Table Of ContentI n s p i r i n g t h e rr nn ee tt
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Things!
Things!
Foreword
by Gérald Santucci
15 illustrative
IoT application scenarios
over 25 IoT concepts
4 IoT expert
interviews
by Stig Andersen
Editor: Mirko Presser, the Alexandra Institute
Illustrator: Michael Skotting, Raaskot Visuel Kommunikation
Graphic Designer: Tine Raun, the Alexandra Institute
Contributors:
Srdjan Krco We call it ”the Comic Book”
(Ericsson EYU)
Tobias Kowatsch
(University of St. Gallen)
Stefan Fischer
(University of Luebeck) But in reality, we never aimed at making a comic book!
Wolfgang Maas
(Saarland University)
Sebastian Lange
(VDE/VDI-IT)
Francois Carrez
(University of Surrey)
Bernard Hunt
(University of Surrey)
Richard Egan
(Thales UK, Research and Technology) About a year ago, I started working We need to engage the general We invite you to use the material in
Jan Höller on a – then new – European project public, public authorities and busi- this book to communicate and think
(Ericsson AB) called the Internet of Things Initia- ness stakeholders that will be the about the Internet of Things.
Alessandro Bassi tive (IoT-i) on a topic that was sup- contributors and end users of the
(Alessandro Bassi Consulting) posed to find strategically important Internet of Things.
Stephan Haller IoT applications.
(SAP AG) We need a new medium to com- Mirko Presser
Gunter Woysch We managed to gather about 150 municate the idea of the Internet of The Alexandra Institute
(Alcatel-Lucent Deutschland AG) application scenarios, short texts Things, its challenges, its problems Autumn 2011
describing an IoT application in a and its benefits; encouraging people
situation. Quite diverse material and to think about this new disruptive
mainly from other European projects technology.
Production
– past and present.
Team: There are few things better than
After categorisation, combining and telling a story with pictures.
• Jan Horsager elimination we ended up with just
(the Alexandra Institute) fewer than 60 application scenarios This “comic book” is aimed at
• Tine Raun that we presented to the public in everybody. Everybody can
(the Alexandra Institute) a survey to find out what scenarios look at the stories that are
• Michael Skotting would be strategically important. being told and form an
(Raaskot Visuel Kommunikation) opinion. Use them as a
• Mirko Presser About 300 persons, mainly from basis for deep discus-
(the Alexandra Institute) the ICT community, from over 30 sions or just as inspira-
• Stig Andersen different countries, took the survey. tion; agree or disagree
(Thingvalla Kommunikation) and anything in between
• Bente Kjølby Larsen Now this is not bad – but it is stay- – but talk about it.
(the Alexandra Institute) ing within the ICT community. We
need to branch out.
Throughout this comic you will find Quick Response Codes or QR Codes pointing
Printed by PrinfoAarhus you to additional content such as videos, webpages or pdf-files via the internet.
Comic Book powered
by the Alexandra Institute
and partially funded
by the FP7 ICT
‘Internet of Things Initiative’
Coordination Action,
2 contract number 257565 Use a QR Reader for your smartphone to find the content More about The Internet of Things Initiative on the official webpage 1
Foreword
by Gérald Santucci Gérald Santucci
When objects can sense the environment and communicate, they
become powerful tools for understanding complexity and respond-
ing to it effectively. Though such smart objects can interact with
humans, they are likely to be interacting even more with each
other automatically, without human intervention, updating them-
selves their daily schedules.
This evolution marks indeed a humans. At that time, imperceptibly, men as responsible and mature, eration, smart communities, and
technological disruption, which is the world will no longer be the same. able to act rationally, and capable of governance, but also for getting an
perfectly illustrated in this IoT Comic defining themselves through moral idea whether the Internet of Things
Book, but it also heralds the onset Then, will the prophecy of Trajan autonomy and freedom of choice, will actually bring raw data to the in-
of a new paradigm for the relation- Koruga, the poet in The Twenty- we establish high level guidance for dividual and the society and whether
ship between human beings and Fifth Hour of C. Virgil Gheorghiu be how systems should be built and it will empower the individual and
objects. fulfilled? “A society which contains what an Internet of Things could, the society to generate new data.
[billions] of mechanical slaves and or should not, do for us.” (Sarah
In 2000, there were 6 billion a mere [seven billion] humans (…) Spiekermann, 2011). Whether we will be able to escape
humans living on Earth and 500 will reveal the characteristics of its the enslavement of reification – the
million devices connected to the proletarian majority (…). We must realise that the object is essential tendency of capitalism to
Internet. During 2008, while the at the same time a communication place the human condition under
EU Presidency was organising its We are learning the laws and the channel and a stock of information, the reign of commodities – and to
“Internet of Things – Internet of the jargon of our slaves, so that we can which reflects social relationships in a propose a re-enchantment of the
Future” Conference in Nice, France, give them orders. And so, gradually society at a certain moment. Human world grounded in the real, intimate
the number of devices connected to and imperceptibly, we are renounc- beings communicate through the and powerful connection between
the Internet exceeded for the first ing our human qualities and our own objects that they trade. The nature humans, objects, and nature.
time the number of people on Earth. laws.” of the objects and the terms of their “By letting comics illustrate the
exchange are the symbol of the way a narratives of the many facets of
Today in 2011, the world population Or will an enlightened version of the society watches and represents itself. the Internet of Things – in particular Gérald Santucci
reaches 7 billion and the number Internet of Things emerge in which Therefore, the future of the objects society, technology, industry, etc.
of connected devices 13 billion. By the desirable power relationship be- in the Internet of Things is not only – this book gives a large space to Head of Unit,
2015, there will be over three times tween human beings and machines important for understanding how imagination and creativity, and also ‘Networked Enterprise and RFID’
the amount of connected devices as will be reflected in system design? we should address policies such as to excitement and trepidation. It’s
people on the planet and five years spectrum, standardisation, privacy, witty, charming, funny, and so in- European Commission
later, there will be 50 billion con- “If we take today’s Idea of Man in security, numbering, open data, structive and interesting! Opt in and – Directorate-General Information
nected devices for only 7.6 billion the Western world, which views education, recycling, global coop- have a nice journey into the future!” Society and Media
2 3
Smart Urban
Management
The implementation of smart urban
waste management will allow a more
efficient waste collection and optimis-
ing the way in which it is performed
today.
Optimisation Incentives
The Internet of Things will optimise The Internet of Things will enable Credits can then be used to gain fi-
processes happening in the real a world where we can have more nancial rewards such as tax returns
world. incentives, and not just financial or simply in comparing each other
Smart urban waste management will provide useful information to incentives. to your friends and fellow citizens in
the public by encouraging and promoting an easier and more Logistics, utilities or event operation social real-world games.
environmentally friendly way of collecting waste. are complex tasks that are gov- Financial incentives have been
This can be achived by identifying and erned by many parameters that are employed for decades with a moder- Experimentation with other than
emptying bins and containers when today estimated or simply unknown. ate degree of success – in some financial incentives is an important
they are close to their fill level but areas they work; in others they have area that knowledge from the
not overflowing at private The IoT enables detailed data limited impact. It is all about instant Internet of Things will enable. But
households, enterprises gathering of information on a much feedback. finding out what triggers human
and public areas. higher granularity and much better behavioural changes, is altogether
precision than ever before. Computer games are great exam- another area of research.
ples where there is always a task to
In the “Smart Urban Waste Manage- be performed that is just challeng-
ment” application scenario garbage ing enough to engage in but easy
collection can be optimised e.g. enough to achieve (maybe after a
in terms of route optimisation few tries, but nevertheless).
based on fill levels. Empty bins are
bypassed, full bins are emptied, and In the “Smart Urban Waste Manage-
broken bins can be repaired quickly. ment” application scenario citizens
Optimisation saves time and get instant feedback in the form of
reduces costs – an important factor ‘green credits’ (a virtual currency)
for today’s economically challenged for their behaviour – overuse of a
cities. resource (in this case the bin space
is the resource) is ‘punished’ by
Optimisation is, however, a chal- removing credits; and efficient use is
lenge in such scenarios. The de- rewarded with ‘green credits’.
velopment of algorithms to find the
right patterns out of masses of data
and feed the results into reliable
business processes will need much
experimentation until the right level
of confidence is achieved.
In addition, incentives can be brought for-
ward to encourage citizens to produce less
waste and recycle more.
4 Videos on funny ways of waste management from Volkswagen 5
Smart Urban
Urban planning
Traditional urban planning happens
with government-generated data
sets. These are relatively stable and
are sourced with well established
methods.
What if this is supplemented with
much more detailed data? Data
coming from a plethora of sources,
Interactive Street Sensing gathers data about the city – the city’s pulse.
public and private.
Sensors on every lamppost in the city measure data about noise, traffic,
environment, crowds, temperature – literally anything. Data is transmitted
• Crowd-sourced data from
and processed and information is presented as ...
citizens – for example pictures of
things they want to have fixed,
– dynamic infographics, showing interesting detail about the city as
like a pothole in the road.
a living organism, e.g. how it is used by people, flow of traffic and
impact on the environment ...
• Environment data from sensors
placed all over the city – sensors
might be owned by private or
public organisations and need
to be combined to form a com-
plete picture.
There is no doubt that city planners
can benefit from using large data
sets that are stable and proven.
But there is only a small step to
envisaging dynamic data being fed
into the urban planning process.
Those dynamic data could, in
particular, be used for real-time as-
sessments of the long-term effects
of the planning.
–for example, a map illustrating real-time and historic data of
pollution can be viewed.
6 Video on urban diversity from Crossing over Communities 7
Sustainable Urban
The public has access to visualisations
of the current level of pollution
Making policy
The Internet of Things will make
policy.
Citizens can see actions that the city planners have taken or are plan-
With the increase in ever more
ning to implement. Citizens can also actively participate in the conversa-
detailed knowledge about our world,
tion by posting messages to the city authorities.
and in particular our environment,
policy decisions can be made based
on real data. And more importantly,
their impact can be monitored
almost in real time.
For example a new emission charg-
ing zone is implemented: Does it
have the desired impact on lowering
congestion and the environment?
How do commuters now get to the
centre? Are there additional prob-
lems such as for instance the over-
crowding of certain public transport
routes that were not foreseen?
Citizens’ comments are collected, discussed The interpretation of data for
at planning meetings and considered in new decision-making is a key challenge
that the Internet of Things is facing.
policies.
Later at a conference in the town hall ... The development of algorithms
that can sift through massive and
According to broad public opinion, diverse data to find the patterns
it’s vital to reduce the traffic generated that explain our world without bias
emissions in the inner urban area! is a complex problem. Only then can
the Internet of Things help us plan,
operate and influence our world for
the better.
8 Video on the semantic web from STI International 9
We need a
killer business model
Alessandro Bassi interviewed by Stig Andersen
Much technological development goes hand-in-hand with larger
trends in society and is fuelled by other driving forces than the wet
dreams of the geek world; and being a techie does not mean that
you do not care about what lies around and beyond technology
The response of Alessandro Bassi, from the developments within the ”We are pretty much at the begin- ”Proper governance, in particular
Alessandro Bassi Consulting, to Internet of Things. Together with the ning, both in terms of number of with respect to privacy and security,
the question ”Does the Internet of energy sector, these are also the interconnected objects and ways to also needs to be developed. You
Things need a killer app?” is a case sectors where practical implemen- interconnect them. To a large extent, don’t want everyone to know which
in point: tations of the Internet of Things are we are still using wireless or RFID objects you have in your home.
most easily available. technologies to develop solutions
”I don’t think we need a killer app, for specific tasks. The Internet of There is a risk of intrusion by vision of the Internet of Things. Alessandro Bassi has worked with
but we need a killer business model. Alessandro Bassi does in fact see Things will encompass these tech- governments and companies, and ”Work on the Internet of Things is the Internet of Things since 2004
Just look at the impact that Apple’s some impatience among consumers nologies, but we need to go much if you look at some of the current carried out in a lot of different fields, when he joined Hitachi Europe as a
App Store has had on the app for Internet of Things solutions that further. This also goes for everything attempts at controlling the Internet, so there is a need for a place where researcher for advanced networking
business.” would make their daily lives easier. related to the supply of energy to this is pretty scary. So privacy and the tech people, the policy people, topics. When asked what excites
individual sensors or other devices. security need to be addressed from end users and science staffers him about it, he does not mince
According to Alessandro Bassi, one ”We are in a similar situation as We cannot just stick a battery into the point of view of both technology can meet and exchange ideas and words: ”The Internet of Things will
model could be based on the idea with the Internet in 1992. The all objects, so we need to find a and governance.” experiences. But we need to find be a much bigger revolution than the
of borrowing and lending objects Internet of Things is in its infancy, way to harvest ambient energy.” a good ”story line” – it shouldn’t Internet and the mobile telephony
instead of buying them. Obviously, but people are getting much more Alessandro Bassi is confident be yet another board, yet another put together!”
with the whole process made much excited much faster. Why not just In fact, he says, we need to get that the potential of the Internet of standardisation body or yet another
easier than it is today. walk out of the supermarket with away from the idea of adding Things will eventually be realised. conference.”
the food in the trolley without having something to objects to enable But short-term, he also sees the risk
”Take the example of a drill, which to take it out in order to pay?” interconnectivity. of actual implementations not being Alessandro Bassi is confident that
you will see in many households. able to match the hype. the IoT-i Forum will be a community
A drill can be pretty expensive, so But what is the Internet of Things ”We need real integration of where everything from protocols to
given the fact that you may in total - really? The answer is obviously in- components, for instance by the ”Technical development takes a architecture and governance can be
use it for about 10 minutes in its fluenced by the fact that Alessandro use of non-silicone transistors like long time, and I think that some of discussed openly.
lifetime makes for quite a high price Bassi has worked for years within transistors made of plastic. This the current hype about the Internet
per minute. Renting one in your the area of advanced networking would mean that we did not need of Things may wear off. I don’t think ”The IoT-i Forum is a community in
local DIY store is quite a hassle, so technology. to stick a chip on everything, but that anything major will happen the sense that individuals can con-
imagine putting a stupid chip into the transistor and thus the ability to within a timeframe of about five tribute with their input and insights,
the drill and being able to track it ”I tend to see the Internet of Things communicate would be embedded years in the field, which may cool and exchange of ideas can take
and borrow it through some kind of as the interconnectivity of objects. It in the object itself. This is a very down the general interest.” place without any company policies
community service instead.” is the capability to uniquely identify important aspect.” or other external factors blurring the
He points to logistics and health as aelnedc tcroommamgunneictiact me ewaitnhs .o”b Ajencdts h bey Again, technology is only part of Afolreusmsa tnod broe Bana simsip coorntasnidt einrss ttrhuem IeonTt- i picture.” Alessandro Bassi
sectors that will certainly benefit continues: the story. in the process of developing the
10 11
Ageing Population
Recently the doctors have diagnosed that John’s
Alzheimer’s disease is taking a turn for the worse.
Quality of life Privacy
Internet of Things applications can Internet of Things applications must Designing Internet of Things ap-
improve quality of life, in particular, address privacy concerns to be suc- plications must therefore cover at
for the elderly. cessfully adopted by society. least two topics regarding privacy
concerns:
In the domain of healthcare, Internet Current IT-related discussions in
of Things applications are able to mass media often reveal de facto First, service providers must clearly
support not only the well-being of in- concerns about privacy features communicate purpose, frequency
dividuals but they can also indicate of web applications such as social and details on why, how often and
prevailing sanitary problems. networking sites. Accordingly, what kind of personal information is
upcoming Internet of Things ap- being tracked.
As a result, his children have decided to upgrade the monitoring
For example, body sensor networks plications must clearly address the
solution with sensor applications that enable the monitoring of his
can be used as direct feedback dur- potential invasion of privacy, too. Second, latest and up-to-date
whereabouts and mental condition at home and in the neighbour-
ing athletic exercises but they may encryption technologies must be
hood. John’s doctor and his children can now monitor him remotely
also reveal that a person suffered a Particularly with regard to their employed to ensure safe data com-
and receive a message in case of a problem.
dangerous fall. The latter case is in ubiquitous character and embedded munication between end user and
particular relevant to elderly people sensors in every-day environments service provider.
that face those situations due to as exemplified by the ageing sce-
for instance their mental conditions nario on the left, these applications The development of international
or frailty; they would be not able to differ significantly from traditional laws and provisions by public bod-
contact their family, a nursing ser- office or home office situations. ies is thus strongly recommended.
vice or the medical doctor without
assisting technologies in case of an As a result, various data such as
emergency. geographical location and time
of service access can be tracked
I’m fine, thank you!
In those situations, the Internet of unobtrusively, without people being
Hey John, how are Things application would contact a aware of it. One potential implica-
you doing today? responsible person with time and tion would be the fraudulent genera-
location information of the person tion of user profiles that could be
concerned such that further action misused or sold to third parties.
can be taken as soon as possible. Even though this kind of data is
often required for business models
From the end-user perspective, and services to work properly,
such a service allows elderly people transparent privacy policies and
to live more autonomously and secure data transfer mechanisms
self-determined, important factors are inevitable for the successful
that positively influence the quality adoption of Internet of Things ap-
of life. plications.
So John retains his private and social life which is
very important for coping with his condition and hap-
piness.
12 Video in German on ambient assisted living from Fraunhofer ISES 13
Well, I am not getting any younger
and healthier, but I want to keep my
independence as long as possible...
The continuous care concept enables patients
- but these many time-consuming
with chronic diseases or elderly people with
consultations at the doctor’s just for
health impairments to stay in their own home
routine checkups are annoying.
despite their health constraint, to reduce cumber-
some visits to the doctor and to avoid premature
relocation to a nursing home.
Saving time
The Internet of Things will save you Telemedicine is a fast moving area,
time and improve your quality of life. and applications and devices are
offered commercially for the private Choice
Primary healthcare systems around user, but only a very limited number
and acceptance
the world are stretched to a breaking are linked to the healthcare system.
point.
For telemedicine to join the health- Consumers want to choose their
The next day during a visit at her son’s who is Back in her own town ...
A good indicator of this is the ‘wait- care system, a high degree of matu- products, and choice makes the
suffering from a heart condition, she discovers a
Sure, this personal monitoring ing time’ for treatment. Many of rity is necessary from both parties: world a better (acceptable) place.
possible solution ...
device for your home will help with the visits are routine and part of a the ICT and the Health communities.
I very seldom even notice this the checkups and reduce the visits well-defined set of recommendations The “Continuous Care” applica-
device anymore. Perhaps something to the doctor’s as we can monitor to provide the best care for patients. The ICT community needs to develop tion scenario illustrates the patient
similar would work for you as well? you remotely. However, this is unsustainable. robust and open products that are choosing a telemedicine device.
certified by the regulators, and the This is an important action for the
The ageing population and an ever- Health community needs to move acceptance of new technology in a
increasing demand for healthcare into the digital space, enabling very personal and intimate part of
services are the cause. Telemedicine electronic patient records and open people’s lives.
is a public-private partnership-driven (enough) platforms for devices to
concept that can turn this around. plug into. It is an iterative process of end user
engagement in experimental living
Telemedicine allows patients to labs that get us to the point where
be monitored remotely for routine good products are created.
checkups, using a wearable or
portable device at home and on the Understanding what the user wants
move. Routine visits become less is a key issue for the Internet of
frequent while treatment can still be Things not to become a ‘Big Brother’
adjusted with the information from or a ‘Damocles Sword’.
the telemedicine systems, giving
patients more flexibility to enjoy their
life.
She feels relieved and can now spend more time
with her friends doing activities she enjoys.
14 Video on telemedicine from Center for Distance Health 15
Response
Sensors in the car detect a serious collision and
send a signal ...
Events
“Early in life I had noticed that no
event is ever correctly reported in a
newspaper.”
– George Orwell
– to the emergency services. Several other calls, apart from the
Event detection and interpretation
collided cars, confirm the accident. The onboard sensors of the
is a key element for the Internet of
Two cars crashed at the two cars ...
Things.
intersection downtown.
In the “Emergency Response”
I’ll alert the application scenario the event of a
emergency services! car crash has to be determined ac-
curately and from multiple possibly
conflicting sources.
The cars both report a crash to the How many people are injured and
emergency services and possibly how severe? Are there dangerous
the number of passengers and the chemicals involved?
force of impact, bystanders report
the crash calling on their mobile Detecting events accurately is
- immediately detected the accident and the
phones – location and time are key an important challenge of the
event was fused with geo-location information
factors in determining if the events Internet of Things and something
and transmitted to the local emergency author-
are linked and can be combined into that seems limitless in terms of
ity to guide them to the accident site.
one emergency call. complexity.
Ultimately, the event should be
described in the most timely and ac-
curate manner as possible to allow
for the best suitable response.
16 Video in Danish on Life Warning System from The Alexandra Institute 17
