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If you believe CES, you'll never have to leave your house again – unless it's to get in a driverless car

By Stacy Fuller

January 13, 2014 | 4 min read

Major news for homebodies came out of CES 2014, technology is enabling you to never have to leave your home again.

Stacy Fuller

Let’s start with the amazing quality of 4K televisions – it honestly feels like you’re looking out of a window. I’ve never seen picture this intense. And it’s not just the TVs offering this hyper reality, you can have the same resolution on your handheld device thanks to qualcomm’s snapdragon processor. If you do decide to watch TV “old school” (on your couch in the living room) then you’ll likely be watching it on a curved TV with Dolby sound, which not only surrounds you, but comes from above. Basically you’ll be in a cocoon of sound that you can feel as well as hear. And instead of constantly looking down to your “second screen” you’ll be able to pull up any complimentary content directly from your TV. The convergence of your screens allows a true immersive experience.

And then thanks to our connected home devices, you won’t even have to leave your favorite chair since all your appliances will be connected to your smartphone. Lighting, temperature, even your washer and dryer are just a few clicks away. Of course the fridge is part of this new revolution too, no need to remember your grocery list when the device can sense you’re running low on food and can order more supplies. Comfort food junkies have reason to rejoice over Belkin’s connected crock pot. You can now remotely control the settings so if you’re stuck into a marathon Netflix session you can adjust the heat accordingly.

Perhaps the best news for couch potatoes is that cleaning has also gone high tech, with robotics technology taking center stage this year. Self-cleaning devices have gone beyond just vacuuming on their own. I was blown away by the Moneual demo, which showed me a vacuum that monitors the light level to know that it’s in an area with dust bunnies so the suction should be more intense. Hate doing windows? No problem, there’s now a robot that tackles that dreaded chore. Even your plants will be better taken care of. Thanks to smart technology all their vital information is monitored andyou’re automatically alerted to their needs.

With ally our devices doing the heavy lifting, you’ll need to make sure you’re getting your exercise in, especially because your doctor is checking your fitness level from your wearable device and your weight from your connected scale. And wearables aren’t just monitoring your movements anymore; thanks to companies like Muse, there are now headbands that even track your brainwaves. These headbands can tell how focused you are and if stress is an issue. And like many other wearable manufactures, they are trying to give consumers practical applications for how they can use this data. In Muse’s case you’re given mental exercises to help improve the issues you struggle with the most.

And the area of your home that you spend most of your time wasn’t left out of the madness. Sleep manufactures are starting to see that data can help improve sleep quality. Sleep number has a smart bed that not only monitors your sleep patterns, but adjusts the bed to help deal with snoring.

But god forbid if you do need to leave the house, car manufactures began showing off protypes for driverless cars. Smart cars are already creating a haven of all your favorite things based on pre-selected preferences. Pretty soon all you’ll have to do it lean back, pop your spotify on and let your car take you on your journey. Because what would you capture on your go pro if you didn’t leave the house every once in a while?

Stacy Fuller is based in New York as head of innovation at Cake

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