Dolls House for the technical age

[alphie]

I have been asked if I could make a dolls house for my niece, so I am
after any ideas of what I can add to it to make it a little more hi-
tech.

Basic thinks I'm already thinking of are lights in all the rooms, door-
bell, red LED fireplace.

I'm after any other ideas before I sit down and finalise the plans. So
please fire away.

[Kylie Willison]

how old is she?

radio - antenna could be part of a tv aerial on the roof or hook it up
to a cd player, parents could change cd
clothes dryer or washing machine - can see 'clothes' spinning
tv with pre-recorded sounds
you've probably already thought of this - large ceiling space with easy
access - to put all the electronics
sound effects - microwave ding, flushing toilet, shower etc

hth Kylie :-)

[Thomas Sprinkmeier]

(suggestions courtesy of my kids)

Solar panel on the roof
CCTV doorbell
electric garage door
63mm flat screen plasma tv
satellite dish
low-voltage downlights
hand-geometry scanner to open door (As Barbie dolls don't have
fingerprints)
electric toy car
toy computer
toy vacuum cleaner
toy i pod nano
mini raidio
toy headphones(so Barbie can 'hear' her music)
toy kitchen(make sure it lights up!)
toy bathroom(make sure it has a mirror)
mini bed
small lamp

Thomas

[Robert Hart]

Use one of those cheap keyring lcd picture displays as a TV, put
pictures of scenes from favourite tv shows in a slide show.

On 25/04/2011 10:23 AM, alphie wrote:

[alphie]

That is a really good idea Robert. She is not quite 2 years old. I
don't want to make it too overly complex, remembering that this is to
be played with, not to be admired.

Yeah Kylie, I was thinking of wiring it out with speakers along with
the lighting so sounds would totally be an option.I am not exactly
sure how to do a moving washing machine and dryer tho.

Solar panels is actually a really clever idea, and very green.

Thanks for all the ideas guys/girls

[Robert Hart]

Snap I have a 2yo girl, been thinking of something similar ;-)

[Kim Hawtin]

On Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 10:23 AM, alphie <alphi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have been asked if I could make a dolls house for my niece, so I am
> after any ideas of what I can add to it to make it a little more hi-
> tech.
>
> Basic thinks I'm already thinking of are lights in all the rooms, door-
> bell, red LED fireplace.

its been a long time since i've seen a doll house, but the one my
sistr had, had several small rooms.

if you are going to put lights/LEDs in, perhaps you can setup some
kind of motion sensor in each 'room' so the lights turn on when that
room has activity?

so if you are tinkering with light, then your fittings and furniture
could make that more interesting... something that reflects or
refracts light might be interesting.. something like acrylic? should
be cheap, see if you can find somewhere with offcuts, i suppose you
would only be interested in small pieces anyway.

acrylic is easy to cut with a small hacksaw or hobby saw, easy bend
with a bit of heat in the oven and would be a bit unusual.

cheers,

kim
--
"Art without engineering is dreaming; engineering without art is
calculating."  --SKR