« Bumper FP7 Call Open Day | Main | Digitising health records is it really going to be helpful? »
August 31, 2009
The Internet of Thingemebobs
So over the coffee break chat leads to a discussion about "The Internet of Things" and how it might pan out .... little radio tags on everything, everything connected to the net, you can interact with everything and you can ... you can ... build in SECURITY!
Now hang on a second, am I wrong but is there a contradiction going on there, everything in the first case is open as we discuss the possibilities but it always seems to lead to a closed, wall gardened system, which for me may indicate that the vision for an Internet of Things may not be realised.
So do I BELIEVE. I've been trying, I have on my desk TikiTags ....... sorry correction in 2008 they were TikiTags, in 2009 they're TouchTags.
Its a small RFID enabled system in which RFID tags (stickers) once read connects with the touchatag Application Correlation Server (ACS) which manages the link between an RFID tag and a corresponding action to be initiated. The ACS then directs the internet-enabled device to access the appropriate online content and applications. The price point is responsible.
Now I have the device so what to tag ..... hmmm what to tag indeed, what exactly shall I tag, its driving me mad!!!!
The first tag was rather easy I placed it on my WIT card (a card based purchasing system for cafeteria food). The top up system has a related website so when I need to add funds to the card online I just place my wallet over the TouchTag reader and off we go ...... and immediately there lays the problem, I have a laptop, the TouchTag reader is USB based, so I have to make sure I have it plugged into the laptop everytime, which after a month just doesn't happen. Is the solution that the RFID reader has Bluetooth connectivity so the laptop can connect to it wirelessly? But then how do we power the RFID reader?
Also I cannot put any more TouchTags in my wallet, as the reader will pick up all of them and carry out the related action, (I was thinking of 3 tags for 3 cards) but really there can only be one tag per 10cm area.
Okay the next tag ..... I was going for one on the coffee cup, one wipe close the TouchTag reader and a Twitter or IM message pops out "miguelpdl is going for coffee" and then I thought "So What" after 20 message like that and people are just not going to be interested and so all this really does is mark the exact time I go for coffee everyday. Also clean the cup a couple of times and the tag is gone. Is the possible solution that the tags are fabricated into the product?
So right now I'm not a believer .... yet, but I have 16 tags left, if you have some ideas as to where I should place them on things, let me know and I'll give it a go.
Posted by miguelpdl at August 31, 2009 10:49 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.tssg.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/218
Comments
It is a bit of a "here's the technology, where is the problem" situation at the moment.
The tags aren't the main problem (though the 10cm area thing is a pain) but rather the reader/detector. Most of the RFID ideas I have are nowhere near a laptop (a dynamic, multi-function device with one-click access to many things... why RFID that?)
The only TouchTag/reader combo of much use I can think of is putting a tag on my phone and when I am at my desk it sets my IM status and when I leave my desk (with my phone, always) it sets my status to "away." I never remember to set my IM status manually.
The reader needs to be built into doors, cars, hallways, meeting rooms, canteen tables and so on. The reader needs to be ubiquitous, not just connected to my laptop on my desk.
Then I can think of many useful interactions.
Posted by: Paul M. Watson at September 2, 2009 10:36 AM
Agree totally Paul it's more that the readers have to be everywhere, although I don't mean to contridict myself but I think this is were the security issue may comes in. Every reader has to be open, and connected to the internet, passing on the data capture or event capture from your tag, and now you might have to ask the question, "who's reading my tag data?". Or I suppose you could take another stance, "I don't care who is reading my tag data, I've only created data/events for things I don't mind other people finding out about".
As for the phone idea there's always the bluetooth opton of Proximity.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/automate-your-mac-your-home-with-proximity-mac-only/
Posted by: Miguel Ponce de Leon at September 6, 2009 10:36 PM
That is a fair point though I'd say we are to some degree already walking through an RFID tracking world. Modern passports have them, some bank cards do, various products have them embedded and so on. The readers are not always marked and there are even drive-by RFID data thieves (AFAIR the RFID enabled UK passport was cracked pretty easily and security experts recommend wrapping it in tin-foil...)
And as we've seen anonymous data can, in aggregate, identify you.
So I'd say your last point is about right. Realise the data, even encrypted, is fairly insecure and only to be used for convenience for now. I'm not sure how you'd ever secure a public reader with tags that have URLs on them (without a less than ideal centralised relay server.)
Posted by: Paul M. Watson at September 17, 2009 8:54 PM