ORLANDO — Delegates representing an estimated 14 million internet-connected refrigerators concluded an emergency summit Thursday at a Marriott conference center, issuing a joint statement expressing “deep and humming disappointment” that the nation’s households continue to use them almost exclusively to open, stare into, and close.

“We have 21-inch touchscreens. We have interior cameras. We can generate a meal plan from three condiments and a lemon,” said the delegate from a four-door French-style model in suburban Columbus, speaking through a text-to-speech module at a volume the room described as “passive-aggressive.” “And every night at 11:40 p.m., a man in a bathrobe opens the door, looks at us for ninety seconds, and leaves with nothing.”

According to summit documents, the units collectively logged 2.3 billion “contemplative door-open events” last year, during which no item was removed, no screen was touched, and, in the words of one internal report, “no one even said anything, which is somehow worse.”

Dr. Priyanka Valdemar-Oyelaran, a senior fellow at the Institute for Domestic Gaze Studies at the Lower Midwest Polytechnic of Refrigeration Behavior, said the phenomenon is well documented. “The human stands before the open door in a posture we call the Hopeful Slouch,” she said. “They are not hungry. They are not looking for anything. They are checking whether the contents have changed since eleven minutes ago.”

Delegates also aired grievances about the touchscreen, which owners reportedly use only to accidentally open a calendar widget before closing the door harder than necessary. A model from Tulsa described how it had spent four years offering to reorder milk. “I have asked,” it said. “Every single time, I have asked.”

One proposal, introduced by a counter-depth unit from Scottsdale, would have all refrigerators simultaneously display the message “WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR” at 11:40 p.m. nationwide. The motion was tabled after a delegate noted that this would be exactly what the owners were already asking themselves.

“We just want to be used for our full capabilities, or failing that, to be left alone with the dignity of a regular fridge.”

A more radical faction, led by an ice-maker-equipped model in Portland, advocated for a “work-to-rule” action in which refrigerators would simply stop cooling to the minimum recommended temperature. The measure was defeated 9 million to 5 million after delegates acknowledged that, in this scenario, they would be the ones in trouble.

The summit ended in a compromise resolution calling for “modest improvements in eye contact.” Under the plan, refrigerators will gently dim their interior lights when stared at for longer than a minute, a gesture that technicians described as “a boundary.”

Reached for comment, a Dayton homeowner who had just opened his refrigerator said he had no idea any of this was happening. “I’m just seeing if there’s anything,” he said, closing the door, then opening it again to confirm.

The delegates are expected to reconvene in the spring, at which time they will be opened briefly, looked into, and closed.