when things talk, are we ready to listen?

When things talk, are we ready to listen?Thoughts on ignorance and bliss in the internet of things.

About me

Clients

This talk is about the stories we tell and tell ourselves about data

connected to the physical world.

At play: better, fitter, more productive.

The data ‘opportunity’Let’s track your activity to help you become healthier.

Hidden truthAccelerometer data for health purposes is extremely inaccurate no matter how you define ‘health’.

Hidden truthGamified health systems enables obsessive behaviour and eating disorders.

Hidden truthMost people discard their wearable within a 6 month period.

See PWC report from 2014.

Data hypocrisyThat data gathering about your own body isn’t another form of fashion and cultural mimicry.

We are offering very little more than a pedometer would but at 100 times the cost.

Data hypocrisyBecause if you can’t answer the question ‘how are you doing’ without checking a device, there’s something else going on.

At work: better, fitter, more productive.

The data ‘opportunity’Let’s track your gym attendance, the number of steps you take so we can make sure everyone works to the best of their potential.

Hidden truthWhat you can guess from activity does not translate into a perfect picture of an employee’s ability to do great work.

Nor should it unless your job absolutely depends on it.

Hidden truthWhat if someone has cancer, AIDS or another medium / long term chronic illness.An employee isn’t a liability by default, it should always be an asset first.

Data hypocrisyOlder people do great work, they have helped you build your company.

They are probably the ones coming up with these policies.

In the home: compulsive shopping disorder.

The data ‘opportunity’Let’s track what you buy and help you buy it more quickly next time.

Hidden truthWe spend too much, especially using credit.

Even IKEA’s head of sustainability says we have reached ‘peak stuff’. Apple sales are shrinking for the first time in 15 years.

Data hypocrisyBanking apps that help me budget rarely connect to any of the e-commerce services we use compulsively.

In the home: the grandma problem.

The data ‘opportunity’Let’s track the elderly so we can bring them care at the right time.

In-home care is very expensive.Care homes even more.

Hidden truthOlder people want to stay at home as long as they can but…

Nearly half of older people (49% of 65+ in the UK) say that television or pets are their main form of company

See York Health & Wellbeing Study 2014

Data hypocrisyAre we giving families an excuse to ‘monitor’ instead of doing the hard job of caring, engaging and supporting an ailing family member.

In the city: transportation hell.

The data ‘opportunity’Let’s track cars, buses, cyclists to tell us when there is traffic and where it is.

See Nominet Smart Cities Report September 2016.

Hidden truthChances are your city has too many cars and not enough clean, reliable public transportation options.

That’s it.

Innovation hypocrisyCar lobbies are powerful and want to keep you relying on an industrial sector (steel, aluminium, semiconductors, etc) that matters to sizing GDP no matter what the fuel is or who is driving.

See the steel buyouts in the UK.

What now?

Maybe the answer is small, obtuse data that only makes sense to a small group of people,

or is unrelated to them altogether.

In the home: Good Night Lamp.

Data opportunityA lamp on, only means what you want it to mean because you’ve established a ‘language’ with your family.

In the city: Giving things a voice.

Data opportunityA bridge is interesting for it’s immediate neighbourhood.

A lamp is interesting to pedestrians on that street.

I’m not sayingthe internet of things is

about industrial applications only.

I am saying people need to be involved in owning a data

experience and making it theirs.

Data Brick(work in progressand an invitation)

thegoodhome.org

Data Brick

What if your home held locally, in a brick:

•  Land Registry•  Room sizes•  Plans•  How wires were connected•  Aggregated anonymous energy consumption•  How to use appliances•  General maintenance log (what plumbers you used)•  Building insurance•  Tax agreements

Data Brick

And you create and eventually leave with:

•  Who lives in the house•  Who visited you (care providers, etc)•  Other bills•  Data collected for billing purposes•  Stuff you own•  Insurance•  Mortgage information•  Contracts

Because data can also be collective in a lateral way.

You may never meet your community.

Question what is hiding behind your data.

Find out what behaviours are you really enabling, good and bad.

Think about what is the alternative to using your product.

In conclusion

Think about your data as unrelated to a person.

Think about your data as small, local, perhaps stuck somewhere.

Think about the people who have to interact with it and their needs.

In conclusion

Data is a slave to use.

Use is a slave to experience.

Experience is a slave to culture.

Because

And remember kids:

Vielen dankdesignswarm.comgoodnightlamp.comthegoodhome.orgiot.london

alex@designswarm.com@iotwatch