Consumer IoT

This article is from the CW Journal archive.

Consumer acceptance of The Internet of Things isn't something we are aiming at. It's already here with a diverse number of devices as Simon Rockman explains.

V-Pet

Meet Snoopy, an eighteen-month-old spaniel and he's just taken out a Vodafone subscription. His V-Pet tracker cost £55 for the hardware plus a flat rate subscription of £4 per month. What Snoopy knows and most operators do not is that the internet of things is already here. It's not waiting for the sexy new standards like NB-IoT, it uses 3G and GPRS, or sending location data by SMS.

And the selection of products is hugely diverse. The one operator which has woken up to consumer IoT is Vodafone which has six products: V-Pet, V-Kids Watch, V-SOS Band, V-Bag, V-Auto, and V-Camera. Beyond this the Internet of Things market is being reshaped by devices enabled with Amazon Alexa, Google Home and other voice assistants. You'll be able to buy a Samsung Bixby device by Christmas.

More mainstream are devices like Nest and Hive. Central Heating control works well for a connected service because there is already a recurring billing model and a clear customer benefit. Expect to see connected cookers and a bath which can be drawn online. We might even see the connected refrigerator, a technology promise which has mirrored the flying car in having been just around the corner since the 1950s.

While the handset martket is dominated by the identikit black rectangles, the IoT market is re-introducing design innovation to mobile devices. With a huge variety of applications comes the freedom to make technology look cool, friendly and innovative.
Top left to bottom right, devices from TLC, Leakbot, Vodafone Auto, Bleepbleeps, Alcatel, Arlo, Bleepbleeps and Kippy demonstrate that consumer IoT needs the product to look good.

One aspect of the new devices which is a challenge for the mobile industry is that they are being sold through new channels. British Gas is the reseller for Hive, and while the company is on a learning curve with the products (CWJ was told of one installation which took three engineer visits) it's something the installing companies are learning to live with. There are lots of standalone smart devices, things like the Ring doorbell which shows you who has pushed a "you were not in" card through your letterbox and the Nest smoke alarm which shows the history of your burning toast, even if it's not enough to trigger the alarm. Crucially it will message you if there is smoke in the house when you are out.

Babahu X1

This smart toothbrush uses an AI partitioning algorithm to divide your teeth into six areas and brush them at different frequencies.

Pulling all the IoT devices together is both a challenge and an opportunity. Sensor technology will be crucial to the development of IoT, but one sensor which is sometimes ignored is the mains network in a house. With machine learning a system can be developed which understands the habits of a householder – particularly an older person living alone, spotting that the 1 KW kettle goes on between 8:00 and 8:30 in the morning, when the oven, dishwasher or various lights are switched on and raising the alarm if, say the bathroom light goes on at 3:00am and isn't switched off. It may mean the householder has fallen. Or that they have left the light on, so combine other sensors – like one in the mattress - and a non-intrusive network can be built that will allow older people to live longer in their own homes.

Operators have seen the Over The Top apps market slip away from them. Belief that they own the IoT market will be similarly arrogant. Giving over control of your home, car, pet and children implies a level of trust. It may be organisations, such as the other utilities, the post office or supermarkets which take on the role of service provider, each using the connected home as a mechanism to sell value added services. The consumer IoT perfectly demonstrates the William Gibson quote:, "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed."

Smart really is getting everywhere. CW is working with ghd the haircare products company famed for its curlers and hair straighteners, which is looking to move from making products to supplying products with an online support element. To do this CW and ghd have created a new accelerator programme called the Innovation Hive. Five chosen companies will be invited to spend three months from October 2018 working alongside ghd R&D, the CW community and local technology mentors to co-design a prototype connected hair styling device. The work will be funded and if intellectual property from the ghd Innovation Hive is taken to market, start-ups may benefit from commercial terms. The areas ghd is most interested in exploring are connected and smart devices, sensor technology, IoT, apps, User experience, Machine learning and data processing, and Data security.

It’s interesting to see a manufacturer from an area so far removed from communication technology getting involved with CW.

V-pet is a cross between a tracker and a Fitbit-style fitness app for dogs and is made by Kippy. It's physically quite big so while it was fine on Snoopy the Spaniel you'd find it too big for a Chihuahua. Indeed, Vodafone says it's for pets over 4kg - but that's probably erring on the light side. It also says V-Pet is suitable for cats, but it would have to be a pretty sturdy kitty. The Kippy Vita smartphone base station app offers geofencing – the ability to set a safe zone which triggers an alarm if the boundaries are crossed - but the alarm has a delay and one Amazon reviewer says it doesn't keep up with his escape-artist dog.

The device uses an accelerometer and a six-axis gyro, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and super low-power GPS. This enables the app to understand different activities including running, walking, playing, resting, sleeping, and jumping. It can send messages based on the breed, size and age of the dog to ensure it is getting sufficient exercise. Bluetooth is useful for finding your pet when it has wandered out of sight but is still within BLE range. Kippy offers developers support to offer applications beyond the standard live tracking, geofencing, messaging and notifications through access to its server.

Snoopy behaves well and is excellent on recall response, so geofencing isn't much of an issue, but the overall set-up time required does raise the question of whether IoT is ready for prime time. Installing the core V by Vodafone app requires both SMS and email registration. In response, Vodafone sends a code to your phone which has to be typed into the app (yes, the app could use an API to read it automatically – but it doesn't). Then you need to register the email address in the app and then do something similar with Kippy Vita. It's a lot of to-ing and fro-ing and that really isn't what IoT should be about. There is also an issue that a dog-walker might think you're spying on them - which, indeed, you may be.

V-Camera shows Vodafone's approach allows it to cherry-pick products and a camera expert tells us that the Arlo Go security camera offered is the best of breed for wireless. The tariff of £4 a month is an amazing bargain for the 4G camera. This is because the usual setting is not for live-streaming but for motion detection and the Vodafone deal gives you seven days of storage.

Arlo Go

The Arlo Go is truly wireless with great battery life of up to 30 days according to Vodafone (our expert says he gets a month and a bit). In size, the 4G Arlo Go is quite a bit chunkier than the Wi-Fi version and the publicity shots have been taken from an angle that hides this. What makes these cameras great is that they are so simple. Video quality is excellent with strong night vision and the app supports multiple cameras. Nest cameras actually give better quality than Arlo but it’s a USB wired solution and only suitable for locations where a cable can reach. There are, however, some more elegant options on the Nest app such as defining specific hotspots for spotting action or for live feeds from multiple cameras.

The V-Camera two-way sound – which is great if you want to put it by the front door to tell the Amazon courier where to hide that parcel. What it won't do is measure temperature, humidity or detect noxious gases – there is a Withings camera that does this but it bears a penalty in video quality.

V-Auto

V-Auto is unusual in that it's a piece of hardware actually made by Vodafone, having bought the automotive tracker product maker Cobra based in the Northern Italian town of Varese, in June 2014. Most of the products which issued from this marriage have been for the corporate market, so a consumer product is a brave new world and a price tag of £85 marks serious IoT intent.

V-Auto plugs into a car's OBD-II port which is a connector for on-board diagnostics and has been mandatory in the EU since 2001 for petrol cars and 2003 for diesels.

Leakbot

Leakbot is a device which measures the temperature of the water in your pipes to spot leaks. Clipped next to a stopcock it measures both the air and water temperatures in your home. If you have a leak it will continually draw colder water from outside into your home, creating a consistent drop in temperature. LeakBot senses the prolonged and consistent drop in temperature and alerts you to the problem. There is a dedicated app and integration with insurance company apps.

Suzy Snooze

Suzy Snooze is a connected nightlight and baby monitor which helps with sleep training, it was launched as a Kickstarter project and has done well in part thanks to the technology and in part thanks to its cute design. It has a soothing orange glow and plays gentle music which can be controlled from the Bluetooth linked app. Volume can be controlled either from the app or the hard buttons in the base. There is traditional baby alarm audio – but not video – and a child-friendly alarm clock function, although getting small children to stay in bed is usually more of a problem than waking them, you can tell the children it's not time to get up until Suzy wakes up.