College Students Build, Live In High-Tech 'Smart' Dorm

Duke University students are building and will live in a 4,500-square-foot "SMART" house. The purpose of the experimental project is to continuously invent and test home tech. For example, humming a tune will turn on the stereo and play the song you were humming. Alarm clocks initiate the process of breakfast being cooked by machines. Like Bill Gates' house, settings for lighting, music and temperature follow users as they wander around the house. But unlike the Gates mansion, it knows you not by the RFID card you're carrying, but via face recognition. Computers will monitor students' sleep patters, including brain waves, heart rates and REM, and wake them up at optimal times. The $1.2 million house will swap out ten student inventors each semester.