Tag: IoT

IPG Lab Internet of Things Week

Posted on by Lab Team

This past week, we covered the Internet of Things, a term used to “describe a growing phenomenon in which every physical object can have some form of connection to the Internet.” And it’s coming to an object near you. According to Gigaom’s Jon Collins, a family of four will move from having 10 connected devices in 2012 to 25 in 2022 to keep us always on without even realizing it.  Below, you’ll find a list of our posts detailing this growing trend and the data implications for marketers.

POV: How The Internet Of Things Is Creating New Ecosystems

R/GA, Techstars and the Rise of Connected Devices

Why Today’s Smart Fridge Is Pretty Dumb

SmartThings And The Connected Home

The Trigger: Fitness Wearables

 

 

 

R/GA, Techstars and the Rise of Connected Devices

Posted on by Lab Team

The Lab attended a demo day for the R/GA Connected Devices Accelerator at SXSS 2014. Powered by Techstars, the program showcased nine exciting startups that have been incubated and mentored at R/GA’s NYC campus in recent months. The common thread between these startups, as the name implies, is that they are all connected devices, products that have both hardware and software components and are connected to the Internet (and thus, your life). Of the nine companies that presented three in particular were particularly relevant to marketers looking to reach audiences:

Ringblingz

Simply put, Ringblingz is smart jewelry. It is a ring that can light up in up to 300 different colors and/or vibrate. It is meant to make the most important smartphone-based notifications simpler to see and interpret, in that you don’t even need to look at your phone. First you pair your ring with the mobile app. To set up a notification, you simply choose a color, a contact, and an app that will trigger the notification (e.g. Facebook, Snapchat et al.). As the founders put it, a device like this that traverses the worlds of fashion and tech creates “wearable social currency”. Brands could leverage Ringblingz capabilities to deepen engagement with consumers who are using their mobile app and may want to be notified about deals or events.

Hammerhead

Similar to Ringblingz, Hammerhead’s product “Hammerhead 1” seeks to change the way technology visually communicates information in a subtler way. The Hammerhead unit, rather than convey social interactions, is meant to provide directions for bicyclists. You pair the device with the Hammerhead app, which is loaded with crowd-sourced bicycle routes. You then clip the device onto your bike and stow your phone. The app communicates with the Hammerhead device and indicates directions to turn using patterns of flashing lights. This replaces having to look down at GPS on your device screen. Thus this elegantly enhances navigation for those on bikes while increasing safety.

Footmarks

Based on BLE beacons that retailers can distribute around their stores, the Footmarks platforms can beef up both a retailer’s mobile app as well as those distributed to sales associates. In one scenario, someone who has a retailer’s mobile app and walks into the store can be welcomed and served a relevant offer. This might even take the form of a discount especially tailored for that customer based on their loyalty and purchase history. In another scenario, a sales associate with a tablet can be alerted that a particularly valuable customer has entered the store, and can review their purchase history, wish list and other relevant information. While many different companies are duking it out in the BLE (aka “iBeacon”) space, Footmarks aims to make their platform more adaptive and secure than their competitors.

Why Today’s Smart Fridge Is Pretty Dumb

Posted on by Lab Team

At this year’s CES, it seemed that everything will have a sensor from your dog to your toothbrush. Some of these smart devices provide utility while some…do not. At the top of the list is the Samsung Smart Fridge which could be an amazing innovation when connectivity actually enhances the core product- a unit which stores and refrigerates your food. What we’re actually left with is a refrigerator that can handle a number of functions from answering a call to listening to music, all of which is better suited for other devices.

Touted as perhaps one of the more innovative ways of bringing Internet into the home, it very quickly became apparent that the fridge was made more for the buzz-worthiness of IoT rather than any practical application. The premise is simple: utilize the Internet to give parents and families the best of the Internet on their fridge. And it does deliver on that promise in some ways; the app interface gives users access to Epicurious – which lets users choose recipes based on items in their fridge – and Evernote – which updates shopping lists in real time. But beyond that, the app interface falls flat. It purports to give users music, the news, the weather, and more, via apps like Pandora, AP, and Weatherbug, through what appears to be a familiar tablet interface. Ultimately, the design has resulted in Samsung trying to cram too much tech into too small a space, none of which enhances the basic function of a fridge. Why would someone with the money to buy and install a smart fridge not just play music over speakers, or check the weather on their computer or phone? 

What’s really missing are things like sensor technology to detect the contents of your fridge or when something smells off as well as remote access to see what you have available. Remember when you’re at a store and forgot if you already had milk.  Problem solved. These are real enhancements made through connectivity. 

SmartThings & The Connected Home

Posted on by Lab Team

Smart devices are powerful on their own but it is their ability to talk to each other that will spur innovation and ultimately mass adoption.  Take home security for instance. A single smart lock that can be controlled via your phone if terrific, but the real utility comes when that lock also talks to your other devices like your car to lock when you leave the driveway.  Or Fitbit integration with your coffee maker to automatically brew coffee according to the amount of sleep you received the moment you wake up. This is the type of anticipatory computing that makes technology invisible as it responds to your natural behavior rather than having to be programmed. It’s about connected ecosystems, not devices.

We’re already seeing many of these interactions as we move from the internet of things to the internet of everything. Indeed, as CNNMoney notes, home automation systems already exist and have for decades and leading the charge is SmartThings. Smartthings aims to actualize this vision by creating a user-controlled, Smartphone-compatible system of sensors placed throughout the home. The Smartphone notifies the homeowner when programmed tasks are completed. But it’s also Smartthing’s affordable price tag that takes the next step towards connected homes for all.

Don’t worry marketers, you too will get in on the action. The internet of everything is creating a world where every device is a media channel from a refrigerator to a carpet. The opportunity for brands to provide personalized messaging will be unprecedented as they can leverage the extensive data these devices produce. Imagine your smart fridge telling you that your low on Miller and then sending driving instructions to the nearest store. Or perhaps a health food company offers you rewards based on how many steps you walked. Media will all be tailored and accessed at a glance.