In Gish Jen's The Resisters, people live in AutoHouses, internet-linked homes that are capable of performing certain automated tasks for their inhabitants, such as cleaning up dropped objects and regulating temperature, but that are also used for government surveillance. While the homes in Jen's novel operate at a much more advanced level than current technology, smart homes, or houses in which devices are connected to a digital network, are already very much a reality. These homes, along with smart appliances and other everyday objects that are linked through wireless systems, are sometimes referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT).

Non-wireless home automation can be traced back to 1975, when a Scottish company, Pico Electronics, designed an electronic automation protocol called X10 that uses the home's electrical wiring to allow devices to communicate together. Products using this standard, which are still widely available, range from simple wall switches that turn on a single ...