That's Smart: Electrolux's Bio-Robot Refrigerator

Flickr, Electrolux Design Lab

This fridge of the future redefines cool.

We've come a long way since the days of the old "ice box". In fact, this version, created by industrial designer Yuriy Dmitriev for the 2010 Electrolux Design Competition, doesn't require ice or cool air to chill your food at all. Instead, items are individually cooled by a non-sticky biopolymer gel that surrounds each one when shoved inside. The gel, which absorbs heat and transforms it into a cooling light (luminescence), creates a separate pod for each product with the ability to identify the item's optimal temperature and keep it from being contaminated by surrounding odors.

The Bio Robot refrigerator, as it's called, is four times smaller than current models, since the updated design has done away with doors, drawers, and a motor. That means that 90 percent of the surface area can be used for its primary purpose of keeping your edibles cold. (Or double as a cooling bed on these sweltering summer days? Just saying.)

Because of its door-less, drawer-less design, the Bio Robot can also be hung at any orientation -- vertically, horizontally or even on the ceiling -- and it puts your groceries in plain sight.

The goal of this year's competition was to create an appliance for an urban home in the year 2050, but we're hoping to see this refreshing idea on the market a lot sooner than that!