TINK - sketching product experiences of connected objects

Market analysis - 35
2.2.2 - Objects that publish data to the web
This category comprehends all products
that are able to directly connect to the
Internet and publish content.
More and more environments and objects
are getting equipped with sensors. This
allows us to keep track and read information
that was invisible before. The contents
published online are then accessed through
other media. Objects are able to directly
interact with social networks like twitter,
or log the data in dedicated database.
We can divide objects that are part of this
category in three sub-groups:
Sensors: the product is nothing more than
a bunch of sensors connected to some
electronic that post the sensor readings
online. It is the case of the Smart citizen
project 16 (Figure 16), a sensor board that
collects different types of environmental
data and publishes them on a website.
Objects that embed sensors: The products
already have a “non-digital” purpose but
are equipped with sensors in order to track
and monitor something related to the
interaction.
In most cases these types of objects offer
the user other touch points to visualize the
data. Fit-bit Aria 17 (Figure 16) is a digital
scale system able to identify different users
and record the measurement on-line, this
allows the user to keep track of progress
over time. The time scale adds another
dimension allowing the user to transform
the singular data into more valuable
information. The user might, for example,
discover a pattern related to the amount of
physical activity done in a certain period,
thus allowing him to keep track of the
effectiveness of his training.
Object that transform data in
information: This is the case of objects
that instead of publishing raw data online,
are able to make sense of it and transform
it into meaningful information. An example
of this kind of approach is the “Talking
Shoe” project by Google 18 (Figure 18),
where the data retrieved by the sensors are
used to determine what kind of activity the
user is doing. After the analysis the shoes
can talk to their user trough a speaker and
the user’s smartphone to motivate him in
his sporting activity.
Figure 16. Smart citizen board
Figure 17. Fit Bit Aria
Figure 18. Google talking shoe