Imagine coming home after work and pushing one button that adjusts the lighting for your entire house. The lights go on in the kitchen and living room, maybe your bedroom and select hallways, and the drapes lower throughout the house. Then the exterior lights begin to blaze. Actually, let's go one step better. You've got a control panel in your home, much like your programmable thermostat. You program in your daytime and nighttime lighting preferences, plus those for the weekend, and voilà -- no need to mess with your lights again [source: Future Technologies].
You may be thinking, "Of course I'd have to mess with them again. What if I wanted different lighting because I was reading, or snuggling with a date?" No worries. The system would be so smart, and so all-encompassing, that you could pre-program settings for romance, reading, dinner parties and more [source: Future Technologies].
Various advanced lighting systems are currently available, although they're not widely used because they're an added expense. In the future, though, the hope is they'll be standard features in homes. And why not? Much like the programmable thermostat mentioned earlier, controlled lighting saves energy and money. It's also a great safety and security feature [source: Future Technologies].