Thu 24 Jul 2008
Mickey Mouse Dream House
Posted by Marlow Harris under Real Estate
The Microsoft Innoventions Dream Home opened up last month at Disneyland to great fanfare. Reminiscent of the old Monsanto “House of the Future” in Tomorrowland, this new modern home is located inside the Carousel of Progress building, where guests used to watch vignettes of American history revolve past them.
It is designed not as something futuristic for the “Jetsons†but for the fictional Elias family (Walt Disney’s middle name), with early 20th-century art nouveau and art deco flourishes.
In the kitchen beneath a yellow glass countertop is a flat-screen monitor on which appears menus and recipes that a voice-activated instructor named Lillian (Disney’s wife’s name) can recite the recipes. That feature would make paper cookbooks superfluous and pages spill-free.
In the “daughters room”, a full-length “Magic Mirror 2.01†incorporates a touch screen that allows you to select outfits and accessories, which are projected onto your image so you can see if they’re right for the occasion. As you turn from side to side, the outfit moves with you.
Other devices in the house are equally intriguing. The dining room table incorporates “Microsoft Surface†touch screens that allow you to move puzzle pieces into one large image. You can also make virtual ripples appear in a virtual pond. A coffee table, connected wirelessly to the Internet, displays an early edition of “Alice in Wonderland†from the British Library.
The house was built by Taylor Morrison of Arizona, and it was designed to act as a “platform†for hardware and software products from Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Life/Ware, a company whose computer programs operate interactive and wireless controls for lights, heating, communications and entertainment.
A representative said a 3,000-square-foot home could be retrofitted with basic hardware and systems for about $2,500, or $50,000 with the latest and greatest – from the 100-inch flat-screen TV in the family room to the HP Panoply Gaming Chair, which jiggles and rocks as you play like you’re competing in a high-speed car race. The company representatives on hand said their goal was to display products available now or in the next two years and to constantly update the items over the five-year period of the Dream Home’s present configuration.
Software Notebook: This Dream Home comes with a Mouse
A home builder from the Land of Foreclosure visited the Magic Kingdom recently to participate in a unique project that offers visitors from around the world a glimpse into the future.
Scottsdale-based Steve Wethor, president of developer Taylor Morrison’s Western region, led a team that helped design the Innoventions Dream Home, which opened to the public this week inside the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:30 am
That’s too much technology into a home…I think we need to relax in our homes not become more connected. Or we all may experience connection overload…..
July 29th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
The Real Estate Market Starts Climing Again
During the past couple of years we’ve all seen a tremendous change in real estate in the country.
This change actually has spread all over, businesses loosing money while gas prices are extremely high.
The real estate market has become a big issue for all of us out there, we’ve seen many homeowners loosing their homes and struggling to find a home to rent because of their credit.
What happen to us?
Remember the bubble 4 years ago?
That’s exactly the answer, from years of prosperity and times of spending, traveling and investing in stocks and real estate, we are now experiencing another bubble but this time the bubble is going in a different direction and we are wondering what to do.
So real estate was going down and it’s still going down, some economists say that it will get stable in 2 years from now.
The sellers market became a buyers market, and today we all know it by now.
Investors and renters that saved their money for better days to buy to make money are in the market today, that’s making the real estate market busy.
Real estate agents that learn how to change with the market also learned how to make money from the changes, these real estate professionals are making lots of money and while we are all struggling for business they’re making the business.
Today you can get a home directly from the banks for almost half the price.
I’ve seen homeowners that are so desperate that they’re willing to give their homes for free, just come and take their loan and continue their payments.
On the other hand, investors are looking to buy homes in bulk, they can get homes $.50 on the dollar.
Some banks like bank of america and countrywide are selling hundreds of homes in bulk to investors at a discount prices.
So real estate agents are busy getting hundreds of listings and reo’s from banks, then they’re selling these homes at a low price to future homeowners and investors.
It’s definitely a buyer’s market like we had in the early 90’s, so if you’re an investor or a homeowner.
This is your time!
July 30th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I’m with Jay on this one. Too much tech overwhelms the brain. We need more plants and earth elements to interact with our living spaces.
I’m a fan of http://stronghouse.net Energy efficient, plain, simple.