The luxury house looks normal from the outside

The Parnell family, of Sheffield, will spend six months in their hi-tech home, where their every move will be followed for the University of Nottingham study.

Tags will monitor which rooms they use for three periods of two weeks.

The five-bedroom house has seven TVs, five bathrooms, self-cleaning windows and a blow-up dummy which irons shirts.

The aim is to examine "how modern families are living in houses", said father Nick Parnell.

We will be tagged but it's not like Big Brother really - there are no cameras Sue Parnell

He and his wife Sue, both 42, and their daughters Lucy, 16, and Hazel, 13, were chosen from 70 applicants wanting to take part.

The family has already spent the weekend trying out the house before being officially handed the keys on Wednesday.

The luxurious four-floor building, on the edge of Sheffield, has features including a laundry chute to take dirty clothes to the cellar, heated floors and phones that double as intercoms.

WHAT'S IN THE HOUSE? Clear glass panels embedded in floors to maximise natural light Inflatable dummy which irons shirts Separate waste-bins for paper, compost, plastic, tins, glass etc Three taps in kitchen - for hot, cold and filtered drinking water Heated floors Self-cleaning windows coated with a special chemical which holds dirt in a layer which is then washed off by rain Silent dishwasher Laundry chute Phones which double as intercoms between rooms Moisture-removing fans Electromagnetic sliding doors to isolate each floor in case of fire Digital picture frame, which rotates favourite snaps Outdoor hot-tub with CD player Shower with steam and massage functions

There is a sunken bath with a wall-mounted TV screen and DVD player, an outdoor hot-tub and a bedroom with a line of soft floor-level lights designed to guide guests to the bathroom in the night.

Mrs Parnell, a teacher, said: "The sunken bath is fantastic. I've already had two baths and watched a film at the same time.

"But I've already decided not to have one before I go to work because I don't think I'd ever get out of it."

She said the family planned to treat their stay as a six-month holiday and would try to forget they were under scrutiny.

"We will be tagged but it's not like Big Brother really - there are no cameras," she said.

"We might feel a little self-conscious to begin with but I think as time goes by we will forget about the experiment."

Guests at the Parnells' temporary home will also be given electronic "wristband" tags to wear.

A sunken bath comes with a wall mounted TV and a DVD player

"They [the researchers] will be able to study the profile of which rooms get used most and which don't, at which times of day," Mr Parnell said.

"They want to know how modern families are living in houses these days, with a view to designing houses better in the future."

The house has been developed by Nottingham University, along with Leicester University and construction firm David Wilson Homes.

The firm hopes the project will help it tailor homes built in the future to the real needs of modern families.

It hopes to answer questions such as whether families really want separate dining rooms, whether children want places to do their homework near the rest of the family and how many en-suite bathrooms are needed to sell a house.