Designing for the Internet of Things

(^298) | dEsiGninG for EMErGinG tECHnoLoGiEs
H 2 M interaction models connect humans to machines in “everywhere”
mode—from any device, at any time and place. Manufacturers of build-
ing elements—garage doors,^21 ceiling fans,^22 appliances,^23 and many
other automation systems—are smartphone-enabling spatial elements
so that people can control devices and receive messages and images.
Our machines are speaking to us. “The garage door was left open.”
“Your dog Ella’s heart rate is elevated. She has found the stash of choc-
olate hidden inside the upstairs closet.”
With M 2 M, a sensor or monitor device can capture an “event” (such
as the state of temperature of light, or other environmental or asset
conditions). The state can be transmitted over the Internet or a local
network to a cloud-, desktop-, or server-based software application
that analyzes, stores, or processes the information, or applies it to a
downstream action. Apple Computer’s iBeacons, based on Bluetooth
Low Energy (BLE) technology, enable place-aware applications to light
up when you enter a room (or at least when your smartphone does).^24
Beacons embedded in architecture can sense when you approach and
reach out to you in location-specific ways.
EMERGING MODELS OF CONVERGENT DESIGN
Beyond machines, spaces themselves can speak to us. Alex Hawkinson
of SmartThings^25 connected the architectural elements—floors, walls,
ceilings, windows, and doors—of his home based on low-power sensor
network standards such as Zigbee.^26 Wired editor Bill Wasik described
this house as he predicted three phases of evolution on the path of ubiq-
uitous and full integration of devices and digital intelligence into the
physical world—proliferation (more devices, more sensors), interdepen-
dence (devices learn to rely on one another to take action), and integra-
tion (sets of devices organized into programmable systems).^27 Wasik ’s
vision of the third stage of fully integrated devices suggests that hybrid
design practitioners will be called upon to map space in terms of the
21 http://www.liftmaster.com/lmcv2/pages/productfamily.aspx?famid=213
22 http://bit.ly/1nTBiAL
23 http://www.whirlpool.com/smart-appliances/
24 http://bit.ly/1nTBm3q
25 http://www.smartthings.com/
26 http://www.zigbee.org/Standards/Overview.aspx
27 http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/05/internet-of-things/