Before Covid there was another idea of home hygiene. Since the beginning of the pandemic, however, the concept has undergone a rapid and radical change.
Home life is now more than just a ménage in a place to relax, eat and spend time with the family. It has become a workplace, a health department, an education center, the local fitness center, and more.
Now the home, and not the city center or the office or the school, is the hub of daily activities.
In times of Covid, domestic life is turned upside down.
Hygiene and connectivity measures are the big drivers of this change. Aside from the renewed needs to have a comfortable and safe home life, the desire is that it is also hyper-connected. On-demand work and entertainment practices make it indispensable.
Here are five trends to monitor that will continue to shape our home life throughout 2021, hoping to see them in the future too, but much mitigated for happy reasons.
Home comforts
Health at home meant general safety features for people with reduced mobility. Now the concept includes a number of additional aspects. The programs of telemedicine they reach individuals more vulnerable and isolated than ever, with the size of the global telemedicine market is expected to grow by 23,5% by 2026. With the mental health care that gains parity with the physical, everything from the impact of the built environment to the way we work is being improved.
Home living innovations in comfort and health go far beyond the development of new devices. Research on sensory input combined with developments in materials science contributes to multi-level designs focused on end-user comfort. Naturally grown ingredients and sustainable practices are widely seen as necessities, particularly as access to nature has been greatly compressed in 2020.
In replicating functions that took place elsewhere in the community, home and yard improvements must meet a large number of criteria. The ease of use and the ability to integrate with other appliances are of particular importance. Incorporate the well-being in domestic activity centers it requires well-designed solutions that provide surprising and unexpected amounts of functionality.
A sense of purpose
With more time to consider how and why things are done, people around the world have spent a lot of time thinking about environmental impact. And domestic life has become a canvas for sustainable experimentation.
In a context of decline in many other sectors, in 2020, renewable energy has grown tremendously. It is expected that by 2025, renewable energies will become the largest source of electricity generation worldwide, thus eliminating the coal from first place in the energy market.
As part of a global movement towards behaviors carbon neutral individual choices place more attention on materials, functionality and emissions.
From the choice of packaging biodegradable al home composting, consumption made in and for the home is increasingly personalized for well-being.
The concept of environmental protection has moved from hiking trails to purchases, activities and the daily commitments of home life. Despite the wide and deep levels of isolation in almost all nations, the feeling of being connected to a greater good helps to support many people who, even living alone, feel part of a family or in shared spaces.
Home life: antimicrobial and with clean air
Hand in hand with the tendency to keep distances even indoors, living spaces are reconsidered for maximum efficiency and safety. Also after the end of the emergency High levels of hygiene are likely to remain a constant, especially for those wishing to return to work and recreation in person.
Projects and processes previously adopted in commercial and public places have become relevant and required in the domestic life and living spaces of people.
Experts predict that the wet tissue and wipes market will increase by over € 5,3 billion by 2024, with the nascent global market of antimicrobial coating is will reach 4,1 billion euros by 2025.
A growth driven largely by significant increases in the need for hygiene. Innovators are already looking beyond home cleaning products and incorporating antimicrobial features into everything, even in the bulbs.
The same goes for the air too. The fight against urban smog has been a good training ground for technologies and systems now required in almost all buildings, residential and commercial.
La air purification it is fast becoming a household imperative, and even more so for families with vulnerable members of all ages. Systems and devices also diagnostic that microscopic and infectious individuals or viral particles must integrate seamlessly with homes and work environments.
Essential daily experiences
Lunches, doctor's appointments, shopping, school and more became virtual and integrated into home life almost overnight.
Brands that can respond with agility have found new ways to reach regular and new customers, also contributing to the community's need for assistance.
Healthcare workers provided assistance through video link. Banks make regular calls with customers.
By 2025, it is estimated that domestic consumption could represent a 2,5 trillion euro market. Consumer products, leisure, recreation and education are the three main spending areas.
This "world break” at least it gave us the opportunity to introduce new solutions to many challenges. Shopping in mixed reality, modular home workspaces, virtual offices and a host of telemedicine options have brought the world home.
Connection, not isolation
Technology cannot yet replicate human touch. Millions of people around the world have been separated from loved ones for months, and for many it will be so in 2021 as well.
Even before Covid, loneliness was a growing epidemic in some of the richest countries in the world. When the virus imposed vast and immediate restrictions on social interactions, experts predicted an overwhelming increase in mental health conditions.
In response to this situation, community support has focused on reducing isolation and on strengthening networks for the most vulnerable, including with online psychotherapy support services.
Entrepreneurs in the arts and hospitality, two industries devastated economically by the coronavirus, have also faced this enormous tragedy with imagination and heart.
Virtual concerts, online cabaret, do-it-yourself kits for dinners and cocktails, remote tours, even theatrical performances carried out in delivery mode. They all helped establish and maintain a sense of connection, albeit in a different way.
