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Disney's New Innoventions Dream Home News Other Features June 17, 2008 By Geoffrey Morrison Email this page 4 comments Click the images below for bigger versions: Launching today, Disney's new Innoventions Dream Home has the kind of toys that adults will want. Where once robots touted magical machines like microwaves and dishwashers, now it is all about the smart home. Key to the interaction of all the various bits is Life\|ware, makers of extensive home automation gear. Each room in the "house"(really just the center of the old rotating Carousel of Progress exhibit) has touch panels, and all interact with streaming HD feeds and HP media servers running Microsoft's Media Center. This time, in place of oh-so-lifelike audio-animatronic mannequins, actors play the "Elias" family, who are on hand to show what the house can do, as well as answer questions. These actors are equipped with RFID tags, so when they enter a room, lighting preferences can change, different music can play, and perhaps most interesting, the dozens of LCD picture frames (all networked) can display different pictures. Other neat tricks include a "magic mirror" in the daughter's room that puts virtual outfits on the user in real time. The youngest son's room has two projectors and a host of automation to make the story of Peter Pan come alive (replete with a canon that fires virtual projectiles at the far wall). The kitchen has a voice-activated assistant that will look up recipes and read them to you as you cool. The rather modest home theater has a 100-inch rear-projection screen of a Star-Glas-like material. The projector is tucked into the wall behind, and is significantly larger than is typically necessary for a 100-inch screen. Seeing as most viewing done in this room will be done with the lights on, this isn't too surprising. The screen is also secured to the floor and ceiling rather significantly, again, due to the traffic this room is sure to see. Given the imaginary cost of the rest of the "house" the modest 7.1 speaker system is rather disappointing. All in all this dream home is undeniably cool, though I think the average visitor is bound to get a bit of sticker shock when they find out what a similar system in their home would cost. Even still, having a showcase to demo an elaborate home automation and whole house audio/video system will at least plant the seeds in people's minds about what is possible. And isn't that what Disney is all about? read more

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Disney's New Innoventions Dream Home

June 17, 2008 By Geoffrey Morrison 4 comments

Click the images below for bigger versions:

Launching today, Disney's new Innoventions Dream Home has the kind of toys that adults will want.

Where once robots touted magical machines like microwaves and dishwashers, now it is all about the smart home. Key to the interaction of all the various bits is Life|ware, makers of extensive home automation gear.

Each room in the "house"(really just the center of the old rotating Carousel of Progress exhibit) has touch panels, and all interact with streaming HD feeds and HP media servers running Microsoft's Media Center.

This time, in place of oh-so-lifelike audio-animatronic mannequins, actors play the "Elias" family, who are on hand to show what the house can do, as well as answer questions. These actors are equipped with RFID tags, so when they enter a room, lighting preferences can change, different music can play, and perhaps most interesting, the dozens of LCD picture frames (all networked) can display different pictures.

Other neat tricks include a "magic mirror" in the daughter's room that puts virtual outfits on the user in real time. The youngest son's room has two projectors and a host of automation to make the story of Peter Pan come alive (replete with a canon that fires virtual projectiles at the far wall).

The kitchen has a voice-activated assistant that will look up recipes and read them to you as you cool.

The rather modest home theater has a 100-inch rear-projection screen of a Star-Glas-like material. The projector is tucked into the wall behind, and is significantly larger than is typically necessary for a 100-inch screen. Seeing as most viewing done in this room will be done with the lights on, this isn't too surprising. The screen is also secured to the floor and ceiling rather significantly, again, due to the traffic this room is sure to see. Given the imaginary cost of the rest of the "house" the modest 7.1 speaker system is rather disappointing.

All in all this dream home is undeniably cool, though I think the average visitor is bound to get a bit of sticker shock when they find out what a similar system in their home would cost. Even still, having a showcase to demo an elaborate home automation and whole house audio/video system will at least plant the seeds in people's minds about what is possible. And isn't that what Disney is all about?