Photo credit: Smart Planet

Or, even banana’s and pills are gettin’ connected.

The Internet of Things is a concept that’s been around almost as long as the Internet has been around. As is the case with most internet-related things, it’s not so much about the Internet, but the people that use the Internet. The guys at San Fran’s Odopod took us through a presentation that broke down the DNA of connected things, or objects and went on to show us how these objects can solve problems and encourage new and better behaviours in us mere humans. Heck, and ultimately make the world a better place to live.

Afterwards, we were given the following task: “think of a personal object and imagine how you might embed sensors, log interesting data and connect it to the Internet for analysis. Consider what insights this new information would bring to light and what behaviours, or ideas those could inspire.”

I was part of team ‘Hydrate. Balancing water and alcohol for the ideal buzz’. Catch what we came up with on slide 20/40 of the workshop output.

At the very core (I’m going to run with some fruit imagery for no particular reason), the concept’s about being useful, smart and solving human problems. Really, what we should all be doing everyday. It can also be linked back to Rob Perkins’ talk on ‘how to scratch an itch’, with the idea of inventing experiences based on unmet needs.

Some parting thoughts: the exercise is a fun and easy one to go through. I recommend getting a team of people together over a beverage or two and see what you all come up with. Hit me back with what you produce!