n the near future, you may no longer need to remember to turn the oven off when the cake is done, switch on lights when you enter a room, or run the clothes dryer when electricity rates are cheapest. Your home will do it for you.
These products are part of the Internet of Things (IoT), aimed at automating our lives by connecting mobile devices to appliances, lights, and just about everything—a shift that could improve efficiency if it works right, but compromise privacy if it doesn’t.They monitor behaviour—via motion sensors, Bluetooth signals, or facial-recognition technology—to identify when we are home or away and make corresponding tweaks to room temperatures or lighting. They come from Kickstarter-funded startups as well as industry stalwarts such as Samsung and LG.