Domestic life could be made easier by robotic cleaners and automated homes.
This is the message in the annual Faraday Lectures for 14 to 16-year-olds being scripted by a Sussex team.
Tim Venables, research officer for the programme on innovation in the built environment at the Science and Technology Policy Research Unit (SPRU), based at the University of Sussex, said: "We have to pack a message of how technology is changing our lives and our homes into just one hour.
"We have chosen a punchy style as far removed as possible from the traditional stuffy lecture given with slides from a lectern.
The set will look like a house or flat and the presenters will use items from around the home to illustrate the science."
The lecture will be entitled Smart Living at Home With Technology and computerisation is a key theme.
Mr Venables said: "Technology has infiltrated the home in a major way.
Electricity has dramatically reduced the amount of labour used in domestic chores in ways practically unheard of a century ago.
"In Victorian days, people had push-along carpet sweepers, then the electric vacuum cleaner came along, making the task easier and quicker.
Looking to the future, we could see automated robots cleaning the house without the owner even needing to be home."
The lecture will include interactive elements and audience participation.
Mr Venables said: "The onstage house can be controlled through a web server and its settings will be viewable through a web browser.
"We will take a laptop into the audience and people will be able to check the state of connected devices or alter them as they choose.
At some of the lectures we will allow students in Canada to take control of the house on our stage in the UK, using the internet to tap into our systems from the other side of the world.
It won't be long before it could be standard to have an integrated system with all devices able to talk together.
They will be able to respond to stimuli without direct instruction. Technology could be developed to operate windows so they know to shut when it rains."
The lectures will be given at 12 venues around the country. Starting in November, the tour lasts three months with the London presentation in February being covered by Channel Four.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article