Getting into the Internet of Things
I am a big fan of Kickstarter and crowdfunding in general. Indeed, I am interested in exploring the idea of crowdfunding as a source of research funding. Especially given the rise of research crowdfunding platforms such as Experiment. Although at the moment, Kickstarter is the only crowdsourcing platform I regularly use.
I have backed a diverse range of projects through the site. Even flirted with the idea of launching my own project. The majority of the projects I backed in the technology field have been related to the Pebble Smartwatch, which is something I am obviously interested in given AWEAR.
However, lately, I have become interested in the Internet of Things (IoT). Living in Australia, I know that the IoT future still has a while to go. Internet infrastructure is just not there for many people. Including myself, and I live in a major Australian city, in a well-established suburb. Yet even my internet connectivity can be patchy. There is also the fact that sometimes, IoT solutions seems to be seeking problems to solve.
A good example of this is Knocki. Which at the time of writing is just four days away from being successfully funded on Kickstarter. Knocki is undoubtedly a cool idea. However, the actual practical utility of it I am not entirely sold on. I can see it being of great use to my grandparents, who face great mobility challenges. But they also live in Bangladesh and are at that stage where introducing anything new in their routine is a problem.
My mum is also getting on in years. But she's not yet too old for new tech. So Knocki could be for her. Except that every suggested example of what Knocki can do can also be achieved with a smartwatch. Indeed, the smartwatch has the advantage of being on your wrist already and you don't have to remember how many taps to dim the light. The "remembering" part may not seem like a big deal to someone young and carefree. But older adults or even overworked adults would rather stick to an old-fashioned remote for the simple reason that they can always look down and read what the buttons do. You just hit the dim the light button. But again, I get why Knocki appeals to some people. It is, as I said, undoubtedly cool. If I had more smart gadgets around my house, I too might be keen to get a Knocki.
As it is, I decided to jump into the IoT Kickstarter scene in a more DIY basis by backing MbientLab Inc's Metawear. I got two since they can also work as custom wearables. I am thinking of building something like a baby monitor. I babysit my niece from time to time, and she's becoming more mobile by the day! So, even as my mother and grandparents might benefit from items that do not require them to move much. My niece needs things that help us track her as she begins to explore the world around her. I can also look into using Metawear to device something elder-friendly for my grandparents. But for now, I will focus on my niece and perhaps come up with something cool for myself.
So that's my action plan for July. Build something cool with Metawear. Also, to keep my research credentials up, I will be working on a "State of the art" paper on IoT. I am looking forward to it.
