This post is part of
an inspiration series
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When the Jetsons premiered in 1962, the creators imagined a future world in which Chevvy’s could fly, full meals are created with a click of a button, and a robot was all you needed for a housekeeper. Minus the flying Chevvy’s, most of their gadget predictions were a reality in less than 40 years. So we’re not going to claim that the imaginative ideas below are outlandish or far fetched. On the contrary, these killer concepts might show up for sale before you know it…

Future of Internet Search: In the past few years, Augmented Reality has debuted on everything from your iPhone 4 to your new pair of Nikes. Imagine, you have a hankering for a certain type of food – now, you can just hold up your phone to the street you’re on, and be literally pointed int he direction of the nearest place serving it. This is only the beginning, though – we have no doubt that tons of mind-blowing capabilities on the horizon. To start, here’s a concept: imagine ordering food at a restaurant, holding your phone up to it, and suddenly knowing as much information about what’s in front of you as you find on packaged food. What’s the calorie count, nutrition info, and ingredients on the entree in front of you?

Smellit: Taste your movies like you never have: Remember when surround sound came out? And then high-definition viewing? There’s two senses covered. But how about one that’s never entered into the home viewing experience – smell. So you’re watching a DVD, and the leading lady orders a big slice of chocolate cake. It arrives, looks delicious, and suddenly you smell it too. How this would work: built into the DVD are 100 smell cartridges (see above). The DVD is-precoded to emit different odors at certain spots throughout the movie, based, of course, on smells the characters encounter. With 3-D coming to TV, perhaps this vision isn’t too far off…

Envi: It’s no secret that we have an overwhelming waste problem on our hands. The average American throws out four pounds of garbage a day, and in many cities, overflowing trash cans and littered streets suggest it may be even more than this. But what if, even in urban public trash cans, we could create life out of our trash? The Envi uses bio-reactive substances based on photo catalysis to accelerate the degradation process of the trash. Added bonus – it removes bad smells and polluting gas. What’s left in the compost bin can be removed and used for other recycling purposes. Best part is, the Envi lets us see the impact that green actions have on the environment directly, so it encourages our very greenest behavior.

This year, “Square” was introduced, which means that you can turn your iPhone into a credit card swiper if you’d like to. This “Credit Card Pig Bank” takes that concept and runs with it, turning the classic child’s penny-storing pig into a new way to save or donate. Imagine that, instead of dropping a few quarters in your Piggy Bank, you swipe your card to add a few dollars (or more) to your Savings Account. Or, rather than dropping a dollar into the donations bin for the Salvation Army, you swipe your card in passing. Cash is being exchanged less often than ever, and this concept embraces what may very well be a future reality – a paperless money system.

To see more inspiring images for this article, check out the “Designs of the Future” album that our curators put together on Veer.com. If you like what you see, sign up for a Veer account for a choice selection of affordable stock photography. Bonus – new registrants get 10 free credits.