Multidisciplinary intersection and integration is one of the signigicant features of scientific research, and it is an important path for technological development and social innovation. The Future Laboratory of Tsinghua University is committed to breaking disciplinary barriers and conducting cutting-edge exploration in the field of multidisciplinary research and design innovation since inception. This article introduces the main research topics in related fields of the Future Laboratory, i. e. olfactory computing theory and method research based on artificial intelligence, future materials and design research, smart human habitat design and innovation research, accessibility design research, elderly-friendly service design research, theory and method research of lifelong learning. This article introduces an overview of research topics and a review of each domain followed by the current research progress in the Future Laboratory and the development suggestion. It is hoped that this article can provide necessary references for colleagues in academia and industry conducting research on multidisciplinary study and design innovation.

As a kind of chemical information, odor is ubiquitous in life. Therefore, the research of artificial olfaction technology has far-reaching strategic significance and wide application scope. This paper firstly introduces the concept and definition of artificial olfactory perception technology, and compares the development of artificial olfactory technology of bionic type and chemical analysis type with related researches; meanwhile, the research work of Olfactory Computing Group in artificial olfaction and olfactory computing is used as a case study to further elaborate the development trend from artificial olfactory technology to olfactory computing technology in this field. In addition, this paper illustrates the current technical challenges and possible solution paths of olfactory computing research, as well as the prospect of landing applications of olfactory computing in smart home, smart agriculture, medical health and other industries. The huge potential value of odor information in real environment has not been fully explored, so the research of artificial olfaction technology for different application scenarios may become an important research topic in the future.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and big data, etc., the smart home enters the Era 3.0, which profoundly relies on user-based big data mining and deep learning. At present, smart interaction, intelligent perception, and complex decision-making in the smart home urgently need new supporting technologies and methods. This paper integrated a large amount of frontier research worldwide and summarized and refined the three elements required for the future smart home: "perception" "thinking" and "execution". This paper began with an overview of the frontier platforms for smart homes in China and abroad, followed by an elaboration and review of the research on data collection, feature extraction, perception in smart home scenarios, and multimodal human-computer interaction and innovation scenarios for smart homes, respectively. The authors presented a series of related research work of Future Lab in the smart home field for researchers in related fields.

Along with the development of technologies such as artificial intelligence(AI) and the internet of things(IoT), here comes the trend of smart home. Makeup industry shows convincing market potential in both consumption and entertainment. Digital makeup has become an interesting research direction. This article focused on makeup system in smart home scenario. The research of related works was divided into three parts: (1) Human-computer interaction design based on mirror; (2) Algorithms related to digital makeup; (3) Hardware technologies in digital mirror for makeup. Based on the survey, application scenarios of the digital makeup mirror system were analyzed and forecasted. This review ought to provide a summary of the development strategy and interface design of digital makeup system for further investigation in this field.

Blind people can already use Braille to learn words, and also use voice-assisted software such as screen readers to communicate through voice. However, there is very limited tool to help the blinds learn and understand graphical information (Such as: geometric knowledge in mathematics, circuit knowledge in physics, and meridian distribution in medical knowledge). This research reviewed sense of touch and tactile displays, studied tactile cognition for blind people, and analyzed the mechanism of blind people's spatial tactile cognition. Then a graphical tactile display was designed and developed, followed by a set of user study to prove its usability. The device adopts an innovative structural design to achieve good tactile cognitive experience with low-cost integration. It not only can dynamically generate Braille and rich tactile graphical information, but also can be used as an effective learning tool.

Hearing impaired people have the need, ability and right to enjoy music, however modern hearing aid technologies still unable to meet their needs for music perception and appreciation, which is not conducive to their social interaction and self-development. This paper firstly focuses on the needs and preferences of hearing impaired people in music activities, and emphasizes that the common way for deaf people to participate in music activities is to feel the vibration of sound waves through tactile channel. Secondly, it summarizes the advantages of tactile stimulation in representing auditory information, as well as the expressiveness competence, limitations and design methods of vibrotactile music, and reviews related works of wearable and static vibrotactile music devices. Tactile channel has advantages in several aspects such as cognitive load, temporal sequence, naturalness and immersiveness etc, not only it can compensate for hearing loss and enhance hearing perception, but also carry emotional communication. It also has limitations such as low resolution and difficulty in conveying high-frequency information. Finally, this paper proposes several research directions of UX design in the future, to provide reference for researchers in related fields.

Over the past decades, there has been tremendous research progress in sleep science and neuroscience and a deeper understanding of dream, while the therapy function of dreams from the intersection of art and neuroscience has been deficient. This paper summarized the related research of emotion-centered dream therapy function, and introduced the visual attempt of dream abstract art form carried out by the Future Laboratory of Tsinghua University on this basis，which is also the basis of dream art therapy in the future. In the background of dream culture and scientific research, it tried to reposition the daily practice of dream research under the integration of science and art, combined the cross-exploration of related research results of psychology, sleep science and art, and restarted the significance of dream generation art research for health therapy.

The application of technology in the field of elderly care has always been a focal point for researchers. This article reviews and summarizes research methods developed for the elderly population based on the natural aging process at the physiological and cognitive levels, and identifies key elements of technology design that prioritize humanistic care. The study focuses on three scenarios where intelligent technology supports elderly people with taking photos, exercising, and receiving care at home, and explores the development direction that designers should pay attention to. In terms of interaction design, it is important to fully consider the sensory state of the elderly and adopt a simple and user-friendly interface with multimodal interaction. From a humanistic care perspective, attention should be paid to the elderly's acceptance of technology and their emotional experience while using it, which helps them to better integrate into the digital age.

In recent years, with the deepening of technological revolution and globalization, every learner needs to iterate his/her knowledge and competence system through lifelong learning in order to become a competitive talent in the future. Therefore, this paper firstly reviews the history of the definition of lifelong learning. Secondly, it systematically discusses the relationship between the concept of lifelong learning and future talent cultivation. Thirdly, how to train talents under the concept of lifelong learning is analyzed. Finally, based on the concept of lifelong learning and talent cultivation practice exploration, this paper expounds how to construct the talent training system under the concept of lifelong learning.

Surface photocatalytic technology is widely used in surface self-cleaning, sewage treatment, water to hydrogen conversion and other fields. In particular, composite semiconductor materials, using the p-n junction principle, greatly improve the concentration of surface electrons and holes, thereby improving the ability to absorb sunlight, leading to broad application prospects. This paper focuses on the progress of nano-photocatalytic technology in the field of sewage treatment, water-hydrogen conversion and surface modification of medical devices, as well as the application prospects in antimicrobial self-cleaning for food packaging, transportation equipment and building materials. This is important to reduce the current cross-infection of contact in public places and to control the global epidemic.

In devices such as high-temperature solid oxide fuel cells, the gas/solid interface has significant impact on electrode reaction performance and device life. Therefore, the precise regulation and in situ characterization of the high-temperature gas/solid electrochemical interface is a core direction of material research and development in new energy devices. This paper reviews the development process of the preparation and regulation of high-temperature gas/solid interfaces applied to the basic research of high-temperature electrochemistry and device fields, and summarizes the necessity of developing in situ dynamic characterization of high-temperature gas/solid interface and the development status of in situ characterizations in recent years, and points out the challenges of more refined high-temperature gas/solid interface. Combined with the current multidisciplinary development direction, this paper proposes to improve the accuracy of interface control to the atomic scale in future research, develop more in situ characterization methods which are suitable for high-temperature gas/solid interfaces, and combine the use of new data science research methods such as machine learning in the future.