Photos: The tech in the home of 2050

From robots that make your dinner to water-free washing machines

Industrial design students have been showing off their visions for the technology that could feature in the home of the future in London this week.

The students were asked to create design-concepts themed around saving space in the home of 2050, as part of this year's Electrolux Design Lab industrial design competition.

The winner is being judged at the 100% Design show in London this week and the eight finalists – from Australia, China, France, India, Iran, Russia, Sweden and the USA - have their concepts displayed at the exhibition. silicon.com went down to find out which ideas made the cut.

One finalist, shown above, is the Bio Robot Refrigerator.

The fridge has no door or shelves and instead uses odourless biopolymer gel that morphs around food items to hold them in place and keep them separated from each other.

Designed by Russian student Yuriy Dmitriev, the fridge's biompolymer gel is triggered to cool the food when subjected to luminescence.

The way in which the appliance is designed means it's around four times smaller than a conventional home refrigerator with the same capacity.

Because the items it stores are separated, each item can theoretically be stored at its optimal temperature.

The External Fridge, a refrigerator that can be located outside residential buildings, is the brainchild of French design student Nicolas Hubert. The concept is derived from Hubert's experience in northern China where food is kept on balconies in the winter to save space and energy.

The External Fridge uses solar power in summer months to provide the energy to cool items in the fridge while external temperature is use during the colder months.

This helmet is part of Australian Daniel Dobrogorsky's Kitchen Hideaway concept which uses virtual reality to allow users to control robots in a communal kitchen to prepare meals from the comfort of their sofa.

Users' thoughts are transmitted to the robots which then go about preparing the food in the physical kitchen.

The Snail, designed by Indian student Peter Alwin, uses magnetic induction to heat cooking containers. The device makes molecules in the pan move in such a way that it heats up and cooks the food within.

Induction hobs are becoming increasingly common but The Snail does away with the need for a hob. The Snail is attached to the pot or pan and uses a high-density sugar crystal battery which heats up a coil to conduct the magnetic induction process to the item.

The Snail also has built-in sensors which work out what food is being cooked and adjust the time and temperature accordingly.

The Elements Modular Kitchen is effectively a wall-mounted kitchen. Designed by American student Matther Gilbride, the concept allows for different compartments to be used for storage, lighting, refrigeration or cooking.

The device is powered wirelessly through the wall - much like wireless charging docks for mobile devices. The different units can also work together via wireless networking.

The Elements Modular Kitchen concept uses induction for cooking, solid-state cooling for refrigeration and touch controls for each compartment, as shown above.

The Dismount Washer doubles as a laundry basket and washing machine. Shown above is the container into which clothes are placed, which is then hooked up to a wall mounted power source or 'energy stick' which cleans the clothes by dispensing steam.

The energy stick is shown here along with the integrated display which shows whose washing is being done and how much longer it will take. The concept was designed by Chinese design student Lichen Guo.

The last of the eight finalists is Swedish student Michael Edenius' Clean Closet. Users hang their clothes in the device which then scans it for impurities and then uses molecular technology to clean the items without using water, meaning they don't need to be dried.

Shown above are the final eight concepts on display at the 100% Design, which runs til 26 September at London's Earl's Court.

For more on the technology that could find its way into your home in the years to come, see House of the future: The tech that could soon make your home tick.