You have to travel for a week or two, but you have a pet at home that your relatives or friends need to feed every day. There would be nothing unusual about this if you hadn't recently moved into a whole new generation home. Although for most people this still sounds exotic, the so-called "smart home", where everything can be controlled remotely, will gradually become a common offer in the real estate market. Each piece of furniture in it will be able to connect to the Internet and be controlled by your mobile phone. So after a long working day, when you get home, your home will be sufficiently cooled or heated, the floor will be cleaned, and the products that had finished will be waiting for you at the door, because your refrigerator has the functionality to order them for you.

In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio, futurist Mariana Todorova predicts that such a scenario could happen sooner than expected:

"It could happen in 10 years, because the technology is not complicated, it is already available and it will not be expensive. We are talking about it being implemented globally, because at the level of technological progress, the phenomena are happening in this way. Even in countries that are not so well developed, the delay is not so great."

The architecture and materials from which the homes of the future are made will also change, the futurist is convinced:

"It is likely that these homes will be equipped with more and more photovoltaic panels that will meet the needs of electricity, or will buy electricity at lower prices from other buildings or sites that produce it. Facades will be made on the basis of 3D and 4D printing, which means that they will be able to change their characteristics. They will be light in summer so as not to collect heat, and dark in winter to accumulate it. This way the property will be managed efficiently and will save a lot of resources."

The type and requirements that buyers have for the homes they rent or buy are gradually changing. Increasingly, so far mainly in Asian countries, people are looking for small and even very small homes in which the furniture can be transformed.

Compiled by Yoan Kolev

English version Rositsa Petkova