Thanks to an historic gift to the University of Toronto from Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman, the soon-to-be built Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre will accelerate innovation in Toronto and Canada by creating the country’s largest university-based innovation node. The $100-million investment is the largest donation in U of T’s history and the largest gift ever to the Canadian innovation sector.

The gift will help construct a 750,000-square-foot complex designed to anchor U of T’s unique cluster of world-leading artificial intelligence scientists and biomedical experts, its world-class entrepreneurship network, and the country’s largest concentration of student- and faculty-led startups.

Thanks to modern advancements in augmented reality and 3D printing, redesigning a space or building a new home has never been more futuristic. We are living in an era of unprecedented innovation, where homes can be assembled from scratch in just under 24 hours, and living spaces designed from a few taps on a smartphone. More than just passing trends, these technological leaps represent a disruption of the home and design industry. Here, we examine two of the most promising advancements in home construction and retail, and why they’re catching the world’s attention.

From delivery robots and autonomous trash collection, Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs (sister company to Google) plans to build its first digital city in Toronto