Brands like Apple and Samsung might make the gadgets we fondle all day, but its companies like Intel that spend the money on research and development, putting the time into what goes inside those gadgets. In San Francisco this past week, Intel spent some time showing off what grand ideas of the future it has planned for us consumers of tech.

Below is a collection of some of the most exciting and relevant to us consumers of lifestyle tech. It’s worth reminding yourself as you read that what you’re looking at is RESEARCH and not necessarily the best practical applications of the tech. Of course it’s not practical to have a singular LED display on every product on sale in a supermarket, but it’s a good way to display the possibilities.

Intelligence on the road
Intel’s is placing a lot of importance on making the street a safer place with a few innovations that while still in test mode, show what could be coming to cars in the near future.

Intelligent street lighting in Finland for example looks to improve the environment people experience on the road. Street lights contain sensors that can detect environmental conditions and automatically dim or brighten depending on the amount of sunlight available, weather conditions and more.

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, the two-wheeled onslaught is coming to South Africa, thanks to E-Tolls, any idiot could predict that. And Intel is no idiot. Their research labs have come up with intelligent scooter lighting and sensors which can read the lights from the vehicle in front of you and display warnings on your connected Smartphone in front of you.

They’ve also come up with a rather crude looking headband that contains a bunch of LED lights which, through the sampling of the metabolic activity going on in your brain behind your forehead, is able to tell how you’re feeling, or how you’re thinking as you perform a task. Driving for example, are you drowsy and do you need the car to take over for a while? Not the best looking application, but the idea is there.

@Home
Intel aim to put intelligence into everything you can think of. From side-table lamps to curtain rails to fridges. And it’ll all be wireless. Your lamp which switches on along with your alarm clock, your bathroom mirror which reminds you to take your antibiotics when you stumble into the bathroom or your coffee machine which warns you that you’re running low on beans.

Take a look at this example they had on display. Everything in the room is connected to your Android device upon which you have an app that you can select, move and control it all. Attached to the main computer is a webcam which responds to gestures like a swiping hand to open the curtains in any or all of the rooms or a “high-five” to turn off the music in the room you’ve just left.

Sustainable Connected Cities
Intel have plans to put the maintenance and upkeep of the city of the future in the hands of it’s citizens. No more waiting around for the council to come and fix the potholes, let the citizens tell the council it needs doing, and follow up on the progress.

In a test project they currently have running in Dublin, Ireland, volunteer citizens are encouraged to report and upload any problems they see in their surroundings. A blocked drain for example, picture taken, uploaded via app and it appears in the city manager’s office for attention. In return, citizens receive points which buy them tickets to the theatre or similar rewards. This vid explains it all.

Consumption of the future
Consumers, more intelligent than ever, but also lazier than ever.

The supermarket of the future might looks like this.

Each product has a small LED screen of its own, and each consumer has an app on their phone with their personal specifications pre-installed into it. Diabetic, no dairy, no nuts.

As the person walks up to a product, the screen next to the product gives them a green thumbs up or red thumbs down based on their personal specs.

This goes so far as to having the car you drive in your app and receiving a warning that the part you’re holding won’t fit with your vehicle.