Each year, Electrolux hosts a global design competition, where students are asked to submit original concepts based on a particular theme. This year that theme is Creating Healthy Homes and the six finalists have just been announced from an impressive 1,700 entries. The designs offer a glimpse into what the future may hold, where bath towels could be purified and dried in seconds, garments could be created from plastic bottles and we could even be making our own microclimates. The finalists will present their concepts to a jury in Paris on 12 November before the winner is chosen.

And the final designs are…

1) UrbanCone by Michal Pośpiech from Poland 

UrbanCone by Michal Pośpiech from Poland

UrbanCone creates healthy microclimates outdoors, as it can purify the air around an entire city – as well as in our homes. The device lifts up and flies in the air thanks to ultra light construction and photovoltaic solar panel wings that move just like a jellyfish. Exchangeable filters underneath the wings of the cones make the purification happen, producing an automatic, radio-controlled smart device.

2) Lotus by Fulden Dehneli from Turkey

Lotus by Fulden Dehneli from Turkey

Lotus is an air purifier with three portable and rechargeable air cleaning balls. While the main body offers a general purification, the balls can be taken anywhere according to need. These three rechargeable balls named Pure Ball, Odour Ball and Humid Ball aim to accomplish specific tasks, as Super Plasma Ion Technology generates active hydrogen and oxygen ions, which eliminate biological contaminants.

3) Set To Mimic by Sorina Răsteanu from Romania

Set To Mimic by Sorina Răsteanu from Romania

This smart kitchenware recreates tastes and smells of food to your individual preference. By placing a non-invasive, transparent gel patch with a microchip on your head, the plate and glass communicate wirelessly with your brain to make you experience a taste or smell from the past by tapping into your memory. In this way, you can eat a carrot for instance but have the impression that you’re tucking into an ice-cream or juicy steak!

4) Future Hunter-Gatherer by Pan Wang from China / UK Central Saint Martins

Future Hunter-Gatherer by Pan Wang from China / UK Central Saint Martins

A virtual grocery shopping experience inspired by nature, which projects a hologram that allows you to play a game to gather food by fishing, hunting or foraging from nature. Any food collected is then transmitted to your local grocery store or market and delivered direct to your door. As well as making shopping more fun, it also aims to give children a better understanding of where their food comes from.

5) Pete by Kovács Apor from Hungary

Pete by Kovács Apor from Hungary

This concept merges plastic bottles and creates garments from them according to your style and fashion flair. All you need do is choose your preferred clothing type, colour and cut, while the machine calculates the amount of bottles needed then turns them into polyester and prints the clothes. This creates a natural recycling method for plastic bottles and turns consumers into their very own eco-designer.

6) Pure Towel by Leobardo Armenta from Mexico

Pure Towel by Leobardo Armenta from Mexico

A smart towel hanger that instantly cleans towels after use, this concept is aimed at creating a cleaner and healthier bathroom. Using an ultraviolet ray and high-speed fan, Pure Towel purifies and dries towels in seconds, eliminating 99.9% of bacteria at the same time.

You can view the videos of each concept below: