Series: Internet of Things

Every Device

Connected to the Cloud

The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming an extremely hot topic amongst entrepreneurs, investors, manufacturers and recently with technologists. I've been looking at this space for a little over 18 months now, initially using the concept to drive LED lighting as both an information source and a functional lighting component. Actually, it was this work that indirectly led to the business I am currently pursuing, but more about that in a separate article. This is a hot area within the technology space and is likely to continue to gain momentum through 2010 and for several years to come.

This post got a little longer than I thought so it is now broken into two separate posts, Parts I and II.

What is the Internet of Things?

I've seen it described as the Internet of Things, the Cloud of Devices, Web of Things and various other cool marketing names but I think one of the best descriptions is simply: When your fridge orders your groceries. Obviously, this concept represents a much broader landscape of devices than just your refrigerator or even your kitchen appliances. In the broadest definition IoT represents real world objects being connected to and accessible through the cloud, the real world objects include all the usual suspects like cellular phones, laptop computers, pagers but also includes HVAC systems, refrigerators, televisions, medical devices, sensors, the list goes on and on.

Every Device

Connected to the Cloud

What kinds of information?

Of course this will depend on the actual device and the type of information it is processing, obviously textual information will flow between the devices and the resources they interact with in the cloud but it will not be limited to that. In addition to pure textual data there will also be images, video, audio and in some cases proprietary formats that are specific to the device and have special processing requirements. Below is a list of various kinds of information that is likely to be part of the IoT information flow:

Types of Data

INTERNET OF THINGS

PART III

This is the third installment in a potentially never ending series about the Internet of Things.The first two parts of the series located here and here represent a fairly broad perspective of this trend.

The intention of the post is to discuss several key areas including:

Internet of Things:


Augmented Reality

The Internet of Things has growing momentum, both in terms of the underlying technology as well as the adoption by corporations, universities and across many industries. One of the primary applications of IoT is its use in augmented reality systems as can be seen in several examples included in this post. While AR is not the only application of IoT, it is an area where progress can be seen and measured directly. This is primarily because there are so many entities creating deliverable and consumable implementations. These bleeding edge AR-IoT models are starting to create momentum on mobile platforms like the iPhone and Android which have themselves contributed to the recent interest and growth of IoT.

Everything Connected:

IBMs Video Explanation of the Internet of Things

This is an excellent video put together by IBM as part of their SmarterPlanet initiative, as is usually the case from IBM the video is very well done and gives a good  perspective on the future of connected things. Obviously they have a big stake in the game, not only do they design and manufacture RFID chips but they are also heavily involved with most of the other components used including software.

The idea of establishing a central nervous system for the planet is a by product of building an Internet of things, especially when the concept is extended using contributions from nanotechnology and even the new digital brand of biology. IBM stays relatively conservative in the video trying to represent the simplest concepts that make up IoT, but they do an outstanding job with them. I originally found this on ReadWriteWeb where it was referred to as: "...artistic, succinct, optimistic and inspiring video explaining what could well become a big factor in how the future unfolds.", I agree.

 Everything Casts an

Information Shadow

I couldn't find an official reference to the term Information Shadow so i'll give credit to Mike Kuniavsky, a founder of both Adaptive Path and ThingM. I first read the term Information Shadow when doing the research for the Internet of Things articles a couple of weeks ago. I am very familiar with Mike's work on the BlinkM MaxM device, a very cool implementation of smart, network (I2C) controlled LEDs. I've purchased several BlinkMs for some of the work I was doing with the iTV and StrataLighting projects, part of that work has morphed into a software development effort I'll be outlining in another post.