IoT with Purpose

Ever since Simon Hackett and John Romkey achieved a technical breakthrough and operated a toaster via the Internet in 1990, the tech industry has been inventing new ways to connect our devices. There are projections by Cisco that there will be 75 billion devices connected to the internet by 2020.

However, these devices have not been successful in enhancing our lives in line with their growth in numbers. Just because you can connect a device to the internet doesn’t mean you should. Design is an important aspect which should prevent giving rise to the internet of too many things.

As we saw in the previous post, purposeful IoT is all about the analytics and possibilities with third party applications. Its usefulness is amplified when the interaction is minimised and the perfect balance between data, cloud and device is reached. This is achieved by using data and connected intelligence. When a connected device can process the data through its algorithms and become an autonomous device in identifying patterns of activity, we start to see exciting and useful applications.

Image courtesy of Mashable

Chris Dancy is connected to 700 devices at any one time and claims to be the most connected man on earth.

Justin Zalewski of Studio Science argues that these devices should seek to do one of three things to have a positive impact on human life and be perceived as valuable:

1. Simplify Life: Through task automation, connected devices can remove tedious chores from our daily lives, allowing us to devote more attention to family and friends, maintain better focus at work, or simply have more time to relax.
2. Enable Users: The Internet of Things can provide us the ability to control what we otherwise could not. We can now adjust the thermostat, open the garage door, and turn off the porch light from anywhere in the world
3. Shape Behavior: Connected devices can act as a catalyst for positive behavior change. We can wear a wristband that provides insight into our health, activity, and habits, while also giving us the motivation to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

Once these devices can solve a real problem and fulfill a purpose, we can truly be excited about the prospects of the data being used to advance our human life and not just gadget controlled life. Arguably, the most exciting aspect of IoT is how the physical and digital product aspects are combined into one user experience capable of exponential improvement in our personal, professional and collective lives.

This is the second in a series of posts about IoT and our investment criteria which was originally posted on our website here.