well. With that said and done, let's jump into its details! 

• Health-Monitoring Shower: Uh... that would get so many lawsuits. Something that scans someone in mid-shower and sends it to a database? I'm not sure if this exists or not, but I hope it doesn't.  Nonetheless, it is worth noting that more recent Apple Watches can be used for similar health services, even measuring the oxygen in one's blood.
  
• A Dining Table with News & Communication-Based Screens: ...Huh? I mean, score one for Internet of Things predictions (I don't think the term existed then), but while we could make this, I think we've mostly chosen not to. (Klenda notes that smart fridges do exist, though.)
  
• "By the year 2020, [cell phones] will all be videophones": Wooow. They're pretty spot-on here, although this is one of the few instances in which 2020 has actually out-performed predictions. Looking back at SF and other items, it really is stunning that just about no one saw casual touchscreens coming. 
• Holographic Homework Helpers: To be honest, we're closer than I'd thought we were (slim-panel holographic technology is a pretty impressive step in the direction of Star Wars), but nope. We don't have mini-holograms in all our houses.
• Robot Servants: Prediction on robot vacuum cleaners? Definitely called it. Prediction on robot dishwasher loaders? Well... that's a bit more complicated. Boston Dynamics made a "SpotMini" in 2016 that has the capability to do so, but only one quick test was shown and it doesn't seem specialized for it. More specialized dishwasher robot technology was revealed from the Toyota Research Institute in 2019, but TRI's Robotics Research VP Russ Tedrake felt it still needed improvement before making it to practical home use, calling it "one of the most advanced manipulation systems in the world. But it's still not good enough [for commercial use]." They're also focusing more on software than hardware for now, so we may have to wait a bit longer for a commercially viable one.
  
• Smart Watch: Apple is known for doing two things: forging a path to the future and dragging everyone else kicking and screaming with it. (No standard USB ports on Macbooks? Really, Apple...?) Seriously, though, smartwatches have been around in some form or another since before the book was published, but getting sports and traffic information from a watch is pretty easy with a Siri-equipped Apple Watch or an equivalent service/device. 
• VR Headset: Have to hand it to them, they nailed it on this one. (Although one brief side note refers to headsets having "thought recognition sensors." Huh?)
• VR Trainer/Simulation Machine: I guess this one's closer to the dishwasher-loading robot one: we're getting there, but we're not there yet. Destin of Smarter Every Day (one channel we at Zoom Times particularly like) has done the bulk of this work in 2018, noting a VR glove (Part 1 | Part 2) and, most relevantly, an infinite movement treadmill system. Still, though, that's nowhere near the level of immersion the prediction was looking at, to say nothing of the noise level. (It's possible I'm missing something with this one, though.)
• Relaxation Service/Massage-Giving Couch: Another point for predicting smart devices, but I haven't seen this in widespread use. There are sorta-massaging sofas and somewhat "smart", TV-integrated ones, but no roboticized sofa so far.
  
• Working from Home: "Working from home is already a popular alternative for many people... [In 2020], small work stations will provide full access to everything needed... from e-mail to video conferencing." ...Maybe a little too close to home.

Lightning round for the shorter notes: self-cleaning furniture material does exist as of 2012 via titanium dioxide within plastic, and hydrophobic materials are being tried out; flexible-screen devices do exist but aren't commonplace; taking classes virtually is a thing (if not hologram-based); and nanobot-scale cleaning, while far from the Home of 2020's prediction, are being worked on as described in a journal released just this year!