Get a glimpse into the future, as we count down all the most thrilling pieces of tech and new trends coming your way in 2021

Words: Alex Cox Photography: Neil Godwin

IMAGE SOURCE: AI ART HOUSE

#100 SMART BEDS

Given we spend a third of our lives in bed, sleeptech is a huge deal. We’ve got eyes on Kikoo, which promises to employ superoriented graphite in the foam core of its (as yet unshown) mattress to wick heat away from the body. And if Eight Sleep’s actively climatecontrolled Pod mattress – which splits its temperature tech into two halves for each sleeper – makes it across the pond, we’ll sleep very easy indeed.

#99 WOWCUBE

An intriguing thing which, while it may not change the very future of mobile devices, certainly offers something new – it’s basically a twistable 2x2 Rubik’s Cube with a tiny screen on each of its faces. When you’re not playing games you can use its individual panels to monitor different aspects of your smart home or just use it as an art piece. $249 (around £180), wowcube.com

#98 GOSUN FLOW

This USB-powered water purifier fits into a rucksack, using solar energy to recharge itself when you’re deep in whatever wilds you’re in, and is capable of killing off 99.99% of all waterborne pathogens into the bargain. The pump is good for 100 gallons on a full battery, but even if it’s all out of juice you can pull out the filter and suck up fresh water like a straw. £145, gosun.co

#97 THERMOELECTRIC GENERATORS

Yes, it’s still early days for this tech, but all that body heat you’re wastefully radiating could soon be used to generate power for your watch or fitness tracker. University of Colorado Boulder researchers have developed a teeny wrist- or finger-wearable generator that could even do away with batteries for wearables entirely.

#96 HYUNDAI TIGER

‘Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot’ is the backronym here, and Hyundai’s concept vehicle could provide a glimpse into the automotive platforms of the future. This is an unmanned drive train, which can be built upon for a huge number of purposes, transporting goods across rough terrain or even extra-terrestrially – and it can be dropped into action from a UAV. hyundai.news

#95 RESPIRA

As a fuss-free automated indoor garden, this is pretty lovely, cramming plenty of plants into a useful vertical space, but the Respira is about more than the zen personal enrichment of being surrounded by greenery; it’s soil-free, and aims to remove VOCs from the air by leaving roots exposed and letting their microbial bacteria and biofilm do a bit of natural purification. Around £450, respira.ca

#94 STARLINK

Satellite internet has long been niche, but Starlink might change that: there are over 1,000 low-earth orbit satellites currently circling the Earth, offering low-latency high-speed internet wherever – and the Starlink hardware can move itself to automatically lock on for the best signal. Super-cool, and if SpaceX manages to launch its planned 42,000 satellites, potentially game-changing. £439 plus subscription, starlink.com

#93 AI ART

AI knows nothing of art. It doesn’t know much at all. But generously fed a database of realworld work, given a few choice parameters and set off on its own, it’s able to create credible and absolutely unique art that can move you just as much as the old masters. Check out sites like artaigallery.com and aiarthouse.com if you fancy a one-off droiddevised artwork for your own home.

#92 KLIPSCH T5 II

Klipsch’s revisited T5s are true wireless buds that excel in their unique looks, their gorgeous Zippo-like case, and the range and reliability boost offered to them by Bluetooth 5 – not to mention 24-bit/96kHz hi-res audio support. The booming bass of the T5 II’s new drivers is also a plus if you like it loud, though they can get subtle when they need to. £209, klipsch.com

#91 MOONBIKE

Though we can see no reason a MoonBike wouldn’t work on the Moon, you’ll probably have more fun chucking one around the slopes; they’re three times lighter than a snowmobile, offer 170NM of immediate torque, can fling you up a 30-degree incline at up to 26mph – and are entirely electric. With three hours’ life if you opt for the dual battery, that’s quite a slope session. £TBC, moonbikesmotors.com

IMAGE SOURCE: SONY MUSIC

#90 POC OMNE ETERNAL

POC’s self-powered helmet never needs charging, thanks to its use of Exeger Powerfoyle, a new kind of flexible solar cell that can harvest light from any source. You just need to put it on your head for its built-in light to power up automatically – and Powerfoyle’s ability to be totally discreet means there’s no massive solar panel cramping your style. £TBC, pocsports.com

#89 IMMERSIVE REALITY CONCERTS

Could the future of live performance be virtual? Live experiences in games like Fortnite have been growing with a certain audience for a while, but recent efforts – like MelodyVR’s 3D footage VR concerts, or Madison Beer’s Unreal-Enginepowered mixed reality gig – hint that many more artists might make a world tour stop in your living room in the future.

#88 HPS DOMESTIQUE 1-21

Fine-tuned in collaboration with F1 engineers and weighing in at just 8.5kg all-in, this could be the lightest ebike ever built. All of its electronics are integrated, the battery is cunningly disguised as a water bottle, and the whole power package is designed to feel invisible under the feet – the perfect stealth wheels for keeping up with fast friends or hitting extreme hills. From €12,000 (around £10,385), hps-bike.com

#87 AMPERE SHOWER POWER

Shower speakers are progressively more popular – and more specialised devices like Kohler’s Moxie let you put a speaker right inside the shower head. Ampere’s 360-degree solution, though, never needs to leave your bathroom: it fits onto any shower, and powers itself entirely from the pressure of your water. From $79 (around £58), ampere.shop

#86 BODYFRIEND QUANTUM

Looking almost like a Transformer poorly attempting to go incognito, Bodyfriend’s new take on its full-on luxury massage chair packs in a voice AI so you can specify which bits of you it should pummel, a B&O sound system (which we have to presume is going to be involved in the tinnitus massage it offers) and even a builtin UPS so you can lean back even in a blackout. $6,000 (around £4,320), bodyfriend.com