Belgian entrepreneur Frank Beliën has developed the ‘house of the future’ and, as Martin B anks discovers, this techno temple is smarter than you are
A house on a nondescript site on the outskirts of Brussels has been attracting a lot of attention of late. And for good reason, too – there’s rather more to this particular residence than meets the eye. It is, according to its creator, Belgian entrepreneur Frank Beliën, “the house of the future”.
He sees the house – which looks like a cross between an airport terminal and a shopping mall – as an experimental showcase where the 50 or so companies involved can demonstrate their state-ofthe-art expertise in a “real” home.
There is certainly plenty inside to make you think about life in the future.
This is a house where you can open and close the windows, order your groceries, turn on the bath and adjust the heating and lighting simply by touching a remote control.
Beliën, 44, is the co-founder of the Living Tomorrow project, which has cost an estimated €20 million to build over the past five years. He already has a similar project in Amsterdam, which cost around €17 million.
Clearly, technology doesn’t come cheap. The venture has been financed by some of the biggest com mercial names in Belgium, including Brus sels Airlines and supermarket chain Delhaize, as well as big hitters from other countries, such as Microsoft, French energy giant Suez and Geneva-based DuPont.
As well as providing a glimpse of how we might live in a few years, the site showcases how Beliën and his 45-strong workforce think we might be shopping, banking and travelling in the future. “We are saying this is the way we might be living in, say, five to 10 years,” he says. “But more than that, the aim is to make people think about living in the future and the kind of technology we’ll have.”
Step inside the site, in the Flemish commune of Vilvoorde, and you’re surrounded by innovation. The kitchen alone is packed with gadgets, including an electromagnetic hob that can boil a pan of water in less than a minute.
Some of the house’s most innovative features are its simplest.
A touch-operated screen above the hob displays your recipes and serves as a constantly updating shopping list. If you don’t have time to go to the store, you can order replenishments for home delivery.
If you go away, an automatic s ystem manages the house as if you’re there, opening and closing curtains and switching on the TV, as well as turni ng
lights on and off at appropriate times. It’s also linked to the hous e security system and will automatically call the police if the alarm is triggered.
All the equipment in this en ergy-friendly house is networked, allowing you to control the environment, including temperature, lighting, humidity and air quality, from any room.
According to Beliën’s brave new world, in the future we’ll conduct our banking by ‘smart’ phone. Air travel will also be made easier, with the same device enabling us to select everything from flight seats to onboard meals from the comfort of our homes. “Tomorrow we’ll be connected ‘smart’, which means our devices will be fully aware of who we are, where we are and what our needs could be,” he says.
Beliën is clearly a man who likes to practise what he preaches. His own ultra-modern home in Flander s is filled with similar state-of-the art features. He was actually set on a career as an architect when he left university, but after a month behind the drawing board decided it wasn’t for him.
He hankered for something a bit more groundbreaking, a yearning he believes he inherited from his father,
Maurice, who used to run a Belgian racetrack. “My father taught me to push yourself to the limit in life,” he says. “And, just as importantly, to have a vision.”
The upshot of his career-changing decision was the launch of the Living Tomorrow initiative in 1991, with the endorsement of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. “When we started, we never would have dared to dream about the success we’re enjoying today with the project,” says Beliën.
Since then, Beliën, his co-founder Peter Bongers and their 45-strong team have worked with more than 400 participants on the project. So far, the exhibition has attracted around
1.5 million visitors, mostly groups and associations. This spring, it will open to the public for the first time.
Although a self-confessed technogeek, Beliën concedes that even he struggles with technology from time to time. “Technology needs to become easier to use, less complex, smarter and more sustainable and affordable,” he says. But, he also insists that technology can be “a great enabler”.
For evidence of this, he looks no further than his own son and daughter, aged 11 and 12. “When I see how they do their homework, for example, even I’m amazed,” he says. “They can download it from the computer, open the school website and have an interactive chatroom discussion with their teachers at home in the evening. All these are things we would have thought impossible not so long ago.”
Turning to the more immediate future, he’s already busy on his next venture – a project similar to the Vilvoorde house, but this time in the US city of San José, the self-proclaimed ‘capital of Silicon Valley’.
In the meantime, to keep up with our fast-changing world, innovative work will continue at the ‘living laboratory’ in Vil voorde in readiness for the one million visitors Beliën believes it will attract over the next five years.
For details of opening times and to book a visit to Living Tomorrow Vilvoorde, go to www.livingtomorrow.com or tel. +32 (0)2 263 0133.
Le monde de demain
L’entrepreneur belge Frank Beliën a lancé le projet innovant la ‘Maison du Futur’ dans la périphérie de Brux elles.
La réalisation de ce projet dénommé ‘Living Tomorrow’, qui représente un investissement d’environ €20 millions, a été soutenue par des sociétés belg es, comme Brussels Airlines et la chaîne de supermarchés Delhaize. On citera aussi Microsoft, dont le fondateur Bill Gates a été parmi les premiers à appuy er l’initiative de cette plate-forme d’innovation dans les années 1990.
“Nous voulons montrer aux visit eurs la façon dont nous vivrons dans 10 ans,” explique Beliën. “L’objectif e st de faire réfléchir le public sur les conditions de vie et sur le type de technologie dont nous disposerons dans le futur.”
Souvent les fonctions les plus innovantes s’avèrent aus si les plus simples: un écran placé au-dessus de la cuisinière permet de sélectionner des recettes et de commander les ingrédients à livrer à domicile; lorsque vous sortez, différentes applications telles l’ouverture et la fermeture des tentures ou l’arrêt de la télévision, sont gérées automatiquement.
Chaque équipement étant en rés eau, le réglage de l’éclairage, de la température, de l’humidité et de la qualité de l’air se contrôle très facilement à partir de n’importe quelle pièce.
D’après Beliën, dans le futur, “ nous bénéficierons de connexions intelligentes, ce qui signifie que nos appareils nous reconnaîtront et pourront de vancer nos besoins.” Il sera ainsi possible par exemple d’organiser un voyage en avion depuis s on fauteuil, en activant un seul dispo sitif pour réserver notre siège et notre repas à bord.
Beliën vit en Flandres dans une maison ultra moderne, c e qui ne l’empêche pas de temps à autre de devoir faire face à des difficultés avec la technologie. “La technologie a encore du chemin devant elle avant de devenir plus simple et plus accessible,” confirme-t-il. Un constat qui n’empêchera sans doute pas le million de visiteurs prévus de se rendre à l’exposition ‘Living Tomorrow’, au cours de ces cinq prochaines années.
Pour obtenir les heures d’ouverture et pour réserver votre billet d’entrée à The House of the Future, tapez www.livingtomorrow.com ou téléphonez au +32 2 263 0133.
De wereld van morgen
Net buiten Brussel ontwikkelde Belgisch ondernemer Frank Belienhet ‘Huis van de toekomst’.Het project heet ‘Living Tomorrow’ en heeft een prijskaartje van € 20 miljoen. Voor de financiering zorgden Belgische bedrijven zoals Brussels Airlines en supermarktk eten Delhaize. Maar ook Microsoft droeg een steentje bij, want Bill Gates steunt het project al sinds de jaren ‘90.
“Zo zal ons leven er binnen 5 tot 10 jaar misschien uitzien,” vertelt Belien. “We willen mensen laten nadenken over het leven in de toekomst en de bijhorende technologieën.”Maar spitstechnologie hoeft niet altijd ingewikkeld te zijn. Zo ku n je via een touchscreen boven de kookplaat recepten aflezen en ingrediënten bestellen die dan thuis worden geleverd. Als je niet thuis bent, neemt een automatisch systeem de controle over.
Het opent en sluit de gordijnen en z et bijvoorbeeld de tv aan.
Elke voorziening is gekoppeld aan een netwerk, wat toelaat om in elk e kamer onder meer verlichting, temperatuur, vochtigheid en luchtkwaliteit te regelen.Volgens Belien zullen we in de toekomst over een ‘smart-aansluiting’ beschikken, waardoor onz e toestellen ons en onze behoeften perfect zullen kennen. Zo wordt een vlucht boek en kinderspel: met hetzelfde apparaatje kun je alles kiezen, van zitplaatsen to t maaltijden aan boord, en dat vanuit je luie zetel.
Belien woont in een ultramodern huis in Vlaanderen, maar de technologie laat ook hem soms in de steek. “Technologie moet gebruiksvriendelijker en goedkoper kunnen,” zegt hij. Geschat wordt dat ‘Living Tomorrow’ de komende vijf jaar één miljoen bezoekers zal lokken.
Voor de openingstijden v an het Huis van de toekomst en om een be zoek te boeken, kunt u terecht op livingtomorrow. com of +32 2 263 0133.
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