The future of residence halls looks promising for students like Aly Brinkley.
Walls that can change color like a mood ring would be a stark difference from the Manzanita walls the business freshman is used to.
"That's crazy that they could really do that," Brinkley said.
The walls, which would be coated with a special paint, are just one of the many ideas for the 21st Century Project, a national college housing project coordinated by Michael Coakley, ASU's executive director of Residential Life.
The Association of College and University Housing Officers initiated the project to plan for the housing future, which includes planning for future technological advances that students are already expecting, Coakley said.
"Students don't want to have to plug in their iPods," he said. "They want them to be sucking power by just being in the room."
The project's room designs should be available by January, with physical room prototypes being built in 2010 at a select school in the United States, Coakley said.
"Hopefully ASU will bid to host the prototype," he said. "As ASU experiences so much growth in residential population ... this would be a good lab for the project."
The project's ideas also include walls that can shift to allow students more personal or community space, Coakley said.
At such an early stage in development, how much the project would cost or if it would increase the campus cost of living is unknown, he said.
Brinkley said the possible increase concerns her.
"I'm already paying a lot as an out-of-state student, so I [wouldn't] want to pay more for it," she said.
Still, Brinkley said she had several things she'd like to see in her residence hall.
"I wish we could hook up our cell phones to the walls and talk from anywhere in the room," Brinkley said.
Elementary education freshman Lisa Potter said the 21st Century Project would be worth the extra cost.
"I have nothing against paying more if it means getting good technology," Potter said.
Solar-powered showers are one part that Potter said she liked about the 21st Century Project.
"That would be awesome," she said. "We've had a few cold showers, so hopefully that technology would prevent that."
The project looks at other sustainability efforts like conserving water and electricity.
"Imagine if your lights would come on when you entered a room and go off when they no longer sensed your body heat," Coakley said. "That would save a great deal of energy."
Saving resources makes the building more cost-efficient, but money is just as much a concern for Coakley as it is for students.
Computer information systems junior Nick Hammond said he thinks the cost of new technology could be managed through corporate sponsors.
"Then the sponsors could put digital advertisements in walls of the hallways," Hammond said. "I'm a nerd so I would like it."
Reach the reporter at Meghan.Keck@asu.edu.
