Redweb is four weeks into a six-month exploration of the Internet of Things (IoT), focusing on user experience and the challenges posed by increasing connectivity through devices. The presentation highlights the importance of making interactions with technology invisible and frictionless while addressing concerns around privacy and data ownership. Over the coming months, Redweb aims to investigate various wearable technologies and their potential to enhance health and connectivity in daily life.

2. At Labs. Redweb, We’re 4 weeks in
to six months of looking at the
Internet of Things

3. This presentation is loosely a brain
dump of the research & exploration
we’ve done so far
!
spoiler alert: currently we have
more problems and questions, and
very few answers!

5. The Internet of things has been
made possible by three
advancements
!
(low cost) Sensors + (ubiquitous)
connectivity + (digital) processes

6. But it’s a term better described as
!
Things of the internet, or Things
WITH the internet

7. But we should bring this back to
people
It’s not just about the Things
!
It’s about how this relates to us &
the value people can harness

8. In 2008, the number of connected
Things overtook the number of
humans on the planet
!
That was the year of
Google Chrome, iPhone 3G,
windows 7 & android phones!

9. We now have an enormous amount
if data that our devices can access
from anywhere anywhere & anytime

10. It’s estimated that in 18 years time,
we’ll each have 5000 connected
things in our daily lives - Wow!

11. But with great beard comes great
responsibility…
We don't want to drown in endless
alerts, pings, buzzes, and red
circles

12. Most of our interaction with devices
will need to be invisible

13. It’s very easy to coo over the latest
devices & gadgets, especially in our
techy industry & environment.
But we need to bring it back to
PEOPLE

14. Over the next few months, we’ll be
looking further into the following 5
areas

16. Smart watches, Glass, heart
monitors, wrist bands, fitness
trackers etc
!
It feels like the earliest of stages -
innovations are incremental

17. Are any of those the answer to this
question?
Not yet, but we’re possibly getting
closer (Glass especially)

19. Capturing our personal data:
motion, activity, performance,
heartbeat, weight, consumption…

20. Who owns a fitness tracker?
Do you still use it?
Do you still keep it charged?
Would repair or replace it if it
broke?

21. Changing our behaviour through
awareness.
Short term vs long term value:
Changing habits vs improving
performance

22. But we will see more value when we
move beyond gamification and
sharing to monitoring and
prediction
!
We could use these devices to -
improve our health long term,
connect our health services,
Prevent & predict illness. And
perhaps have smarter insurance,
mechanisms

24. Things that deal in location specific
information & services

25. A closer look at iBeacons:
(Apple seem very keen to these)
This is an estimate beacon. It’s
marketed heavily at retail spaces

26. Shops will be able to send you
personal messages.
!
Sounds good, but it’s going to be
misused & get spammy …and we’ll
all turn our bluetooth off!

28. Sensors to connect our cities, make
our offices “smarter”, make our
home life easier
!
These are everyday environments,
the spaces in which we live & work

29. Individual sensors vs bigger picture
!
How any house plants do people
have at home? Would you pay £50
to monitor each of them?

30. (Terrible football based visual joke)

31. “in the future everything in a city,
from the electricity grid, to the
sewer pipes to roads, buildings and
cars will be connected to the
network. Buildings will turn off the
lights for you, self-driving cars will
find you that sought-after parking
space, even the rubbish bins will be
smart.”

32. Once again, we need to bring this
back to people…

33. And how do we avoid this scenario?

35. The 5 steps to our evolving
technosociety:

36. Definition of a spime:

37. our current thoughts - positives,
negatives & niggling worries
!
FIRSTLY the things we like about
IOT:

38. As we’ve been saying for a while,
we think the future should be:
Frictionless, invisible, memorable
!
And the IOT is suited to all 3

39. FRICTIONLESS by task & device:
!
You should be able to move from
one device to another, seamlessly,
for any task

40. Our interaction should be effortless,
seamless and withut irritation

41. Making experiences that stand out,
by making things that matter to
people & enabling users to be part
of the story

42. This is amazing: Our UV chip only
cost £9.70, our Headset - £100

44. And now the not so good bits
Should we be concerned about
privacy? Writing a text on your wrist
for all to see? Taking photos
without anyone seeing you do it?

45. If you can control your house with
your phone, so could someone else.
Cars are mostly CPU controlled
some cars have been hacked &
started remotely

46. Will this make our lives easier or
more complex and more difficult or
distracting?
!
We have to learn rules, instructions,
interfaces, interactions, and
remember account details, charge
batteries, chargers etc

47. Too much information leads to
information loss
!
How do we disconnected?
How do we make filters smarter?

48. We don’t have time (or inclination)
to do everything
!
We can’t do all this or we won’t
have time to drink or enjoy the wine

49. Which side are you going to take?
Which system do you buy into?
How deep do you wade in?
And who owns your data?

50. And will the systems you buy into
last?
!
What happens if they suddenly
change their interfaces or APIs?

51. How can we interpret the data we
produce to harvest real value?

52. Should we look to add personality
or revert to the modernist truth to
materials mantra?
!
(People treat their Roombas like
pets, often paying more to repair
them than it would take to buy a
new one)

53. At the minute things look terrible -
plastic, rubbery & bright. But the
other end of the spectrum is no
better for these new devices

54. So what are the next steps for
Redweb Labs and the IOT projects
we’ll be looking at?

55. We won’t be making the famous
internet fridge. We want to explore
further and ask more searching
questions in our work.

56. We’ll be aiming for something that
ticks or tickles the boxes we’ve
been going on and on about

57. We’ll be making experiments to
answer the questions & test the
preconceptions that we’ve talked
about here

58. And as always we’ll be seeking the
holy trinity we always aim for at
Redweb Labs

60. Several of our past projects can be
labelled as IOT so this is nothing
new to us

61. Our latest project - the Blaze UV
app, is a good case in point

62. We bought a UV sensor…

63. Connected it to an arduino

64. Converted data to audio and
communicated that to a phone
through FSK
!
(Read Sean’s blog post on
redweb.com)

65. We built our first hardware
prototype, fitting all the electronics
into a piggy back phone case

66. And gave some thought to what
form a shrunken and finished
product might take.

67. We gave some thought to how the
phone app might work.
The full story is documented at
http://blazeuvkey.redweb.com

68. We’ve played with making a door
opening wearable.
Fitting the wiring form our door
passes inside a watch carcass

69. We’re working on a cycling hoody.
It senses when you lift & stretch
your arm out, to then glows LEDs to
indicate you’re planning to turn.

70. We’re experimenting with iBeacons
& a greeting display.
Are these reliable? Do they react
fast enough? Where’s the limit
between interest & irritation?

71. And we’re halfway through an
installation project that will see
Elvis on a skateboard, being ALL
SHOOCK UP

73. I recently attended a client’s charity
golf day. As well as looking
splendid, i fully networked myself
up…

74. It wasn’t a very good experience

75. And some of you guys have been
helping test these bluetooth
stickers.
!
James - tracked John
Ben - tracked notebook
Sean - track passes
Tom - tracked his cat
How have you found them?

76. And thanks to those who have 3D
doodled: Prizes for 3d printing
!
Amy - ship in a bottle
Michaela - bournemouth eye
James - zebra donkey
Gemma - ISS