Future Living 2025 (found Science Channel documentary special; 2002)

The title card of the documentary.

Status: Found

Date found: 06 Jan 2024

Found by: omeglidan and mikusingularity

Future Living 2025^[1]^[2], 2025: Future Living^[3]^[4], or simply 2025 (according to the title card) was a documentary that aired on the (Discovery) Science Channel in 2002, predicting technological advances in the year 2025. Framed around the futuristic life of the fictitious DiMarco family, the documentary discussed technologies such as:

self-driving vehicles
tele-immersion (3D teleconferencing) and remote work
virtual and augmented reality
wearable computers (e.g. smart glasses)
low-cost space transportation
affective computing (emotional machines)
ambient intelligence (electronics that respond to human presence)
green buildings
home security systems
hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
personalized media (music/TV)
polymer LED displays
intellectual and creative games and toys

Before its rediscovery in 2024, a description on an archived page on science.discovery.com^[5] provided one of the only direct proofs of its existence, being part of the "Digital Domain" anthology series (although the Robosapien toy was not featured in the program):

"Future Living - Discover what life will be like in the year 2025. Advanced technology will enable the creation of iris-scanning security systems and refrigerators that reorder cartons of milk when the old ones expire. Meet the Robosapien who is more human than machine."

The video was once reuploaded to YouTube in five parts, with links being posted on sites like the TechEBlog^[6] and SgForums^[7] in 2007, but the YouTube account that had uploaded them has been terminated for several years.

On January 6, 2024, YouTube user mikusingularity (@piplupsingularity) uploaded a recording of the documentary provided by Reddit user omeglidan, rendering the full documentary as found.

Gallery

Videos

The full documentary.

The documentary used these exact clips of the Japanese reusable rocket concept "Kankoh-maru" (at timestamp 8:52), albeit with an electronic soundtrack and no text.