The internet of things

[ricktas]

The idea has been around a while now. At present the internet is used by people, we add stuff to it and read/use stuff from it. There has been an idea of expanding this the make it an 'internet of things' where things we have interact using the internet. Samsung is starting to make this a reality in a way that is interesting. So from the present situation of the internet being about interaction between people, it would also become an interaction between people and devices, and eventually devices and devices.

Samsung have just released wifi connected devices. Washing machine, air conditioner, fridge. These wifi connected appliances can link to the net, and thus your smart phone/tablet.

The idea is that you fill the washing machine and you are in a bit of a rush, you head off to work and think 'oh crap, did I actually turn the washing machine on?'. No worries, logon to the washing machine, set the cycle and set it going..from work..from your smart phone. It will even let you know when it's done.

You go out for the day and it suddenly starts getting very hot. Just use your smart phone to login to your air conditioner, set the temperature and turn it on..before you get home.

A fridge with a tablet built into the front of it. The kids use the calendar on the fridge to add that there is a school fete on in a month, the fridge then adds that to mum and dad's smartphone calendar, with reminders. Mum is at work and realises that when the kids get home from school they have to do something. She just sends it to the fridge from her smartphone and when the kids get home the fridge reminds them. (wonder if the fridge will nag them if they don't do it...hehe)

If your DSLR could do this, what would you like to see as a feature?

For me, I reckon if my DSLR when I came home from a shoot would turn my computer on, open lightroom and start transferring the photos to it, as I pulled up and got into wifi range, with me being able to set the folder etc for LR saving, direct from my camera, would be time saving.

You shoot weddings, your internet connected DSLR sends the photos as you take them, home to your computer. When the day is over, you walk in the door and the wedding photos are already on your computer, backed up and ready for editing.

So what ideas would you use this 'internet of things' for, in relation to your photography?

[GerryK]

Cool concept. For me, it would be transferring files from the camera to the home pc whilst I was at the shoot. It would have the advantage of extending the capacity of the cards in the camera as once files were successfully transferred they could be deleted from the camera. Then once the shoot was completed you could kick off the initial post processing activities whilst you headed home. Would also be neat when travelling. Each time you go passed the golden arches you could use their free wifi to transfer images back to base.
Then there are the value add functions. Connect to the fridge & look inside to see if you need to buy milk etc. Connect to home cctv to check the house is Ok. Connect to the kids phones to see where they are. My mind is filled with an endless array of potential uses.

[pignmud]

It's scary & wonderful that what we're thinking about today will no doubt be a reality some day soon ... I'd like my camera to suss out how my learning curve was going & automatically push me onto another learning curve. Kind of like those typing tutors make you repeat the keys you can't use yet.

[jjphoto]

When did Skynet become self aware?

Answer: August 29th (1997). Oops, it's already too, late!

[ricktas]

When did Skynet become self aware?

Answer: August 29th (1997). Oops, it's already too, late!

[jjphoto]

What are they doing? Haven't they seen RoboCop and Terminator!

We're all toast.