Almost 10 years ago, I was invited to a secret lab within HP Singapore to see a slew of future tech the company was building.

It was not so secret that I had to be bound and blindfolded, then driven three times around the island, but it had a black glass door that opened into a black corridor with some pretty comfortable mood (read: dim) lighting. The secret stuff laid behind a crook in a black wall.

Back then, what I saw was stuff out of James Bond movies, but fell short of the Minority Report references that we have these days.

I no longer remember all that I was shown but one piece of technology I can still picture, quite clearly: Mirrored surfaces that hid widgets such as calendar, contacts, traffic conditions and even the weather. Some of those innovations, which actually look like mirrors and paintings, transformed into 50-inch — and larger — televisions. Remember, this was way before Apple’s iPhone made the smartphone ubiquitous.

I was shown rooms where the bathroom mirrors would spell out the activities you had planned for the day ahead; kitchens with windows that could change scenes; and a living room with a TV that looked like a painting until you turned it on. It was exciting because HP said these innovations would be market-ready within five to 10 years.

GLASS LIKE WATER

Today, we do not need these mirrored surfaces to hide the TV, or tell us the weather, or even our diary for the day. We have Siri, which can read the day’s itinerary as we drive from home to work. Our smartphones get weather information direct off satellites, and TVs these days are so sleek and beautiful they are works of art themselves — who cares if they don’t turn into paintings?

Instead of glass that hides information, the innovation today is in flexible glass like Corning’s Willow, which could be ready in time for Samsung’s next Galaxy S phone or Apple’s next iPhone.

Perhaps it may not be as fluid as plastic but the days of the PaperTab — a tablet revealed at the International Consumer Electronics Show last week that feels and behaves like paper — are dawning.

In the near future, we’ll be able to lay information over spectacles; the Google Glasses may not be market-ready yet, but keep an eye out for them this year. There are already sunglasses out there that can record up to 2GB worth of video and glasses that are augmented reality-ready. The future of wearable technology is now.

SWIPING GOOD; GESTURE BETTER

I mentioned Minority Report earlier. Well, the days of gesturing in mid-air while wearing a pair of spectacles displaying the user interface are drawing near. Last year we reported on the company Leap Motion and their nifty gadget that lets you wave your hands in the air to manipulate the cursor on screen. This year at the International CES, the company released pricing details — it will retail in the United States for US$70 (S$86) in the coming months. Samsung had already shown off their gesture-based computers and TVs last year, but the Leap Motion technology seemed the most stable.

It is not quite Minority Report yet, but it’s just a hop, skip and a jump away. Now, all someone has to do is marry the Leap Motion Controller with Google Glasses and we’re all set.

SMART LIVING

At the HP lab, I was also shown appliances that could talk to each other and send messages via SMS to tell you if a burglar’s broken in and if you need to pick up some eggs on the way home.

This sparked a few articles back then about smart homes (including the first smart condo in Singapore, the Equatorial) and stories such as how to get your home connected using technology then available. It was a decade ago, so it was possible, but it would have burnt a huge hole in your pocket.

Fast forward to today and Samsung has already launched a few concept smart appliances, at their Samsung Forum 2012 event in Bangkok. I’ve been invited to a few events from big boys such as LG and Sony regarding their connected TVs.

During the Samsung event, I was told smart appliances have been in the works for a few years but the market was not quite ready for it. If the announcements at this year’s International CES are to be believed, the market is warming up to the idea. Samsung announced two smart appliances: The Flex Duo Oven, which is able to cook two different dishes at two temperatures at the same time, and the Terminator-sounding T9000-LCD refrigerator, which comes with a built-in LCD screen that connects with your smartphone.

At another event, LG demonstrated a slew of smart appliances that could be controlled from a smartphone using simple voice commands. The list of pretty smart appliances include a robot vaccuum cleaner that can start hoovering on its own, washing machines that could start a load while you are on the way home (though it will not pick up the clothes off the floor) and a refrigerator that can bring up a list of food items on command. The fridge can even track the freshness of the food, and pull up recipes based on the ingredients you have at home. The recipe can even be sent to LG’s smart oven.

Forget about putting chains on your fridge when you are on a diet; this one can plan and recommend healthy meals based on your age, sex, weight and height information to create an appropriate, personalised meal plan. Wow!

LG has not committed on the launch dates for the smart devices but if they have a demo unit, you can be sure it’s not far from market.

THE NEXT TEN

I have not been invited in recent years to any secret labs (although I’d love to have a peek into the top-secret Google X Lab) but NASA’s started work on a warp drive — not that I’m holding my breath for it, it will most likely not happen in my lifetime; Google’s playing around with a self-driving car which I might get to be chauffered in one someday; then there’s the promise of wearable technlogy. With newer, faster, processor chips that use less power, technology is getting smaller, speedier and more powerful.

Luke Skywalker may have slung a portable computer around his neck in Star Wars (of course, you can sling a tablet around your neck now) but I expect clever clothes — clothes that clean themselves, allow you to make phone calls, have smart microfibres that read the temperature and close up or open so you stay warm or cool — will be available within 10 years. An American company, Power Laces, has been developing self-lacing shoes like the Nike ones seen in Back to the Future II since 2010.

The Hasso-Plattner Institute last year had shown technology that puts an imaginary phone in your hand, which in turn operates a real phone in your pocket. When inventors weave the phone into the clothes on your back, all you have to do is touch your palm to make a call or send a message.

Perhaps by then, such future technology would already be everyday news. But there will always be the next 10 years to look forward to. Gentlemen, start your engines. And set to warp speed.

Peter Yeo is TODAY’s Technology Correspondent. This commentary is only available online.

Want to experience some of tomorrow’s technology today? Check out these links:

PaperTab, the paper-like tablet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81iiGWdsJgg

Power laces, like the ones in Back to the Future: Demo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_Efr2TaEPo

Leap motion TheVerge hands on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQkKyOOyLSs

Leap Motion intro video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d6KuiuteIA