MIT’s CityHome aims to solve the space issue for many urban renters in New York and San Francisco who often must sacrifice space for cost. A 200 square-foot modular unit expands to a full 840 square-foot apartment with the wave of a hand. Think of it like an apartment in a box that responds to Wii-like hand gestures.
While similar to this awesome foldable New York City apartment currently on the market for $1 million, CityHome lets you control the layout using hand motions instead having to do the manual labor. It’s not actually a completely built-in modular apartment, but rather a bunch of home components you can reconfigure for whatever you need. We’re not sure exactly how the hand gesture component of the technology works just yet but we have asked for more information and will update as soon as we hear back.
CityHome mainly relies on what it calls the RoboWall, a key module of the unit that enables all home reconfiguration. These reconfigurations can include rooms, such as guest bedrooms, a gym, storage space, two separate office spaces plus a meeting room.
Want to have a dinner party for up to 14 people? Just wave till the table and chairs come forth. Baking up a storm? Gesture backward on the right components and viola! A kitchen complete with fridge, oven and stove-top plates. Transform the living room into the dining room and then the dining room into the bedroom when you are ready to get some zzzz.
It’s just a lab prototype for now, but Kent Larson, the MIT Media Labs creative lead for the project, sees this as a viable product he intends to bring to market soon.