Our constant urge to speculate on the subject of future technology is one of our strong creative traits. Many things that we consider commonplace today seemed science fiction only some decades ago. Chicago based industrial designer Michaël Harboun has his distinct idea of the future. He sees it in the implementation of so called 'programable matter,' a material comprised of micro robots capable to communicate with each other and change shape and function of any object. Harboun explains:

Let’s imagine a world where physical matter would gain digital abilities - meaning one could change the shape of any object as one would change the contents of a Smartphone. This would revolutionize our relationship with objects. An object would no longer induce a function by the way it looks. The user himself would define the functions of an object, the user becomes creator.

Through his Living Kitchen concept designer attempted to explore how people would interact within this form follows flow environment. The volumes could be stretched, twisted and bend by the user. And as far as technology goes, a material of this kind is currently being researched by Intel and the Carnegie Mellon University under the name of Claytronics. So, the future might be closer than we think.

Living Kitchen is a Reddot Award winner of 2011 in the concept design category. Watch the video to see the idea in motion.