0:00:02 > 0:00:04Meet the Ashby-Hawkins family.
0:00:04 > 0:00:08For one summer, they gave up the trappings of their modern lives
0:00:08 > 0:00:11and travelled back in time to live through 50 years
0:00:11 > 0:00:13of British weekends.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17Steph, Rob, Daisy and Seth
0:00:17 > 0:00:19have experienced a radical transformation
0:00:19 > 0:00:24- in how we spend our leisure time... - I'm free!
0:00:24 > 0:00:27- ..from the formal...- Feel like I'm going to a wedding.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29- ..to the frivolous...- We're going on holiday!
0:00:29 > 0:00:33..from do-it-yourself to doing almost nothing.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36You've turned into Wham!
0:00:36 > 0:00:39- Starting in 1950...- Oh, my...
0:00:39 > 0:00:42..their own home was their time machine...
0:00:42 > 0:00:47- It's 1961!- ..fast-forwarding them through a new year each day...
0:00:47 > 0:00:51- What on earth are you doing? - We're making a massive dartboard.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56- It's beige!- Oh, there's a telly up in the corner as well, look.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01- ..as they discovered how a social, technological...- What's that?
0:01:01 > 0:01:06- ..and spending revolution... - Oh, my God!
0:01:06 > 0:01:09..transformed our free time for ever.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14- Are you ready?- Yeah!- Now, at the end of their time travels...
0:01:16 > 0:01:19You spent seven hours and 15 minutes on your phone last Sunday.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22Let the robots do the work!
0:01:22 > 0:01:25..I'll be exploring what their leisure time might look like
0:01:25 > 0:01:27in the future.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39The rate of change has been phenomenal
0:01:39 > 0:01:42since we left the Ashby-Hawkins in 1999.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Our lives and homes are now full of technology that would be
0:01:44 > 0:01:49unrecognisable to a family in the 1990s, let alone the 1950s.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51So now, I want to have a look at how the changes we've been
0:01:51 > 0:01:53through already give us
0:01:53 > 0:01:56a hint about what our spare time might look like in the future.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00If I'm honest, I don't think any of us
0:02:00 > 0:02:02really knew what we were letting ourselves in for.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06It was just an incredible way of really getting to understand history
0:02:06 > 0:02:10and it's been a much more powerful experience than I expected it to be.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12- Oh!- Oh!- Power cut!
0:02:12 > 0:02:16To see the eras go by was a real eye-opener as to how
0:02:16 > 0:02:20lucky we are now in contemporary life and how much variety we have.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22The one thing I hope for in the future would be
0:02:22 > 0:02:26not for technologies to sort of take over everything as it
0:02:26 > 0:02:28sort of feels like it is in modern-day life.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31To be honest, I actually have no idea what the future has got
0:02:31 > 0:02:34to bring for us, and it's quite exciting not knowing.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37The family have experienced first-hand the dramatic changes
0:02:37 > 0:02:40to the way we spend our leisure time.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46Oh, my God!
0:02:46 > 0:02:49- This looks so gross!- Wow.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52As they travelled back through history, everything
0:02:52 > 0:02:57the Ashby-Hawkins did was guided by a remarkable government survey.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Oh, look, it's doing it! Yes!
0:03:00 > 0:03:04The Family Expenditure Survey started in the 1950s,
0:03:04 > 0:03:05recording what ordinary British families
0:03:05 > 0:03:09spent their money on right up until 2000, giving us the best
0:03:09 > 0:03:13possible clues to what people were doing with their leisure time.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15Looking down here, it's VCR, videos, home computer.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18In the '50s, it was a shilling on fags.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20This man owns five televisions!
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Over 10,000 families took part every year,
0:03:23 > 0:03:27recording their spending on everything from a washing machine
0:03:27 > 0:03:31to a games console, revealing the new trends
0:03:31 > 0:03:34- and technologies that emerged with every decade.- That's so cool!
0:03:34 > 0:03:35That's really good!
0:03:38 > 0:03:41The Family Expenditure Survey ended in 2000 but,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43thanks to the latest government research,
0:03:43 > 0:03:45we can discover how families are now spending their money
0:03:45 > 0:03:47and what that says about our leisure time.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51'I'm back with social historian Polly Russell,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54'to see how the Ashby-Hawkins' modern home reflects how we all
0:03:54 > 0:03:56'spend our free time today.'
0:03:59 > 0:04:01- Ah, here we are, in the living room. - It's the 21st century.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05It's hard to imagine that this was the room that the piano was in.
0:04:05 > 0:04:06Yeah.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08And then we took out the piano at the beginning of the '60s
0:04:08 > 0:04:11- and smashed it up to make room for this.- Yeah.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14And from today's perspective, it looks unremarkable, doesn't it?
0:04:14 > 0:04:18But actually, if you go back in time, so much of what's here
0:04:18 > 0:04:21is really quite new and would have just been unheard of.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25And indicates such a different sort of a life and a family dynamic then
0:04:25 > 0:04:29than Rob's chair, where he smoked his pipe and read the newspaper.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32And if you look over here, you know, you've got, yes,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35the television's been around since the 1960s but, you know,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39the tablets, the smartphone, digital cameras - I mean,
0:04:39 > 0:04:40that's relatively new, isn't it?
0:04:40 > 0:04:43And we expect technology to keep delivering things.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46We want people to entertain us and we're bored with that and give us that and give us more,
0:04:46 > 0:04:48and we want technology to reduce the amount of time
0:04:48 > 0:04:51we have to work and increase the amount of time that we have
0:04:51 > 0:04:53to play and give us things to play with.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55It could carry on indefinitely.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58You couldn't have imagined, even in 1999,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01- where it was going to be now, 17 years later.- Absolutely.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03More recent expenditure surveys show us
0:05:03 > 0:05:09that household spending has doubled in the UK within the last 60 years.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11And when you look just at the category of leisure
0:05:11 > 0:05:14and entertainment, that has increased, decade by decade,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16year-on-year, and continues to do so.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18People have more money than they did,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21spend more money than they did, and it's constantly going up.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24That's right, but then they're spending more money on leisure
0:05:24 > 0:05:26and entertainment. We're prepared to pay for it.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29It's as important to us as housing and as food.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32So if the future follows the pattern of the past,
0:05:32 > 0:05:33it's going to keep on going like that -
0:05:33 > 0:05:35people are going to carry on spending more money,
0:05:35 > 0:05:40- and they're going to want to spend it on leisure things. So what is it going to be on?- Just don't know.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43I mean, it's those things that, you know, perhaps now seem to be
0:05:43 > 0:05:46slightly strange, on the edge, early adopters are doing.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49A few of those, presumably, will become completely normal.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52So like it was with TV and it was with phones and it was with
0:05:52 > 0:05:55foreign holidays - Rob and Steph there having a lovely time abroad.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Foreign beach would have been quite a rare thing,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59and now, it's just an everyday thing.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02I racked my brain. I think, maybe space travel?
0:06:06 > 0:06:10Today, technology fills up our free time, but in the '50s, technology
0:06:10 > 0:06:14was about to create free time by liberating us from housework.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17At the start of the experiment,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20the Ashby-Hawkins' home was a place of work, not play,
0:06:20 > 0:06:25and most of the responsibilities fell on Steph as the housewife...
0:06:25 > 0:06:27Oh, my God! It's revolting!
0:06:29 > 0:06:32..a complete role reversal from her life today as the family's
0:06:32 > 0:06:34main breadwinner.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37In the '50s, I didn't really have any free time.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41The amount of housework that we were expected to do
0:06:41 > 0:06:45was absolutely ridiculous.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47My mum and I have no downtime whatsoever
0:06:47 > 0:06:50and we spend our entire time looking after other people.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54Domestic work ate up nearly all of Steph's time.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58On average, a '50s housewife did a staggering 75 hours a week.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02It would be interesting to see, actually,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05how dry the stuff comes out the other end.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09And the answer is, actually, not very much difference at all.
0:07:09 > 0:07:14It's still really wet. But I've just seen something.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17I think I'm doing it the wrong way round. Look at that!
0:07:17 > 0:07:19That's the way you mangle!
0:07:21 > 0:07:22Yes!
0:07:22 > 0:07:25This doesn't feel like it would be any different than it would have
0:07:25 > 0:07:28been 100 years, 200, 300 years before.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30It feels like I'm just waiting for the explosion of technology
0:07:30 > 0:07:33to happen that's going to really free me.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38- By Jove, the tech is going to free me!- And it did, to a certain extent.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42- Looks nice, doesn't it? - The hot water.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47As washing machines came into the reach of ordinary families,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50these laboursaving devices created leisure time that simply
0:07:50 > 0:07:54- hadn't existed before. - Look how filthy the water is.
0:07:56 > 0:07:591950s woman would have thought it was a miracle.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01We're not there yet but it's a symbol of hope.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05It's a beacon in the corner of the kitchen.
0:08:05 > 0:08:06The washing machine was followed
0:08:06 > 0:08:09by other laboursaving devices and products.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13It's not just a Hoover. There's a floor polisher.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16My domestic cup runneth over.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18I absolutely have a renewed respect
0:08:18 > 0:08:20for the housewife of the '50s and '60s.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22Lift your feet up! Lift your feet up!
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Hats off to them for keeping houses clean,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28keeping children washed, fed and cleaned
0:08:28 > 0:08:32with very little money and with very few resources.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Despite all the technological advances,
0:08:37 > 0:08:39for Steph, the home remained a place of work for decades.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Oh, kids!
0:08:41 > 0:08:43Have you seen this lounge?!
0:08:43 > 0:08:46# Do the Shake n' Vac and put the freshness back
0:08:46 > 0:08:49# Do the Shake n' Vac and put the freshness back... #
0:08:49 > 0:08:51I think I might open a window.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Men gradually took on a slither of the workload.
0:08:56 > 0:08:57But housework didn't go away.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05There is, however, a new generation of laboursaving technology
0:09:05 > 0:09:09which promises to create precious leisure time for all of us.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Polly is bringing the family the very latest cleaning robots
0:09:14 > 0:09:17designed to take housework off our hands completely.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20I've come today and I've brought you some presents
0:09:20 > 0:09:23which may be the answer to the end of cleaning for the future.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27- Wow.- Automated cleaning products. - Awesome.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29Since you've been involved in this experiment,
0:09:29 > 0:09:31the amount of time that you've spent cleaning
0:09:31 > 0:09:33- has really changed, hasn't it?- Yep.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36In the '50s, I just spent my entire life cleaning.
0:09:36 > 0:09:37That's all I did.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39I thought I'd miss my tablet
0:09:39 > 0:09:42and just kind of like the leisure type of tech.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45I hadn't taken into account all of the white goods
0:09:45 > 0:09:47that I just completely take for granted.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49And now how many hours on average
0:09:49 > 0:09:51do you think that you clean over a week?
0:09:51 > 0:09:53It's probably about ten.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56So significantly less than Steph was doing in the early '50s.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58In the '50s, there were lots of repetitive tasks
0:09:58 > 0:10:02that we thought were entirely unnecessary, like dusting every day.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04With something like this, if you've got a lot of traffic
0:10:04 > 0:10:06coming in the house and you've got a little robot thing
0:10:06 > 0:10:08that goes round and cleans it,
0:10:08 > 0:10:10why wouldn't you just have it there running?
0:10:10 > 0:10:13- Do you want to give them a go? - Hell, yeah.- Absolutely.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18Keen to try out the family's first robot,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Rob takes it outside to tackle the lawn...
0:10:26 > 0:10:28How do you turn it on?
0:10:28 > 0:10:31..something that took him hours to perfect in the '60s.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36Ooh, it purrs like a kitten.
0:10:38 > 0:10:39And over.
0:10:39 > 0:10:40Right, it's on.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Is that on?
0:10:44 > 0:10:45Here we go.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48I'm standing back.
0:10:52 > 0:10:53Oh, it's clever.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55The sensors work.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57There.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59There.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02It's not voice-activated, is it?
0:11:02 > 0:11:04See, now it's doing the edges, look.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06That is a straight line, isn't it?
0:11:08 > 0:11:12I loved mowing my lawn in the '60s because it was a big machine,
0:11:12 > 0:11:15it smelled of oil but this is incredibly convenient.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17I could be sitting on my lounge chair just clicking
0:11:17 > 0:11:19and I wouldn't be out here. I'd be...
0:11:19 > 0:11:22I could just go out and the lawn would be all done for me.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25It seems to be sort of mowing.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30What do you think? What do you think?
0:11:30 > 0:11:32Hour and a half I was out here doing it.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Actually, the '60s lawnmower was great
0:11:35 > 0:11:38because, even though it took a human being to run it,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40I loved that sense of satisfaction.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45Oh, it's gone back home.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48That's very clever.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50I don't believe that this is the future of mowing the lawn, no.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52This is...
0:11:52 > 0:11:53No.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Inside the house, Daisy and Seth
0:11:58 > 0:12:01are taking an unusual interest in housework.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Is this like a record player? Because it feels like one.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06Oh, I pressed something.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08'Error one.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10'Move Roomba to a new location.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12'Then press clean to restart.'
0:12:15 > 0:12:17Let the robots do the work.
0:12:17 > 0:12:18Not me!
0:12:20 > 0:12:22Wait, can you control where it goes?
0:12:22 > 0:12:24It automatically calculates the room's size
0:12:24 > 0:12:26and adjusts its cleaning time appropriately.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30- Does it hover so it can go up the stairs?- No.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32That's a bit too futuristic.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34OK, look at those crumbs there
0:12:34 > 0:12:36and let's if they get rid of those crumbs.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40This is actually quite cool.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46- It doesn't have any consideration for human beings.- No!
0:12:46 > 0:12:49The carpet is actually clean.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52It actually does its job but very, very slowly.
0:12:55 > 0:12:56Dock it. Dock it.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58It's very futuristic, I think.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02I vacuumed the carpet with a non-electric vacuum in the '50s
0:13:02 > 0:13:05where I was literally like rolling something on the carpet,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08this is literally so much better than doing that.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10It's doing it for you
0:13:10 > 0:13:13and I would've killed to have one of those in the '50s.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Having cleaned her way through five decades of history,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22Steph's glad to get her hands on her own laboursaving robot.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25It's stuck to the table.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28"Put robot onto glass."
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Oh, look at it go!
0:13:36 > 0:13:40It kind of looks like a hairy slug going up the window.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42But it's got sensors where it finds the edge.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44It knows where the edge is.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46I'll be able to see whether it's actually cleaning.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50Looks like it's just smearing everything round at the moment.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54Although it's a lot better than the 1960s floor polisher.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56A lot better.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58I would imagine, in the '60s and '70s,
0:13:58 > 0:14:00they would've thought this was like super awesome.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02It's the future.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04And it's here now and I'm a bit cynical.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11So what is the verdict of cleaning robotic-style?
0:14:11 > 0:14:13Doesn't feel human.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15It feels like you're taking away an aspect of your life.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17So you feel you would miss something
0:14:17 > 0:14:19if robots were to replace all the cleaning?
0:14:19 > 0:14:21You don't do any of the cleaning in the house
0:14:21 > 0:14:24so why would it make a difference to you?
0:14:24 > 0:14:27When you got given a washing machine in the 1950s,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29you were really excited.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30It felt revolutionary.
0:14:30 > 0:14:32Could you imagine feeling the same
0:14:32 > 0:14:35about any of the gadgets that you've tried today?
0:14:35 > 0:14:36No.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39There's too many stages for tiny little jobs.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Do you see a future in which lawns will be mowed automatically,
0:14:43 > 0:14:45floors will be cleaned automatically?
0:14:45 > 0:14:48These will not be things that we do?
0:14:48 > 0:14:52- I think in our lifetime it will be. Probably not theirs.- I think so.
0:14:52 > 0:14:53Oi!
0:14:58 > 0:15:01The idea of robots doing the dirty work was unimaginable
0:15:01 > 0:15:05in the Ashby-Hawkins' basic 1950s house.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08It reflected the post-war shortage of cash and goods,
0:15:08 > 0:15:13leaving the family with little else to do but make do and mend.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15Going the right way? I'm going the right way now. There we go.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19Normally, I'm not very good at DIY but I think I pulled it off.
0:15:19 > 0:15:20Is it that way?
0:15:21 > 0:15:22That's the way.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26The family found out that DIY evolved over the decades.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30In the '50s, you couldn't just buy cheap ready-made
0:15:30 > 0:15:32and, with virtually full employment,
0:15:32 > 0:15:36there weren't many handymen around looking for odd jobs,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38so doing it yourself became a necessity.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44Rob spent all afternoon working out how to make a new doorbell.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46I'm going to attach...
0:15:47 > 0:15:49That's the terminal.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54It looks nothing like that on the terminal.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Start from the beginning, shall we? That's always handy, isn't it?
0:15:57 > 0:16:00How's it going, son? Let's try it down here.
0:16:00 > 0:16:01BELL RINGS
0:16:01 > 0:16:02- Oh!- Fire up the button.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04It's alive!
0:16:05 > 0:16:09What started out as need became a national pastime,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12as '60s dads got the bug for modernisation...
0:16:12 > 0:16:14That's fabulous.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17There's covering the door and boxing in a fireplace.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19..with the added bonus of allowing fathers
0:16:19 > 0:16:22to spend lots of their free time with their sons,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24passing on valuable skills.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27- Are you going to help me with it? - Yeah, OK. Why not?
0:16:27 > 0:16:29Sure, someone to blame in case it goes wrong.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Wallpaper first, I think. What do you think? Wallpaper first?
0:16:35 > 0:16:38I think the DIY was good because it's been a while
0:16:38 > 0:16:42since I've actually had quality, like, father-son time with my dad.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Stand back.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46- That looks... - Yeah, it's actually not that bad.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49But I think he's only good at it when I'm there.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52He's not the best at DIY.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54- Huh?- Aw, yeah!
0:16:57 > 0:17:00The really important thing with stencils
0:17:00 > 0:17:01is that you don't put too much paint on
0:17:01 > 0:17:03because it just splurges.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05By the '80s, with the number of homeowners rocketing,
0:17:05 > 0:17:10DIY meant spending your weekend giving your home the right look.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12No, no, no, no!
0:17:12 > 0:17:14We've got to live in here.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17It was no longer just a job for the boys.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19I have to say, like it or loathe it,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22we've certainly transformed the room.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24And showiness was the key.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26- Whoa!- Huh?
0:17:26 > 0:17:29I was looking outside in our road, no-one's got it.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Yeah, wonder why(!)
0:17:32 > 0:17:35In the '90s, simply redecorating was no longer enough.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38Two, three, open your eyes.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Ah!
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Lifestyle shows taught us
0:17:42 > 0:17:47that our homes were now in need of a complete makeover.
0:17:47 > 0:17:48Oh, my God! Hello!
0:17:48 > 0:17:51We've got the shirts.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Rob, do you fancy red? Daisy.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56And you can be in the orange team.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59So we began throwing out anything that didn't fit
0:17:59 > 0:18:01every time we fancied a revamp.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08They're keeping their eyes shut! Oh!
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Oh!
0:18:11 > 0:18:13- Oh!- Wow!
0:18:17 > 0:18:22We still love to furnish our homes in the latest styles and fashions,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26but what with cheap, off-the-shelf solutions and a reliance on handymen
0:18:26 > 0:18:31these days, we rarely spend our spare time doing it ourselves
0:18:31 > 0:18:34and the old skills are disappearing.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39Half of under-35s now can't put up a shelf or even wire a plug.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42Well, here we are in a marvellous, big DIY store.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45It's just round the corner from you. Are you a regular?
0:18:45 > 0:18:47I didn't even know it existed until today.
0:18:47 > 0:18:48- You've never been in here?- No!
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Do you have an idea what is in this shop?
0:18:50 > 0:18:53- It's all very foreign to me, the whole thing.- I feel the same.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56You go up to one of these blokes, "I need to stick some things together,"
0:18:56 > 0:18:58and they go, "How big is it?" "Oh..."
0:18:58 > 0:18:59No, it's a horrible feeling.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02During the experiment, did you get a sense of what it was like
0:19:02 > 0:19:04to be a dad in the past, the kind of man who could do stuff?
0:19:04 > 0:19:08Yeah, absolutely. I felt that I had to repair anything that broke
0:19:08 > 0:19:10throughout the whole thing which was great.
0:19:10 > 0:19:11There was a satisfaction
0:19:11 > 0:19:14about building and repairing stuff yourself
0:19:14 > 0:19:15and I really like that idea.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17- It's dying out, isn't it? - I think so.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20For me, certainly, because throw-away culture is so rife
0:19:20 > 0:19:23and it's easier to buy something instead of replacing it.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25It's easier to buy something instead of making it.
0:19:25 > 0:19:26That's a real shame.
0:19:26 > 0:19:27So, if you can't do any DIY, what do you do
0:19:27 > 0:19:30when something falls down in the house?
0:19:30 > 0:19:32Usually, I let these things accumulate over time
0:19:32 > 0:19:34so there's six or seven things to do
0:19:34 > 0:19:36and I'll just call a handyman and get him out and do it.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38You live in a wreckage of a house with bits falling off the walls
0:19:38 > 0:19:41and windows that won't shut until it's enough for a guy to...
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Justify calling someone.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46Now that we no longer spend our leisure time tinkering
0:19:46 > 0:19:49and fixing things in our sheds,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52we've gone from a nation of makers to a nation of consumers.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01But there's one group of people trying to change all that.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04Rob and Seth are going to get a taste of the maker movement.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10In contrast to our fast-paced lives,
0:20:10 > 0:20:14there's a renewed interest in crafts and pastimes that take time.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20As making things by hand undergoes a resurgence,
0:20:20 > 0:20:21maybe our future leisure time
0:20:21 > 0:20:24will once more involve a toolbox and a DIY manual.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30- Morning.- Morning.- How you doing? You all right? Welcome to Maker-versity.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32- We're sort of part of the maker movement.- Excellent.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35So the future of DIY, in my opinion,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38is going to be a combination of older traditional methods
0:20:38 > 0:20:41where we weren't wasting as much materials,
0:20:41 > 0:20:42combined with modern techniques.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45The fact is, we could still have a small corner of our house
0:20:45 > 0:20:47that we could dedicate to making.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49As landfill space runs out,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51we're likely to face tougher restrictions
0:20:51 > 0:20:52on what we can throw away.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55In the future, we might all need to rediscover the skills
0:20:55 > 0:20:58to recycle, repair and make things.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02We do quite a lot of 3-D printing here so we can print off parts
0:21:02 > 0:21:05and use off-the-shelf materials to actually make furniture
0:21:05 > 0:21:07or anything we could use in the house.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09- Instead of buying these parts... - You make it.- You make it, yes.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12So maybe in the future these will be on your desktop,
0:21:12 > 0:21:13sitting next to your computer.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16- Right, let's get started.- Yeah.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20Rob and Seth are making a 21st-century workbench
0:21:20 > 0:21:23with sustainable wood and 3-D-printed joints...
0:21:23 > 0:21:25- Wow.- That is so cool.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30..so that DIY will have a permanent place in the family's future.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33- This is going to take probably about six hours.- Six hours!
0:21:33 > 0:21:35So I made a couple here for you.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40OK, so we're going to simply cut this down using a saw.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Here we go.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45We need two lots of that. 118.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50- Don't take your eye off it.- I'm not.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Argh!
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Look, look at your messy edge, yeah? Yeah?
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Look at mine, look.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Wait, one backboard clip?
0:22:03 > 0:22:05- You've made two.- We need two.
0:22:07 > 0:22:081188.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15Width. It's one of those.
0:22:15 > 0:22:16We've done two.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18That's what I said earlier!
0:22:21 > 0:22:25This is going to be our desktop so here we have the CNC router.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28You can create a code that tells this where to go
0:22:28 > 0:22:31and then we can actually etch in your name or something
0:22:31 > 0:22:33to customise it in different ways.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36- In the bottom right corner, maybe? - Bottom right.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41So, let's take all the components
0:22:41 > 0:22:43and we'll make ourselves a nice, little workbench.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45They should be nice and snug.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49I didn't think we'd be able to make the table.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51I thought maybe we'd mess up halfway through
0:22:51 > 0:22:52and we'd have half a table.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Pop the top on.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57Pop this backboard in place.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59And it's a nice sturdy workstation.
0:22:59 > 0:23:00Pretty good!
0:23:00 > 0:23:03I've got a sense of achievement that we've actually done it.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06Yeah, I made this. I didn't buy it, I made it.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10I'd like to think we'll go back to the state of buy once, buy well
0:23:10 > 0:23:13and, if it does break, we can repair it ourselves.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16You're fixing it and it's yours and you should be proud of it.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Just need to make a chair now.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27In the early part of the experiment, the family were kept so busy at home
0:23:27 > 0:23:29that the idea of a leisure activity
0:23:29 > 0:23:33was almost too exhausting to contemplate.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36In the '50s, I sat on the sofa and I was asleep in about three minutes
0:23:36 > 0:23:40as I was on my feet probably 10, 12 hours a day.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Nonstop walking up and down
0:23:44 > 0:23:46and doing things all the time
0:23:46 > 0:23:48and, if anyone had said to me,
0:23:48 > 0:23:50"Do you fancy going to an aerobics class?"
0:23:50 > 0:23:53I probably would have lumped them one, actually,
0:23:53 > 0:23:54because I was too tired.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Seth, sit back.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00As laboursaving devices increased the family's leisure time,
0:24:00 > 0:24:02they were able to spend that time relaxing together
0:24:02 > 0:24:05in front of their favourite acquisition...
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Keep watching, you'll see what happens.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Look at that!
0:24:09 > 0:24:11..the television.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13It's coloured! That looks really cool!
0:24:15 > 0:24:18By the '80s, it was high time for Steph and Rob to try out
0:24:18 > 0:24:19the latest fitness fads
0:24:19 > 0:24:22aimed at Britain's growing number of couch potatoes.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27The body beautiful stuff started coming in in the '80s
0:24:27 > 0:24:29when I had more leisure time.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Temptation is just to sort of sit there and eat biscuits
0:24:33 > 0:24:35and watch the telly, really,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39so the need for a forced form of exercise
0:24:39 > 0:24:43did come about and it was fun. I mean, it was fun.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46Doing all the different sorts of exercise was hilarious.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48I thought it was a warm-up.
0:24:48 > 0:24:49Holy Moses!
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Fitness then became a whole new leisure industry
0:24:55 > 0:24:57as we spent more of our time and money on gym membership
0:24:57 > 0:25:00and the very latest equipment.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02Five, six, seven, eight. Go.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Oh, wrong leg. Sorry!
0:25:04 > 0:25:06Left leg.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08Left leg.
0:25:08 > 0:25:09Right leg.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11Now you should feel it working the chest area.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13This won't give you more, but it may help you to hold on
0:25:13 > 0:25:16to what you've got, which is not very much!
0:25:16 > 0:25:17Let's go. Four more.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22Looking back on exercise from the experiment,
0:25:22 > 0:25:24it's a series of fads
0:25:24 > 0:25:26and crazes, essentially.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28Quicker!
0:25:28 > 0:25:30Since we left the Ashby-Hawkins in the '90s,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33the UK fitness industry has grown five times bigger
0:25:33 > 0:25:36and is now worth a staggering £4.3 billion.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Gyms are open round-the-clock and they're full of technology
0:25:38 > 0:25:40telling you everything from your heart rate
0:25:40 > 0:25:44to how many calories you've burnt to your percentage of body fat.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47We've become a nation obsessed with how fit we are.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52But, as gyms harness new technology to entertain us while we work out,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55the future of one of our favourite leisure activities
0:25:55 > 0:25:59may be exercise that transports us to another dimension.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01OK, so find your speed.
0:26:01 > 0:26:02Let's get going.
0:26:03 > 0:26:08It's called immersive fitness and it's not for the faint-hearted.
0:26:08 > 0:26:09- Ready?- No.
0:26:11 > 0:26:12Everybody up.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21An import from New Zealand,
0:26:21 > 0:26:23immersive fitness pushes you to the limit
0:26:23 > 0:26:25as you cycle into a virtual world.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30Get ready. Sit.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32Off you go.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34THEY WHOOP
0:26:36 > 0:26:38It's fast, furious
0:26:38 > 0:26:40and completely absorbing.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46It was the best thing ever.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48I actually felt like I was riding
0:26:48 > 0:26:50along the road, up hills, down hills.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52It felt like virtual reality.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55I was going to the left, I was going to the right. It was like gaming.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58It was just like that. Yeah. Better, in fact.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01The technology they use today made me work probably ten times harder
0:27:01 > 0:27:03than I would normally. I mean, I really did work harder.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Absolutely brilliant. I'm sold. I'm going to get one for the lounge.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09It makes me travel sick.
0:27:09 > 0:27:10I don't like it.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12Makes me want to vomit.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15I personally didn't like the screens because I get motion sickness
0:27:15 > 0:27:17and it made me think I was going to be sick, actually.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19And I have to say part of me was thinking,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21"Well, where's the fresh air and where are the deer
0:27:21 > 0:27:22"and where are the trees?"
0:27:22 > 0:27:24But it is good in that now I do have a choice
0:27:24 > 0:27:27that I can come and do this stuff and it's something for me,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29because, as a '50s woman, I'd probably look at this and go,
0:27:29 > 0:27:31"Why are you doing that, then?
0:27:31 > 0:27:33"What's all that about?"
0:27:35 > 0:27:39Rob and Steph weren't the only ones kept active during the experiment.
0:27:42 > 0:27:48For 12-year-old Seth, the past was a total contrast to his modern life.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Just like 75% of British children, Seth has his own computer
0:27:52 > 0:27:54and he spends his spare time on it in his bedroom,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57gaming online with his friends...
0:27:57 > 0:27:58I'm building a prison.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Hopefully a successful one.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03..something that would have baffled a child in the 1950s.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05I'm like the best on that server.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10The experiment took him from outdoor freedom to ultimate gadget kid
0:28:10 > 0:28:12in just five short weeks,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16making him realise just what he'd been missing out on.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20I spent most of my free time before the experiment playing video games
0:28:20 > 0:28:22or on my phone or watching television,
0:28:22 > 0:28:26but now I've realised that going outside is actually fun.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28From camping in the woods...
0:28:28 > 0:28:30It's not the best hammer!
0:28:32 > 0:28:35..to playing out and scrambling around adventure playgrounds...
0:28:35 > 0:28:37Whoa!
0:28:37 > 0:28:40..Seth's time-travelling gave him a taste of the independence
0:28:40 > 0:28:44and fresh air taken for granted by previous generations.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47Learning skills and taking risks
0:28:47 > 0:28:49that kids are protected from today...
0:28:49 > 0:28:51We have fire.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55..Seth's time was freer than any other family member.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58It felt nice to have no supervision.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01Anything could have happened and no-one was there to stop it.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05It's a lot more fun than being at the park with my parents.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07It just felt a lot more dangerous
0:29:07 > 0:29:09and I think that's why it felt a lot more fun.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15By the '80s, Seth was a latchkey kid.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17He still had his freedom
0:29:17 > 0:29:21but now he was surrounded by incredible new technology.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23No wonder he spent a lot of his time indoors,
0:29:23 > 0:29:25his eyes glued to the screen.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27Are you sure you don't want to come outside
0:29:27 > 0:29:31- and actually enjoy the sunshine? - No. I've got to do this.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33So, when more gadgets and gizmos
0:29:33 > 0:29:35came through the front door in the '90s...
0:29:35 > 0:29:40Oh, yes! It's a Game Boy!
0:29:40 > 0:29:42Seth, like the majority of children,
0:29:42 > 0:29:47had all the entertainment he needed in the comfort of his own home.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50Nearer the end, I spent a lot more time on my own.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54All my time was spent inside on the Nintendo or the Sega
0:29:54 > 0:29:56or on the Game Boy,
0:29:56 > 0:29:58like a captive of all this technology.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02With more cars on the road than ever before
0:30:02 > 0:30:05and saturation media-coverage of some high-profile crimes...
0:30:05 > 0:30:09For goodness' sake, keep tight hold of your children.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12..the outside world began to feel like an increasingly dangerous
0:30:12 > 0:30:14place to many parents.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16The outside world is big and scary,
0:30:16 > 0:30:21particularly in the '90s, it becomes a bit scary and I would never have
0:30:21 > 0:30:24dreamt of letting you out at the age of 10 or 11 onto the streets.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28The appeal of technology is now greater than ever
0:30:28 > 0:30:31and children today have lives that would have been unfathomable
0:30:31 > 0:30:34to those of previous generations.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36Today, two-thirds of children have never been to
0:30:36 > 0:30:40a park by themselves and a third of children aged eight to ten have
0:30:40 > 0:30:42never played outside on their own.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48But things may be changing and technology is playing a part.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50These are mini drones they look awesome.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52Gadgets are now being developed
0:30:52 > 0:30:55and sold that might coax youngsters away from their indoor screens.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59- Are you ready?- To spend more of their free time outdoors again.
0:30:59 > 0:31:00Wow!
0:31:02 > 0:31:04There we go.
0:31:04 > 0:31:09- Oi! Wow!- This is so complicated. - It's going to kill me.
0:31:09 > 0:31:10It's not, it's not, Harvey.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17If the best technology no longer needs to be plugged in at home...
0:31:17 > 0:31:20that means Seth and his friends are free to play their computer
0:31:20 > 0:31:23games...outside.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26I've got control of it but it's going the wrong way!
0:31:27 > 0:31:31I have never used or played with a drone before.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35It's really enjoyable because you get to control a robot.
0:31:35 > 0:31:36Do a backflip.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41There we go. I think I've mastered it, mostly.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45Mostly. And Harvey is sort of trying to master it.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47No! It's in the tree!
0:31:47 > 0:31:49It's up there.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55It feels weird because technology normally makes you inside, very,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58like...closed off from the world but this technology allows you to
0:31:58 > 0:32:00go outside and be with friends.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06In the future, I would definitely want to play a lot more games like this.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10And with technology reinventing two-wheeled fun as well...
0:32:10 > 0:32:12maybe in the future, children will be tempted to spend
0:32:12 > 0:32:15more of their time playing out.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20- I'm rotating, I'm on, I'm on... I'm off again.- Wow!
0:32:20 > 0:32:22Yes! No!
0:32:22 > 0:32:28Come on. OK. OK. I'm on it, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33- Right, now, try and move forward. - Away!- No, stop.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35Harvey, if you put your foot right up against the plastic
0:32:35 > 0:32:38the motor doesn't turn on, then you can just step on.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41I really, actually want one of these, they're really, really cool.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43Hold on.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Are you on?
0:32:46 > 0:32:48Oh, my God!
0:32:48 > 0:32:51Right, and then lean forward and it goes.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56I can do it. I'm coming for you.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01OK. Wow!
0:33:01 > 0:33:05Being out and about with Harvey, it feels really fun.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07Freedom!
0:33:07 > 0:33:09When I was first told I was going outdoors I was like, oh, God,
0:33:09 > 0:33:11this is going to be really boring.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14Oh, no! Wow! Not too much freedom.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17But then we got these and I was like, yeah, and the drones,
0:33:17 > 0:33:19I was really happy.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22If I had the choice between computer games and this I would just...
0:33:22 > 0:33:24straight this.
0:33:24 > 0:33:25Right, let's go.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33The lure of technology and spending life in front of a screen
0:33:33 > 0:33:37are things that 16-year-old Daisy knows a lot about.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39I thought I was actually going to cry.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43Um...before the experiment, without technology,
0:33:43 > 0:33:47on my phone, I'm usually snapchatting, instagramming, twittering,
0:33:47 > 0:33:48messaging my friends,
0:33:48 > 0:33:52like, doing as much as I can in such a short space of time.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57Technology has transformed teenage leisure time beyond recognition.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Gone are the days of having to be with your friends to socialise.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03Now you can communicate with the touch of a button.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07I still... I do spend a lot of my time on Snapchat, like,
0:34:07 > 0:34:09seeing what everyone's doing at the weekend.
0:34:09 > 0:34:15I actually am used to being in contact with pretty much everyone all at once.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19Daisy is one of the 90% of all teenagers who have a mobile phone
0:34:19 > 0:34:21and check it on average 150 times a day.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28A far cry from life in the 1950s, when socialising had
0:34:28 > 0:34:31to be done face-to-face rather than via Facebook.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35In the '50s everything is formal and, you know, I have to go to
0:34:35 > 0:34:38a dance to meet a husband to get married and to be like my mum.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40- It's quite annoying.- Yeah.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42SHE SQUEALS
0:34:43 > 0:34:47Daisy still had to leave the house to talk to a friend in the '60s,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50as the Ashby-Hawkins, like the majority of Brits, didn't
0:34:50 > 0:34:52have their own telephone.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54But you had to use your time wisely.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56Call charges weren't cheap.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58A telephone call at that time cost sixpence.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02- It's worth about 50p now.- Really? - Yeah, you got a minute for that.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04- So...- I spend, like, an hour on the phone.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08So that would be...ten minutes is £5, so an hour would be £30.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12- Have you got £30 worth of stuff to say to your friends?- Nope.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15The experiment was a revelation for Daisy.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17# Everybody dance... #
0:35:17 > 0:35:19This is so much fun.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22Instead of missing her smartphone, she loved her teenage
0:35:22 > 0:35:27life in the past, living in the moment with her friends around her.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29This is what it's like to be a proper teenager.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31Going out to raves, being rebellious and being cool.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33We are not cool in any way. We just sit on our phones all day.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37Why don't we just do this? I really wish we did this in our modern day.
0:35:37 > 0:35:38I've got a mobile.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42Then telephone technology changed again, with the truly portable
0:35:42 > 0:35:44personal mobile phone.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Something teenagers quickly took to their hearts.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51You're meant to have games on it.
0:35:51 > 0:35:56By 1999, the bestselling Nokia 3210 ushered in teenage mobile culture
0:35:56 > 0:36:00with its fast predictive texting becoming the new way to chat.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04But few predicted the developments in technology that
0:36:04 > 0:36:07transformed our phones into what they are today.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11And gave teenagers a whole new way to spend their free time.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16It surprised me how I was actually able to cope without technology.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20In the '90s, when we were having the rave in my lounge, I felt
0:36:20 > 0:36:24so much freer because I didn't have my phone on me snapchatting
0:36:24 > 0:36:26every single second of the party.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29I actually felt like it was a proper fun thing to do
0:36:29 > 0:36:32and I actually felt normal.
0:36:32 > 0:36:35Today, we're a nation of smartphone addicts and it's not just
0:36:35 > 0:36:39teenagers who are glued to them, 76% of adults have a smartphone, too.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43I think the thing that is so compulsive about them is the illusion they give us
0:36:43 > 0:36:46of having remote control over every aspect of our lives.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49It's no wonder we can't take our eyes off them.
0:36:51 > 0:36:52They might be smart,
0:36:52 > 0:36:55but for many young people they are no longer really phones.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59They're mainly used for messaging, e-mailing and taking lots
0:36:59 > 0:37:00and lots of photographs.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05I'm bringing Daisy a brand-new bit of technology that will do all the
0:37:05 > 0:37:09photography for her, without getting in the way of her enjoying her life.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15- So, Daisy, you love your phone, don't you?- Yeah, I do.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18Do you have any notion of how many hours a day you spend on your phone?
0:37:18 > 0:37:21- No, I've no idea. - Do you want to know?
0:37:21 > 0:37:23No, because I'm scared it's going to be quite embarrassing.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26Because we have, in fact, installed an app here which will tell us
0:37:26 > 0:37:28- how much you've used it in the last week.- Oh.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31Oh, you've only spent an hour and four minutes on your phone today.
0:37:31 > 0:37:32Oh, wow, that's quite good.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34But it's 10 o'clock on a Sunday morning,
0:37:34 > 0:37:37I mean, what have you done for an hour and four minutes so far?
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Seven hours and 15 minutes last Sunday.
0:37:40 > 0:37:41You picked it up 54 times.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45How on earth did you possibly find the time?
0:37:45 > 0:37:48- What about the taking of selfies? - I don't take selfies.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51- You don't take selfies?- Definitely don't.- There's Instagram.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54- With you in front of...- These aren't selfies.- You're in all of them.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56- Yeah, but they...- Facing the camera. What is a selfie?
0:37:56 > 0:37:58Selfie's when you take a photo of yourself.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00So, you didn't take a photo of yourself in that photo?
0:38:00 > 0:38:02I did, but the ones upwards, I didn't.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05I mean, in what world is that not a selfie?
0:38:05 > 0:38:09To what extent do you find that your phone gets in the way of your interaction with your friends?
0:38:09 > 0:38:11It's such a barrier because I'm just taking photos
0:38:11 > 0:38:15and we're all laughing about the photos and then we're just trying to get the funny moments of us
0:38:15 > 0:38:18all together, but actually, you should be there and enjoying the
0:38:18 > 0:38:21moment rather enjoying it through your screen and then enjoying it later.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24So, supposing there were a piece of technology which could free
0:38:24 > 0:38:26you having to use your phone to take pictures?
0:38:26 > 0:38:29It would be really nice and liberating.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32This piece of technology, it's a camera that you wear
0:38:32 > 0:38:37and it just takes photos. So, the downside is that you're not
0:38:37 > 0:38:41in them but all your friends are and you don't have to stop and do it.
0:38:41 > 0:38:42That's exciting.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44So, you can go out for the day, for the evening,
0:38:44 > 0:38:45not be holding up your phone all the time
0:38:45 > 0:38:48and still have a photographic record of the day.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51- Well, there you go.- OK. Does it go with my outfit?
0:38:51 > 0:38:55- It actually does go with that outfit. Is that what you're planning to wear?- Yeah, yeah.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57- I'm planning to wear this. - Well, have fun.- Thank you.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00# Let's go, focus... #
0:39:00 > 0:39:02To really get a sense of how new technology might free up
0:39:02 > 0:39:05their lives in the future, all of Daisy's friends have
0:39:05 > 0:39:08agreed to leave their smartphones at home for the day.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15Oh, Daisy, try these on.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26I'd completely forgotten that this camera is on me.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28I'm quite a control freak so I like to just,
0:39:28 > 0:39:31like, make everyone stand where they should and then take the photo
0:39:31 > 0:39:33but I like the spontaneity of this.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40- Guys, I think you'll like the chocolate.- I'm liking that.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43Chocolate all the way. OK, I'm going to... Oh, look in the middle.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48I'm really bad at this game.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55It is a bit odd because it takes a picture of every single thing I do.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58Right now, if we all had our phones, we'd probably all be snapchatting
0:39:58 > 0:40:00what we'd be doing. And that's not true socialising.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02This is true socialising.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05My phone would be a constant thing on my mind
0:40:05 > 0:40:08and now I don't have it on my mind at all.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13If the future sees more unobtrusive technology like this,
0:40:13 > 0:40:15we might finally find the balance between spending
0:40:15 > 0:40:18time in the moment and life looked at through a screen.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24There certainly weren't any screens getting in the way
0:40:24 > 0:40:27when the family started the experiment.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30In the '50s, there wasn't a massive amount.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32We had a pack of cards.
0:40:32 > 0:40:37We had a partially working radio and I had some knitting.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41That was pretty much it, I think. Oh, yeah, the piano.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44And it was all stuff that's not laid on a plate for you.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47It's stuff that you have to interact with and create yourself.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52The family expenditure survey showed that as wages rose, '60s Brits
0:40:52 > 0:40:55could spend more money on things to enjoy in their leisure time.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00As a result, the family's house started to get a bit fuller.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02Oh, yeah.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05- That's huge! We've got a TV now.- Amazing.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10The family embraced the latest modern technology but some
0:41:10 > 0:41:15- forms of entertainment didn't survive.- Do it.- This feels wrong.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19Oh, that's just wrong, you shouldn't have done it.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22- That's bang out of order, that is. - My work here is done.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25- In the '70s...- I'm home!
0:41:25 > 0:41:28..with pay kept high by unions and banking laws relaxed,
0:41:28 > 0:41:30the introduction of new credit cards meant
0:41:30 > 0:41:34we could spend even more money on more stuff to divert ourselves with.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Oh, no!
0:41:37 > 0:41:40There was so much stuff in the '80s household.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44- This room feels smaller. - What a lot of furniture.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47Our credit card habit, combined with advertising that encouraged us
0:41:47 > 0:41:48to buy even more...
0:41:48 > 0:41:49TAPE SLAMS OPEN
0:41:49 > 0:41:51- There we go. - That's the eject button!
0:41:52 > 0:41:57..meant that the '80s house screamed out the desire to have it all.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01I mean, look at that, you've got a pretending-to-be-Ming vase.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04In a stately home, you could have a vase of that size,
0:42:04 > 0:42:06but in a lounge? In suburbia?
0:42:06 > 0:42:08What's all that about?
0:42:08 > 0:42:09More stuff!
0:42:09 > 0:42:11Kids!
0:42:11 > 0:42:14By the '90s, home technology was filling up our leisure time
0:42:14 > 0:42:15AND our homes
0:42:15 > 0:42:18and the family enjoyed new computers...
0:42:18 > 0:42:19One...two...
0:42:19 > 0:42:21..multiple televisions...
0:42:21 > 0:42:23Oh, there's a telly up in the corner as well, look.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26..CD players and, of course, games consoles...
0:42:26 > 0:42:29# Sonic the hedgehog. #
0:42:29 > 0:42:32..and many of us were spending like there was no tomorrow...
0:42:32 > 0:42:34# I dream I'm your one and only... #
0:42:34 > 0:42:37Technology was evolving so quickly
0:42:37 > 0:42:38and prices were going down so fast
0:42:38 > 0:42:41the family got a real taste of the consequences
0:42:41 > 0:42:44of our desire to always have the very latest thing.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47We only got that a couple of years ago!
0:42:47 > 0:42:50Because it was speeded up, it's like watching something on time-lapse.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53Getting the new shiny thing out of a box
0:42:53 > 0:42:55to literally, a handful of days later,
0:42:55 > 0:42:58it being obsolete in the shed.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01In the end, the Ashby-Hawkins found, like many Brits before them,
0:43:01 > 0:43:03that their stuff had outgrown their house.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07Their '50s home might have been sparse,
0:43:07 > 0:43:09but at least there was more space.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13Come the '90s, it was just wave after wave after wave
0:43:13 > 0:43:16of things coming into the house. It was remarkable.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18It didn't feel like it was going to stop.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20It was almost like drowning in stuff.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25Most of us have a problem in our homes - they're just too full.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29But maybe the future will be less about acquiring the latest things
0:43:29 > 0:43:32and more about deciding what we actually need to hold on to.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37I'm bringing round a lifestyle book with a cult following
0:43:37 > 0:43:39that sold four million copies worldwide.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43- Hi, guys. ALL:- Hello, Giles.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45Following its advice, the family are going to experiment
0:43:45 > 0:43:49and create the perfect place to spend their 21st-century leisure time.
0:43:50 > 0:43:51What we're going to do today
0:43:51 > 0:43:54- is we're going to try and embrace your home of the future.- Ooh.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58So the way things have gone so far, you've got more and more stuff,
0:43:58 > 0:44:00your house got a bit cluttered, what's the future?
0:44:00 > 0:44:02More and more clutter? No room to move?
0:44:02 > 0:44:03I think probably not.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06I think space is probably what is going to be at a premium.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09Technology is making it possible to get rid of records and CDs
0:44:09 > 0:44:10and all these kinds of things.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12Books, for example, you know, they could go.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15The pictures, they could all really be on hand-held devices.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17You could have an awful lot less stuff.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19So I have bought a Japanese book,
0:44:19 > 0:44:21The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying by Marie Kondo.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23The idea is you go around your house,
0:44:23 > 0:44:27you find the stuff that's absolutely essential and that you love and you keep it.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29Everything else, out on a skip.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31- Do you think you can do that? - Life-changing.- I love it.
0:44:31 > 0:44:33- I love the idea of it. - What about you, Seth?
0:44:33 > 0:44:35- You must have unnecessary stuff? - No, I don't!
0:44:35 > 0:44:37- You've got... - You've got SO much stuff!
0:44:37 > 0:44:39It's useful!
0:44:39 > 0:44:40You've got, like, 100 books.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42- It's on Giles and you. - Those are useful.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45You may have a problem with books. We may be having something of a bonfire.
0:44:45 > 0:44:47I've got a long roll of bin bags
0:44:47 > 0:44:49which I'd like you to FILL
0:44:49 > 0:44:51with all the stuff that you thought you really needed
0:44:51 > 0:44:54and then, sort of, envisage how the future's going to be.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56It's a kind of mental exercise and a physical exercise.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59I think two bags each to start should be enough.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01Into the bags, out on the skip.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03MUSIC: Pack Up by Eliza Doolittle
0:45:03 > 0:45:05The family are going to try out this new trend for decluttering
0:45:05 > 0:45:08and find out what their future home could look like.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12First thing you have to do is discard as much as you can.
0:45:12 > 0:45:14Yeah, the books need to go,
0:45:14 > 0:45:17cos they can easily be downloaded onto...
0:45:17 > 0:45:19one simple contraption now.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22- And then never looked at again anyway.- Yes!
0:45:22 > 0:45:25I don't even know what that is so that can go into the bag straight away.
0:45:25 > 0:45:26Ornaments in general.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28But I'm going to KEEP the photo albums,
0:45:28 > 0:45:30cos they bring me a great deal of joy.
0:45:30 > 0:45:32From that shelf I will let you have one photo.
0:45:32 > 0:45:34- HE SIGHS - That's tough.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37- I don't want to get rid of any of them.- There's too many of Seth.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39Yeah, but different stages of his life though, aren't they?
0:45:39 > 0:45:42You can look at them on your phone, you can take pictures of them.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44I think it would be this one.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47Just a picture of Steph when we first met, 18 years ago. Aw...
0:45:47 > 0:45:49OK, all the rest gone, please.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51- All of them except one on that shelf.- Yep.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53Do the same on the bottom shelf.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57- Otherwise I'll leave you to get on with it.- Thank you very much. - Have fun!
0:45:57 > 0:45:58I mean, that's empty.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05That's, er, Steph and I's wedding and honeymoon pictures.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07Oh! Look at that.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10There's our wedding certificate,
0:46:10 > 0:46:12our marriage...
0:46:12 > 0:46:13We thought we'd lost it!
0:46:13 > 0:46:16I'll put that inside there. I'm going to keep that.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20I'm also keeping the Godfather trilogy and the Dark Knight trilogy!
0:46:20 > 0:46:21HE CHUCKLES
0:46:22 > 0:46:25How are you getting on? Lots of books over there.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28- You've got the Guinness World Of Records 2010 and 2012.- Yeah.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30What use is the 2010 one?
0:46:30 > 0:46:32Records have either stood or broken by 2012.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36- You don't get to have more than one Guinness Book Of Records. - There are new ones.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39- Hi, Daisy.- Hello. - I see you haven't started.- I have!
0:46:39 > 0:46:41- All of this can stay, pretty much. - What's under the bed?
0:46:41 > 0:46:43What are the spangly Wellington boots for?
0:46:43 > 0:46:46- Like a load of keepsakes. - Keepsakes?
0:46:46 > 0:46:47You're 16 years old!
0:46:47 > 0:46:49If you have keepsakes until you're my age,
0:46:49 > 0:46:51you will not be able to breathe!
0:46:51 > 0:46:53The future is not about keepsakes.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55But why wouldn't you want, um, Buzz Lightyear?
0:46:55 > 0:46:56It's a bit manky now...
0:46:56 > 0:46:58Oh, come on!
0:46:58 > 0:47:00You're not four years old - into the bag!
0:47:00 > 0:47:01Birthday cards, no, no.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03When you're my age, you're not going to look at them. In the bag.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07- Do you get the principle?- Yes. - Everything goes.- Oh!- Everything.- Oh!
0:47:07 > 0:47:08Yes, but you have to have that.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11- Why?- Cos it's just a floppy flamingo.- Yes.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14It was very entertaining when you were two(!)
0:47:14 > 0:47:16- SHRIEKING:- No!- In the bag!
0:47:16 > 0:47:19- I might leave you to get on with it from here.- Oh, yay, thank you(!)
0:47:19 > 0:47:21No, I have to keep things like that.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24This is my whole history of my life
0:47:24 > 0:47:26and I don't want to throw away my history,
0:47:26 > 0:47:28I want to keep it and remember it.
0:47:28 > 0:47:29I don't want to throw it away.
0:47:29 > 0:47:31PENGUIN SQUEAKS
0:47:32 > 0:47:35- STEPH:- I have got an electronic reading device,
0:47:35 > 0:47:38BUT you can't beat books
0:47:38 > 0:47:42and the pages feel amazing and it's got a smell to it.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44I think there's something about, particularly with books,
0:47:44 > 0:47:47there's something about making physical contact with what you're reading
0:47:47 > 0:47:50that changes the experience of reading.
0:47:50 > 0:47:54I'd be really sad if physical books disappeared entirely.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02Hours later, the Ashby-Hawkins' home is looking pretty pared down.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09Wow! Look at this!
0:48:09 > 0:48:10This is amazing, isn't it?
0:48:10 > 0:48:12- GROANING:- No!- What do you mean, no? - I love it!
0:48:12 > 0:48:15Look at this, this is the future. Look at the lack of clutter.
0:48:15 > 0:48:16- DAISY:- It's horrible.- What?!
0:48:16 > 0:48:19I'm really sad that there's no photos of Seth and I up there, just Mum.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23- STEPH LAUGHS - That's really rude. - They know what you look like!
0:48:23 > 0:48:26It doesn't feel like home, it feels like you live here, it's not where you...
0:48:26 > 0:48:28Home needs that personal touch
0:48:28 > 0:48:31and all that personal touch comes from your clutter. So you need it.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33I don't think so. I think the clutter are props.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35- All you need is what's inside your heart.- No!
0:48:35 > 0:48:38- And what's inside... That's not convincing, is it, really?- No!
0:48:38 > 0:48:41I like the process of going through and reassessing
0:48:41 > 0:48:44what's important and what's not important.
0:48:44 > 0:48:45But this is too much.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48I just went for it. Huge cull, basically.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50The books were the first to go.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52I felt, actually, we didn't need them
0:48:52 > 0:48:53and I like the bare space.
0:48:53 > 0:48:56But the whole thing, though, about some stuff is not a question of need,
0:48:56 > 0:48:58it's a question of enjoyment.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02It's not about what you throw away, you had to make a choice about what you kept.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05- It just feels really boring. - You think you'd just hoard everything, throw nothing away?
0:49:05 > 0:49:08I think it's much better having something in your hands
0:49:08 > 0:49:10than actually seeing something on a screen.
0:49:10 > 0:49:12I prefer that so much more cos it's sentimental.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16I love the feeling of it all gone.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18- SETH:- The point of space is to be used.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21You don't NEED space as a thing to do.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23I don't like having empty shelves.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27There's no point to empty shelves, otherwise why would you have a shelf there!
0:49:27 > 0:49:28The point is, this is not the end.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31It's not that you get rid of your stuff and there's nothing there.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33It's about paving the way for the smarthome,
0:49:33 > 0:49:35for the entirely digitised life.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37Anything you need can be delivered in digital form and got rid of.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40- DAISY:- I don't like that. I remember in the different decades
0:49:40 > 0:49:43when I got physical records and physical things like that,
0:49:43 > 0:49:46I much preferred holding the music than just clicking it on my phone.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49I'm ambivalent, really, cos I love new smart technology.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51I find it really fascinating.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54I don't like the idea of being reliant on it.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58The way that you interact with it is much more satisfying and human as a result.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01I think if you just got flatscreen you'd lose all of that.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05For me the new smart technology has to address
0:50:05 > 0:50:07that 3-D experiential thing
0:50:07 > 0:50:10that it currently doesn't.
0:50:10 > 0:50:12You're probably able to get hologram clutter,
0:50:12 > 0:50:14where you just strip everything down
0:50:14 > 0:50:16and then you can just have rubbish beamed into your room.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18- ROB CHUCKLES - I like it being clear.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21It's not our family, that's what it is. It's just not us.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26Although the family's house filled up over the decades,
0:50:26 > 0:50:29there was one thing that seemed to disappear -
0:50:29 > 0:50:30quality time together.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34- STEPH:- Our reason for wanting to do the whole experiment
0:50:34 > 0:50:38was spending really good quality time with the kids.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40To begin with, without many other distractions,
0:50:40 > 0:50:43the family spent lots of time together,
0:50:43 > 0:50:45even if it was just sitting around the wireless
0:50:45 > 0:50:47after a hard day's work.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50This is really difficult.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53It's cos you're not... I hate to say it, baby, you're not doing it right.
0:50:53 > 0:50:54LIVELY MUSIC
0:50:54 > 0:50:57In the '60s, when 45% of families owned cars,
0:50:57 > 0:50:59the Ashby-Hawkins were able to have fun together
0:50:59 > 0:51:02on a day trip out to the seaside.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07In the modern day, I wouldn't normally spend this length of time
0:51:07 > 0:51:09with my family unless we were all forced to go out.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13And then we'd probably all be on our phones if we had the chance.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20The '70s appeared to be a golden time for family life...
0:51:20 > 0:51:22Hole in one!
0:51:22 > 0:51:24BICYCLE BELL RINGS
0:51:24 > 0:51:26An international survey of 1977
0:51:26 > 0:51:29reported that Britons saw themselves as the happiest people in the world.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35With more equality, more money to spend
0:51:35 > 0:51:37and technology that brought them together,
0:51:37 > 0:51:39the Ashby-Hawkins were happier than ever.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48The best decade for our family time was the '70s.
0:51:48 > 0:51:50'It was just entertaining
0:51:50 > 0:51:53'and you forget how funny your family are'
0:51:53 > 0:51:55when you're upstairs all the time.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57So it's really nice to spend time with them
0:51:57 > 0:52:00and I think it really made us so much stronger.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04But as the decades progressed,
0:52:04 > 0:52:06the family became more fragmented
0:52:06 > 0:52:08with new products aimed at the individual
0:52:08 > 0:52:11and work eating up more of their leisure time...
0:52:11 > 0:52:14In the '80s it feels as though we're all going off on separate paths
0:52:14 > 0:52:16and we need a way to get us back together again.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22In the '90s, that meant buying quality family time together...
0:52:22 > 0:52:24- DAISY:- Oh, my God! It's amazing!
0:52:24 > 0:52:27..at organised holiday parks.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29That was so good.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32I want to do it again, again, again and again.
0:52:32 > 0:52:34But back at home,
0:52:34 > 0:52:37the draw of technology was pulling the family further apart...
0:52:38 > 0:52:40I miss my children, I have to say.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43We've been replaced by gadgets
0:52:43 > 0:52:44and electrical toot.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48The problem we face today
0:52:48 > 0:52:51is that, while we claim to want to spend quality time with our friends and family,
0:52:51 > 0:52:53whenever we do,
0:52:53 > 0:52:56we find our attention endlessly diverted by the lure of our smartphone
0:52:56 > 0:52:59and we end up trying to be in two places at the same time.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06Spending quality time together is becoming harder to do
0:53:06 > 0:53:08and the home is no longer the place to do it,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11as our beloved technology always seems to get in the way.
0:53:13 > 0:53:18To give the Ashby-Hawkins a taste of how family time might look in the future,
0:53:18 > 0:53:21I'm sending them somewhere with no modern technology at all -
0:53:21 > 0:53:24a digital detox in the middle of nowhere.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29As technology continues to innovate
0:53:29 > 0:53:31and invades further into our leisure time,
0:53:31 > 0:53:34the future may be full of places like this
0:53:34 > 0:53:37where we can unplug and really spend time together.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41So here we are in the middle of nowhere.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44There's no Wi-Fi, no electricity, no phone, nothing.
0:53:44 > 0:53:45You're completely cut off.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48This is the sort of thing I imagine people will do deliberately in the future.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51There's going to be so much technology,
0:53:51 > 0:53:54it's going to be impossible to downscale it or escape from time to time.
0:53:54 > 0:53:56You're just going to have to disappear.
0:53:56 > 0:53:57Do you think you can live with it?
0:53:57 > 0:54:01- Can you do this?- Yes, I'd love to be unplugged from the world... Would be wonderful.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04I think that particularly hand-held technology intrudes on everything.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07It's like having a really, irritating rude person standing with you.
0:54:07 > 0:54:08What about you, Daisy?
0:54:08 > 0:54:10I can see how it's appealing,
0:54:10 > 0:54:13I can see how it would be nice to get an escape,
0:54:13 > 0:54:16but not having my phone, I do feel a bit...
0:54:16 > 0:54:18Are you feeling twitchy about what your friends are doing?
0:54:18 > 0:54:22Selfies that might have been posted in the last ten minutes that you've not been able to see?!
0:54:22 > 0:54:24Get rid of it and come here and just breathe the air.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27Over the experiment, I've felt so much more serene
0:54:27 > 0:54:30than at any time in my adult life, I think.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32So it's kind of ironic that in the future
0:54:32 > 0:54:34people will be paying to do a digital retreat like this
0:54:34 > 0:54:37just in order to experience the thing that you've had all summer.
0:54:37 > 0:54:40Do you think it's really necessary to come all this way
0:54:40 > 0:54:42to escape from technology?
0:54:42 > 0:54:45Couldn't you have a digital detox in your own home?
0:54:45 > 0:54:49Have a period of time where everything's turned off?
0:54:49 > 0:54:51I think that would be really, really difficult.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53We have got a piece of kit,
0:54:53 > 0:54:55well, at least one or two pieces of kit
0:54:55 > 0:54:57in every single room in our house.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00The future technology that you've experienced,
0:55:00 > 0:55:03the bikes with the screen around you and your drones,
0:55:03 > 0:55:06do you think technology is going to enhance your experience
0:55:06 > 0:55:08and free you up from the screen?
0:55:08 > 0:55:11This technology was, like, go outside, have fun with your friends,
0:55:11 > 0:55:13rather than talking to them over a computer.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17So I actually did say that I would give up my computer for one...
0:55:17 > 0:55:20for just spending time with my friends like that.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22And that's not a thing I say lightly!
0:55:22 > 0:55:23EVERYONE LAUGHS
0:55:23 > 0:55:26Hearing Seth say that is a bit of a revelation, really, to be honest.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28But, correct me if I'm wrong,
0:55:28 > 0:55:30it wasn't as good as camping in the woods with me and having Spam...
0:55:30 > 0:55:31THEY LAUGH
0:55:31 > 0:55:34Hmm.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38I just hark back to the '70s when we had such a good, simple,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41good, clean fun and I just think it's a real shame that we lose that.
0:55:41 > 0:55:43So what was so good about the '70s, then?
0:55:43 > 0:55:46There wasn't too much TV, there wasn't too much radio,
0:55:46 > 0:55:48there wasn't too much technology.
0:55:48 > 0:55:51The '70s was like this beautiful golden era
0:55:51 > 0:55:53where we were all together for a lot of the time
0:55:53 > 0:55:55and that made us just more relaxed.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57We just had fun.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59I don't think I've laughed so much with my family ever.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03Do you think there might be a way of harnessing that 1970s family vibe
0:56:03 > 0:56:05and replaying it in the 21st century?
0:56:05 > 0:56:08We should do, maybe, once a month, a night
0:56:08 > 0:56:10where we do stuff together,
0:56:10 > 0:56:14where our technology gets left at the door and we do something.
0:56:14 > 0:56:18Right, well, then we will leave you to enjoy your family time together.
0:56:18 > 0:56:20- Have fun.- Thanks very much.- Bye.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24In Britain, we've undergone a dramatic revolution
0:56:24 > 0:56:27in how we spend our leisure time since the 1950s
0:56:27 > 0:56:29and the Ashby-Hawkins have experienced that first hand.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32They've gone from hard work and conformity
0:56:32 > 0:56:34to a world full of technology
0:56:34 > 0:56:36and the freedom to do whatever they choose.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40My life now in comparison to what I have lived through
0:56:40 > 0:56:45is one of choice and comfort and relaxation, really.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47I'm lucky.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50- SETH:- I'm just burning my entire marshmallow right now.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52I think the thing I learnt
0:56:52 > 0:56:54was that everyone in my family
0:56:54 > 0:56:57secretly likes everybody else in our family.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00- DAISY:- The most important thing to me
0:57:00 > 0:57:02is to not take my freedom for granted.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05I've seen how teenagers have changed over the decades
0:57:05 > 0:57:07and I really appreciate that much more.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10The trick is not to make the marshmallow fall in the fire.
0:57:10 > 0:57:14The most fun was all four of us together...
0:57:15 > 0:57:17No, no, no!
0:57:17 > 0:57:19..doing something we all enjoy,
0:57:19 > 0:57:21not something that just one of us enjoys.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24You can see that being together was the most important thing.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26MUSIC: I Wouldn't Change A Thing by Coke Escovedo
0:57:26 > 0:57:28And they're off!
0:57:28 > 0:57:31We've bonded a lot more strongly over this process...
0:57:31 > 0:57:34- # Oh, I wouldn't change a thing! # - Daisy's the winner!
0:57:34 > 0:57:38..and I think the whole experiment has made me be much more conscious
0:57:38 > 0:57:41about being in the moment with someone
0:57:41 > 0:57:44because all the stuff that you surround yourself with
0:57:44 > 0:57:47comes and goes throughout your life,
0:57:47 > 0:57:49but the memories are what stay with you for ever
0:57:49 > 0:57:54and that's what I wanted out of this thing, was really good memories
0:57:54 > 0:57:56and I've got...
0:57:56 > 0:57:59- SHE SNIFFS - ..loads.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01- WELLING UP:- It's great.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03Oh, God, I said I wouldn't cry! I'm crying again.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06It's just been brilliant.
0:58:06 > 0:58:07Whatever we do in the future,
0:58:07 > 0:58:10whether it's a world full of unrecognisable new technology
0:58:10 > 0:58:12or one that doesn't look all that different from today,
0:58:12 > 0:58:15I'm sure that the one thing that will always make us happiest
0:58:15 > 0:58:17is spending time with the people we love.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22# Oh, I wouldn't change a thing
0:58:22 > 0:58:25# If I had to live my life all over
0:58:25 > 0:58:27# Oh, baby
0:58:27 > 0:58:28# Yeah, yeah
0:58:28 > 0:58:30# I'd do it all again
0:58:31 > 0:58:33# If I had to live my life all over
0:58:36 > 0:58:38# Well, I'd live the life that's full
0:58:38 > 0:58:42# But all that I've learned has led me straight to you, babe
0:58:42 > 0:58:44# And that's my only concern
0:58:44 > 0:58:46# Oh, I wouldn't change a thing... #