The wardrobe looks like any other. But first impressions can be quite deceptive. Its dark wooden doors open up to reveal a small 8"x 8" Philips touch screen inside. Select the shirt you want to wear, and the screen throws up a list of trousers that will match. Once you decide on the trouser, the gadget will show pictures of the shoes that will go with your clothes. And best of all, once you're done with the selection, motorised hangers and racks will place these three items in front of you. There's more (and this is especially useful for ladies)-there's a mirror on the inside of the wardrobe door. When you select a dress, this mirror will immediately display a life-size image of how you will look in it.

And no! This is not a concept note for a Bollywood-meets-Bond movie. In fact, it's not even in the realm of fantasy anymore. Smart wardrobes or other assorted gadgetry that go into the making of what people call smart homes can be found in Monica Pursnani's flat in Khar, Mumbai, in Sanjay Sanghvi's home on Napeansea Road, Mumbai, in the under-construction 160-apartment Gardenia e-homes project by Designarc Constructions in Ghaziabad, in Best Constructions' 300-villa project in Whitefield, Bangalore and in several standalone homes across the country.

Pursnani, a housewife, has had smart door locks and lighting system installed, and is looking to install other creative solutions in future. "It's great to be able to set an ambience at the press of a button. Besides, the door lock facility is configured to my cell phone, so I get an mms clip of anyone who rings the bell when I'm not at home. It's a great safety device in a city where there is so much crime; and you don't have to worry about duplicate keys," she says. The smart door lock, which costs Rs 25,000, has a camera, a fingerprint recogniser and a regular bell. When someone rings the bell, his photo is immediately captured. If an authorised person places his finger on the gadget, it recognises his fingerprint and opens the door. The person is greeted with the music, lighting and the ambience he likes.

"The technology allows you to live out almost all your fantasies. The only limitation is your own imagination," says Veetrag Bafna, Chairman and Managing Director, Zeos Infotech, a Mumbai-based company which develops wireless software solutions and integrates them with regular appliances that can then be controlled by a palmtop pc, desktop computer or even a cell phone. His bag of tricks contains a remote controlled lighting system that turns on moments before you reach home, a modern surveillance system that captures images of everyone who stands at your door, electronic controls for your curtains, microwave oven and geysers (allowing you to operate them from outside the home), a mirror that doubles up as a television in the washroom and show windows that have their own 3-D themes. And most convenient of them all is a wall-mounted touch screen that can be customised to lock the house the moment you leave. Click.

Equally convenient is the "guest" mode in the universal remote. This allows you to open the main door, switch on the lights and the ac and turn on the music at the click of one button. Says a diamond merchant who has this gizmo at his home in Juhu, Mumbai: "I can customise the settings such that the 'guest' mode comes on just a couple of moments before my guests arrive. So the house is air-conditioned, the lighting is just right, and soft music begins to play."

Sanjay Sanghvi, a partner in Sanghvi Exports, is fitting his new apartment on Mumbai's posh Napeansea Road with a smart lighting system, electromechanical curtains and 'vault'-an electronic storage device that resembles a small ups and stores up to 300 movies, 3,000 personal photos and 3,000 songs-which can be played from or in any room in the house. "I'm fascinated by technology," he says. With the touch screen, he will be able to control all the lighting in his house, the TV, the music, the curtains, and even set ambience-such as 'evening' or 'afternoon'. This last is done with the help of virtual windows that set sceneries according to your taste-a snow-covered expanse, a bright sunny day, or whatever else you want.

"Typically, middle aged people opt to go in for these systems," says Bafna. But isn't erratic power supply-as in Delhi-a major spoiler? "It is," admits Bafna, and clarifies that, "while the other gadgets will not function during a power cut, the main door and surveillance system will because we provide a ups for these."

And given the spread of technology, these devices are no longer akin to rocket science to most people. Says Sanjeev Gupta, Regional Sales Director, Asia Pacific, Linksys, a division of Cisco, which also markets such smart gadgets: "If you have a wireless router at home, you can go to a store and buy an internet protocol (IP) surveillance camera, set up a user name and password and begin using the device." That can be the first step to "smartening" up your home. The next and subsequent steps depend on your fancy, aptitude and purse. But smart homes have arrived in India.