Last updated: 01 December 2014
The internet of things is exactly that, a collection of ‘things’ that goes beyond ‘technology’ as we know it. Most people can get their head around connected technology like railroad repair detection on modern railway lines, because it seems plausible and generally ‘sounds like a sensible idea’. This was the theory behind our M2M Fact or Fiction quiz, which asked the question ‘does this really exist?’, the truth being that M2M innovation and development is moving so fast that in a short time, almost all of our fictitious inventions will probably have been made reality.
For example, we hypothesized that smart shoes exist to shock users into achieving their running targets, only to then discover that a very similar device does exist, and is growing in popularity every day.
We’ve seen more entries flood in for the IoT Maker challenge, with some echoing ideas that we included in the Fact or Fiction quiz, like this one below from Yara Senger who suggested notifying a doctor when a heartbeat is irregular. We look deeper at this question of the quiz in this post on smart sugar monitors.
RT @yarasenger: @gemalto I want to call the doctor when heartbeat or blood pressure is to high #IoTMakerhttps://t.co/2qkE2tECeh”
— Gemalto (@Gemalto) October 3, 2014
Randy Spiess applied the premise to monitoring salt levels in the water softener, something I know a lot of people would approve of, and another great example of where the technology can be applied in something not necessarily deemed a life or death situation, but a practical and business focused innovation that simply makes life easier.
My #IoTMaker idea is to text Culligan to bring salt when the salt is low in the water softener #IoTMaker
— randy spiess (@randyspiess) October 2, 2014
Something else that caught our eye this week was the amazing story of 15 year old Kenneth Shinozuka who has created a device that could potentially help the caretakers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease all over the world. Whilst Kenneth uses Bluetooth LE for the communication and not a GSM module, his idea to create an alert system that notifies a smartphone when a patient (in this case his granddad) gets out of bed, is a fantastic example, and application, of how technology like this can be developed with minimal kit, such as Gemalto’s Cinterion Concept Board.
Hopefully this story provides inspiration for your own entry. For a reminder on how to enter, please visit the competition landing page, or just tweet @Gemalto #IoTmaker with your idea ahead of the entry deadline, now extended to 30th November. You can check out some of the ideas being discussed online here.
Update: The entry window for the IoT Maker challenge has now closed, stay tuned to the blog for more information.
