As we race towards the year 2021, it can be said that we are truly enjoying a technological golden age. Gadgets that were nothing more than science fiction a few years ago are becoming a reality, and, of course, the benefits of this are potentially life altering.

Take a look at a few gadgets that are currently in development, or are already slated for future release, that may well change your life for the better.

Fridge Of The Future

Perhaps the most exciting and interesting item on our list, we have a true fridge of the future. Gone are the days of noisy, energy consuming devices. Instead we have a “robot fridge” that uses a green gel instead of outdated refrigerator coils. This proposed new solution to cooling food allows users to simply insert items into a biopolymer gel, whereby, through luminescence, food is cooled at a fraction of the energy cost.

The design comes courtesy of Russian student Yuriy Dmitriev, who presented the concept at an Electrolux design competition. Sadly, the extremely impressive idea is nothing but a theory at the moment, but the odds are good that it become a reality at some point in the future.

The Nail Watch

An incredibly unique and supremely minimalist design is known as the Timex TX54. As the name suggests, it is a disposable, transparent screen that fits over a fingernail, and displays time. Exactly the sort of thing that you would expect to see in a science fiction future set in 2050.

Sadly, although the TX54 is undeniably cool, it is extremely limited in functionality, and probably won’t get beyond the concept stage. First and foremost, it displays only the time and date, so don’t expect to be playing any fun games on it. It also has a limited battery life, and is not rechargeable. So once it goes dead, it is tossed out.

Still, very futuristic and neat.

Robot Suitcase

Good news, the robot suitcase already exists, and you can get one right now. This smart suitcase design comes with a built in Bluetooth lock, digital scale to indicate how much your luggage weighs, GPS tracking system, and even USB ports that allow you to charge other devices.

There is also a design of the robot suitcase that will it to follow you around, but it isn’t exactly smart enough to be useful right now, even if you are staying a luxury hotel with perfectly smooth marble floors. Hopefully in the future…

Levitating Sofa

Yes, the levitating sofa is real, although you would not know it given how it isn’t exactly mainstream. The concept, which works via a magnetic levitation system, received an honourable mention at the RELAX design contest. But it hasn’t exactly taken off.

At first glance you’d think the puffy cotton ball looking white cloud above a metal strip is simple Photoshop trickery. But no, this is apparently real. However, after a bit of research you’ll learn that although it is, technically speaking, a working model, it won’t hold up a human by any stretch of the imagination right now.

Another one to add to the watch list, and hope for in the future.