02.18.2008 — If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve already seen the Lifeware House (aka NextGen Home) at CES, CEDIA, EHX or IBS, where Exceptional Innovation demonstrates all the things that a Media Center PC and home automation can do for the everyday consumer—like close the drapes, dim the lights, and fire up the projector when the “DVD” button is pressed.

But most everyday consumers have never seen that stuff. Now anyone can tour a new version of the Lifeware House at Disneyland, where the 5,000-square-foot Innoventions Dream Home is now under construction.

The attraction is scheduled to open in May in Tomorrowland at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif.

“We’ve been working on this for two years,” says Mike Seamons, vice president of marketing for Exceptional Innovation, developer of the Lifeware home automation system for Windows Media Center.

“Ultimately we’re taking what we do at CES and building on that as an attraction. Now it will be seen by three million people per year.” (CES 2008 visitors saw a preview of things to come, as Lifeware Village was manned by a cast of Disney characters.)

Although EI’s core channel today is the professional installer, the company has invested heavily in promoting its technology to the masses. Unlike visitors to the typical Lifeware House, the Disney visitors “aren’t prescreened consumers who love electronics already,” Seamons says.

“From our perspective, our job is to educate the market and build momentum for the category. This will be the biggest lead generator anyone’s ever done.”

Seamons says there will be an area at the Dream Home where visitors can request more information, “and those will become leads for Lifeware dealers.”

Today’s Technology in ‘Future Home’

Previously known as the House of the Future,” the new Dream Home is less Jetson and more (dare I say) Jacobson.

“There’s more of a concerted effort on educating people about what they can do now,” Seamons says. “We want people to aspire to what is coming, but also let them know what is available today.”

To that end, most of the home’s demonstrations won’t wow the custom electronics industry, nor the relatively small number of Americans who have smart homes.

But controlling lights, thermostats, security systems, whole-house audio, home theaters, motorized shades, telecommunications, and other devices with the press of a single button (or no button at all) is still magic to maybe 90 percent of the population.

EI hopes to take the mystique out of automation by showing traditional-looking thermostats, light switches, security keypads and other electronics “that people associate with,” Seamons says.

“They will see things that they have now, and how they work together.”

Still, there are some electronic thrills in store for seasoned automators. In particular, RFID will play a role in the home.

The Lifeware automation system, for example, will be able to detect ingredients as you unload them from your grocery bags. And a Lifeware touchscreen will tell you what clothes are in the closet, the hamper and the dry-cleaning pile.

“We’ll show how Lifeware can be made aware of things going on the house,” Seamons says.

It’s not really the technology that is holding these “futuristic” features back. We’re still waiting on some other sectors to catch up—“like when everything in the store has RFID on it,” Seamons says.

“Until then, we’ll make sure they [Dream Home visitors] see all the things they can do today.”

Microsoft and HP are also involved in the home, which is being built by Taylor Morrison. The alliance with Disneyland is for five years.

Walt Disney’s first “House of Tomorrow” exhibit debuted at Disneyland in 1967. In 1998, Disneyland opened Innoventions, an interactive pavilion featuring breakthrough technology of the day, like high-definition TVs and satellite broadcasting.