Many typical household items are already capable of connecting to the Internet and providing us with useful data and greater convenience, but much so-called 'smart home technology' actually demonstrates very little intelligence. For example, smart meters only inform us of how much energy we are using, and smart TVs merely display programmes streamed from the web. Similarly, we can control the lighting, locks and heating in our homes from a mobile device. Sure, it's handy to be able to turn them on or off from miles away, but it amounts to little more than flicking a virtual switch instead of a physical one. Technologists are already looking ahead, however, to the next generation of smart home products. They believe upcoming innovations will use digital data much more intelligently to make decisions and act on our behalf. Washing machines, for example, might adjust their settings according to the clothes that we put in them, or warn us that some items should not be washed together. Our refrigerators might be able to learn which foods we like to eat and place an order for more when stocks are running low. Some future domestic technologies might even benefit the wider community. Energy providers could offer lower rates to customers who allow them to, for example, switch off their freezers for short periods to save power or to regulate demand at peak times.