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BY LESLIE [email protected]
As the world moves towards converg-ing technologies, analysts
predictthat billions of devices will be ableto communicate with
each otheran abil-ity that has the potential to dramatically
enhance the quality of living and changethe way we experience
products around us.
The Internet of Things, or IoT, is definedas a worldwide network
of things thatinclude identifiable devices, appliances,equipment,
machinery of all forms andsizes with the intelligence to
seamlesslyconnect, communicate and control ormanage each other to
perform a set oftasks with minimum intervention.
The goal of IoT is to enable things to beconnected any time, any
place, and with anything or anyone.
IoT is not a single technology, but a con-cept. IoT research has
its roots in several domains, including Radio-Frequency
Iden-tification (RFID), Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication and
Machine-TypeCommunication (MTC), Wireless Sensorand Actuator
Networks (WSAN), Ubiqui-tous Computing, and the
Web-of-Things(WoT).
This is perhaps one reason that analystsalso prefer to call it
The Internet of Every-thing, or IOE.
Regardless of the nomenclature, IoT orIoE is rapidly emerging as
a third, and likely bigger wave in the development ofthe Internet,
according to a 15 Decemberreport by consulting firm KPMG.
With the advent of the Personal Compu-ter (PC), the number of
active Internet con-nections swelled to the millions. Thencame the
second wave as smartphones andtablets were introduced and
quicklyadopted, and all of a sudden a single per-son could have
multiple devices connected to each other.
We are now at the beginning of the thirdwave as wearable
devicesfitness bands, watches, and eyeglasses,
automobiles,appliances, and sensors connect to theInternet,
bringing the number of con-nected devices into tens of billions,
said thereport.
While the fixed Internet connected 1 bil-lion users via PCs, and
the mobile Internet connected 2 billion users via smartphones(on
its way to 6 billion), IoT is expected to connect 28 billion things
to the Internetby 2020.
This rapid growth is being driven by asteep decline in prices of
components suchas RFID chips and the increasing ubiquityof
broadband access.
The government of Indias Departmentof Electronics and
Information Technology (DeitY) released the first IoT policy
frame-work proposal for India, in October. This policy document
related to the IoT frame-work is part of the broader Digital India
vision shared by the central government. The government envisions
creating a mar-ket of $15 billion by 2020 in India, increas-ing
connected devices from the current 200million to 2.7 billion by
2020. Along withtax incentives and duty rebates on imports (up to
100%) and domestic purchase of rawmaterials required for IoT
products manu-facturing, the government also proposes incentives
for development of IoT compa-nies incubation centres and funding
Indian IoT companies travel to interna-tional exhibitions and
industry forums, in its draft policy framework.
The government has proposed an allo-cation of $21 million on a
public-privatepartnership basis as 50% funding for at least five
projects each from different cate-gories such as smart cities,
water, environ-ment, health, waste management, agricul-ture, safety
and supply chain or similar IoT applications/projects over a period
of three years.
Indias mobile app developer commu-nity of a little over 2
millionexpected to increase to 3 million by 2017also makes it the
largest base of mobile app developersin the world. An increasing
portion of thesedevelopers could potentially focus on IoT apps and
innovations, according to aDecember report by Bengaluru-based
tele-com research and advisory firm Conver-gence Catalyst.
But there are challenges too, the reportpoints out.
For instance, India has its own cultural,market and structural
challenges that could potentially hinder the growth of anIoT
ecosystem in India, both as a market and an innovation hub.
Moreover, most of the Indian technology companies (prima-rily in
the IT and Telecom domains) areprimarily service businesses and are
not
product or platform companies.While service-based businesses
ensure
early revenues, they lack scalability and have lesser
competitive advantage, In orderto lead the IoT space, and leverage
the domestic and global market opportunities and most importantly
compete with global companies, Indian technology-based com-panies
need to evolve into product and platform developers, the
Convergence Cat-alyst report says.
The IoT value chain in India is also dis-connected and
fragmented. There is a lack of component players, which is a key
hin-drance for design, testing and developmentof IoT products in
India.
Sourcing these components (mainlyfrom China) is a time consuming
process, which could extend the product develop-ment cycle, and
could also introduce potential quality issues.
Another key issue in India is the fewernumber of large-scale
electronics and sem-iconductor products manufacturing facili-ties.
Also, wireless data connectivity is not ubiquitous in India. This
is a fundamentalstructural issue for deployment and adop-tion of
IoT applications and services in India.
And, as digital infrastructure goes main-stream, there can be
challenges like secu-rity, data breach, interoperability and
pri-vacy which may pose barriers to the overallframework, note the
KPMG analysts intheir report. Security could be of the utmost
concern, as data would beexchanged over connected devices
andunderpinned by data breach of personalinformation. The consumer
could be oneof the most important stakeholders in this scenario,
the report notes.
Data privacy in digital infrastructureholds a high value as it
is directly related to personalization and real-time insight
gen-eration.
According to the Department of Elec-tronics and Information
Technology (DeitY), the IoT industry in India is expected to be a
$15 billion market by 2020. It is expected that India would have a
share of 5-6% of the global IoT industry.
Digital infrastructure is expected to cre-ate tremendous
opportunities for technol-ogy companies across verticals and in
keyapplications like smart cities, smart utili-ties, smart
healthcare and smart transpor-tation. Technology visionaries and
severalstart-ups are already flooding the marketwith smart devices
and are intent on takingit to the next level where these devices
would be collectively intelligent, notes thereport. According to
software industry lobby group Nasscom, over 400 start-ups ofthe
current total of 3,100 (over 800 getadded annually), deal with
disruptive tech-nologies like wearable tech, home automa-tion and
fleet management, 3D printing,payment solutions and automation,
bigdata and social media analytics.
India, with an enhanced focus on digitalinfrastructure under the
Bharatiya JanataParty-led government, can look forward to
addressing the current social economicchallenges faced by the
people, leveraging the power of digital infrastructure, notesthe
KPMG report, adding that digital infra-structure can also be
expected to play a big role in the success of the Make in India
programme.
STAY CONNECTED
WHY THE INTERNET OF THINGS MATTERS
The Internet of Things seeks to enable things to be connected
any time, any place, and with anything or anyone. It is rapidly
emerging as a third, and likely bigger, wave in the development of
the Internet, where consumers could be one of the most important
stakeholders
A CONNECTED WORLDBy 2017, there will likely be 1.4 billion
mobile sensing health and fitness app downloads worldwide. The use
of health apps is expected to increase the fastest over the next
five years.
While the fixed Internet connected 1 billion users via PCs, and
the mobile Internet connected 2 billion users via smartphones (on
its way to 6 billion), IoT is expected to connect 28 billion things
to the Internet by 2020.
The government of Indias Department of Electronics and
Information Technologys IoT policy framework proposal, released in
October, envisions creating a market of $15 billion by 2020 in
India, increasing the number of connected devices from the current
200 million to 2.7 billion in five years.
Indias mobile app developer community of a little over 2
million, which is expected to increase to 3 million by 2017, makes
it the largest base of mobile app developers in the world.
sources: kpmg, nasscom, convergence catalyst
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nomic, an IT infrastructure manage-ment services firm.
GetActive, which started selling itsproducts in 2012, claims to
have acustomer base of 20,000 in India across the corporate and
retail sectorin the age group of 30-40 years. Prod-ucts are sold
via the official website,as well as through more than 100partners
in India across e-commercesites such as Flipkart.com and
alsothrough offline retailers such asCroma, SPORTXS and Religare
Well-ness. GetActive is hoping to go globalby the second half of
2015 in neigh-bouring countries in South-east Asia,Australia, New
Zealand and the Mid-dle East. GetActive is also looking atstarting
a marketplace for health spe-cialists to provide expert assistance
to users, and also offer them a cus-tomized health package that
they canchoose. The company also plans toexpand its current
offerings and hasfiled for three provisional patents lastyear. To
take their plans forward,GetActive is looking to raise $3-5
mil-lion via institutional funding fromventure capitalists.
get rewarded with virtual currencyfor meeting or exceeding their
pre-programmed fitness goals from theapp, which could be redeemed
forreal gifts at retail stores or a freehealth check-up.
The three products include awristband called GetActive
Tapp,priced at `4,999. The band trackssteps taken by the user, body
massindex, provides personalized healthupdates using data analytics
con-nected through Bluetooth to a smart-phone.
The other two products currentlyavailable include GetActive
Slim, adevice priced at `2999, that has abuilt-in sleep monitor and
a fitnesstracker and GetActive eZ, which sellsat `1,999 and is a
fitness tracker witha large LCD display. GetActivereceived funding
from ex-Infosysexecutives T. Mohandas Pai, andSharad Hegdethe two
had previ-ously worked with Naseem at Info-sys; as well as from
Kiran Anan-dampillai, co-founder of OnMobile,a mobile services
company, and P.Rangarajan, co-founder of App-
BY BERYL [email protected]
GetActive was started by twofitness enthusiasts who
weredetermined to make peopletake their health seriously.
Onreturning to India in 1998, afterspending four years at GE
MedicalSystems, I realized that people tendto ignore their health
after joining acorporate job. This made me thinkof doing something
that could makepeople take their health more seri-ously, said
Mohammed HussainNaseem, a self-confessed fitnessfreak who at 50
still participates inlong-distance running. Naseem, anIIT Bombay
mechanical engineeringgraduate, spent 20 years workingacross
various roles in companiessuch as GE, Wipro, Infosys and IBMbefore
finally deciding to set up a fit-ness-based start-up after working
ona whitepaper on how technologywould play a disruptive role
inhealthcare, as part of his role ashead of the healthcare vertical
atIBM in 2005.
2mpower Health ManagementServices was started in 2009 byNaseem
and his longtime familyfriend, Murtaza Beawerwala, ownerof a
family-run retail business whowas keen to aid Naseem in
doingsomething to spread health aware-ness after seeing the
positivechanges in his own familys lifestyle,based on Naseems
advice.
The first two years of 2mpowerwas as a wellness centre in
Banga-lore where a team of doctors, physio-therapists, and
nutritionists went tocorporates to get employees enrolledin a
typical fitness programme with apersonal health coach. While
weearned 2,500 clients with this initia-tive, with an 80% dropout
rate fromthe programme, we learnt that peo-ple are willing to take
initiativestowards better health, but hate athird person regulating
their life-style, said Naseem. The solution tothis problem came in
the form ofGetActive, which came out withthree smart health
monitoringdevices. These could be connectedto a smartphone app
through abuddy programme for users to trainand compete with each
other. Users
The serious business of health
THE GAME CHANGERSMint profiles some entrepreneurs who have used
the Internet of Things to take their startups to the next level
ENTERPRISE NAME: 2mpower Health Management Services Pvt.
LtdENTREPRENEURS: Mohammed Hussain Naseem (50) and Murtaza
Beawerwala (53) FOUNDED: September 2011LOCATION: BengaluruBRAND
NAME: GetActive
BY BERYL [email protected]
LeChal is the brainchild of Krisp-ian Lawrence, an
electronicsengineer-turned lawyer-turnedentrepreneur, who left his
job atWashington D.C.-based law firmFinnegan, Henderson, Farabow,
Gar-rett & Dunner Llp. He started hiscompany specializing in
interactive footwear based on haptic technologythat recreates the
sense of touchthrough vibration, along with hisfriend Anirudh
Sharma, an ex-teamleader for MIT Media Lab India Initi-atives.
LeChal is a Hindi phrase meaningtake me along. I was always
pas-sionate about haptics right from myengineering days, and
althoughthere wasnt much buzz aroundwearable technology in 2011,
westarted working on a prototype shoe that had sensors and
vibrationmotors embedded in the soles, thatcould connect to a phone
app viaBluetooth and direct the person wearing the shoes, as to
which direc-tion to move, by vibrating inresponse to simple foot
tapping orgestures, and which could also beprogrammed to perform
specifictasks, says Lawrence. While initiallythe shoes were
intended for the visu-ally impaired, the founders later real-ized
that the shoes could be benefi-cial to others as well. The
companyreceived 50,000 pre-orders from agegroups of 20-40 year olds
around theworld for the two productsshoesand in-soles, both priced
at $149.99.
LeChal was started with an initialinvestment of $250,000 from
thefounders themselves, and in Novem-
ber 2013, it got $2 million in fundingfrom angel investors.
Lawrence andSharmawho now have a team of 53people, 12 vendors, and
a 40-year-old shoe manufacturing companyworking with themare
looking toraise another $2 million from thesame group of investors
or otherventure capitalists, retail and tech-nology companies who
could bringmore value to LeChal. The additionalcash will be used to
scale up opera-tions, expanding to 70 countriesworldwide, as well
as for researchand development, to introduce otherhaptic-based
wearables. LeChal has filed for 24 patents and is looking tolaunch
one more wearable device bySeptember 2015. The company isalso in
discussions with an interna-tional sports brand to sell its
prod-ucts by next yearas the companywhich specializes in
productsaround the technology of touch,believes that the touch and
feel ofa product that is possible in anoffline model, is as
important as sell-ing through an online model.
Shoes that show the wayENTERPRISE NAME: Ducere Technologies Pvt.
LtdENTREPRENEURS: Krispian Lawrence (31) and Anirudh Sharma
(29)FOUNDED: September 2011LOCATION: Secunderabad, TelanganaBRAND
NAME: LeChal
ENTERPRISE NAME: Diabeto MedTech India Pvt.
LtdENTREPRENEURS:Amir Shaikh (45), Hemanshu Jain (29), Shreekant
Pawar (32)FOUNDED: January 2012LOCATION: MumbaiBRAND NAME:
Diabeto
Sugar monitoring made easy
BY BERYL [email protected]
After my dad lost a file with over a100 blood sugar readings,
care-fully collected and manually storedover the 30 years that he
has beenbattling with diabetes, I decided tocreate a wireless
device that couldread and store blood sugar readings,and that is
how the idea for Diabetowas born, said Shreekant Pawar, 32, a
former B.Pharm student at Univer-sity of Mumbai and MBA from
Uni-versity of Northampton, UK, who co-founded three technology
start-upsbefore Diabeto.
Pawar roped in childhood friend,Hemanshu Jain, a mechanical
engi-neer from Visvesvaraya Technologi-cal University, who
co-founded start-up Farasbee focused on digital marketing with
Pawar in October 2010. Amir Shaikh, an electrical engi-neer from
McGill University, Canada,and Diabetos third co-founder, isbased in
the US and is himself aserial entrepreneur-turned angel investor.
After working with Pawar atdigital technology start-up, YouSen-dIt
Inc. that Shaikh co-founded, heinvested in Pawars earlier
animationstart-up, Toon Media in 2009. Shaikhinvested $30,000 in
Diabeto in Janu-ary 2012, helping the company toprototype the
product.
Diabeto is a non-intrusive Blue-tooth-powered fist-sized device
that enables the transfer of glucose read-ings from a glucometer
into a mobiledevice and displays and stores theinformation on a
cloud server, whichcan then be sent to a smartphoneapp, to be
shared with a doctor, elim-inating the necessity of a
clinicalvisit. In November 2012, Diabetoreceived a $40,000 grant
after it was selected in Start-up Chile, a start-upincubation
programme started by theChilean government. This helpedmake Diabeto
launch-ready, allow-ing the founders, along with a team of five, to
outsource production of the device to a 3D printing companyin
Mumbai. Diabeto then went intoalpha-testing mode in July 2014, when
Diabeto partnered with the University College of London (UCL)to
distribute a few devices for trials, and also launched an online
trial campaign around the same timewhich saw 200 people from 22
coun-tries volunteer to test the product. While these initial
trials helped fix anumber of bugs, Diabeto will next launch a
campaign on start-upcrowdfunding platform Indi-egogo.com, from
which it hopes to raise $10,000 to commercially launchDiabeto by
May or June 2015. Dia-beto has received 500 pre-orders todate for
the device which is priced at$50.
The founders are also looking toadd more features to the product
to make it a health device that can be used by anyone, and it is in
talks withdieticians and diabetologists to launch a health platform
at a laterstage. We are also in talks with Nass-com and Google for
funding to takethese plans forward, after our prod-ucts hit the
market, added Pawar.
Mohammed Hussain Naseem (left) with GetActive CMO Bijoe
George.
HEMANT MISHRA/MINT
Shreekant Pawar (left) with the Diabeto team.
ABHIJIT BHATLEKAR/MINT
Krispian Lawrence (second from right) with the Ducere
Technologies team.
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BY BERYL [email protected]
In February 2013, two 26-year-oldelectronics engineering
graduates,Abhishek Latthe and ApurvaShetty, who were former
classmates inGovindram Seksaria Science College,Belgaum, decided to
take their passionfor technology to the next level bystarting
SenseGiz with an initial investment of `2 lakh of their
ownmoney.
We wanted to start a companyoffering IoT products, as we found
thisto be the most happening sector in thetechnology space and
besides it alsorequired less investment than some-thing like
robotics, which I had previ-ously dabbled in for a
universityproject. Thus, we spent the whole of2012 doing proof of
concepts on whatproducts would click in the IoT space,and finally
came out with two prod-ucts, Find and Star, explains Latthe,who
prior to starting SenseGiz wasvice-president of operations at
GirnarAlloys Pvt. Ltd, while Shetty was a sen-ior manager at Geared
HydroPowerPvt. Ltd.
Find, the only product currentlyavailable, is a simple Bluetooth
trackerthat can be attached to items such as bags, phones or keysor
even pets to alert the user through a smartphoneapp about the
location of the tagged item, and also setting off an alarm if the
tagged object goes out of the pre-set range. The device, which is
pricedat `1,495, has a built-in waterproof,
replaceable battery that can last up to six months.
Since July, SenseGiz has sold 12,000units of Find from customers
agedbetween 20-60 years, including 3,500pre-orders, after the firm
did crowd-funding in May, successfully raising`40,000. Find is
currently available in50 countries, including US and Japan,where
the company sells its productsthrough 40 retail stores each.
SenseGiz also has two subsidiarycompanies in US and Ireland,
whichhandles 90% of its sales and market-ing. India contributes
only 10% to ouroverall sales, although all the productdevelopment
is from India. However, we believe that in the next 1-2 years,
the products will catch up in India, with IoT gradually gaining
groundhere, said Latthe.
SenseGiz also sells its productthrough its own website and
throughe-commerce sites such as Amazon,Snapdeal, and eBay.
Star, the other product from theSenseGiz stable, is available in
theform of a wearable device or a clipwith a built-in battery, that
can beattached to clothing, that sets offemergency alarms from a
panic buttonon the device, through a built-in GPStracker in case
the wearer is in trouble,and also tracks fitness levels and
sleeppatterns, connected by Bluetooth to asmartphone app.
Star also allows users to make callsor take photos using
customized ges-ture control pre-programmed into thesmartphone app,
besides allowing theuser to set reminders as well. Star isavailable
for pre-order from SenseGiz website at a cost of `7,000.
Latthe and Shetty, who have filed forfive patents in India and
the US, are looking to raise `5 lakh by early 2015, which will be
used for further researchand development, sales and market-ing, and
for hiring another five peoplethat SenseGiz is looking to add to
itsexisting team of 12, by the end of thefirst quarter of 2015. Our
goal is to sell1.5 lakh units of Find and 50,000 unitsof Star by
the end of 2015, said Latthe.
A Bluetooth trackerENTERPRISE NAME: SenseGiz Technologies Pvt.
LtdENTREPRENEURS: Abhishek Latthe (28) and Apurva Shetty
(28)FOUNDED: February 2013LOCATION: Belgaum, Karnataka BRAND NAME:
SenseGiz
ENTERPRISE NAME: GOQii Inc.ENTREPRENEUR: Vishal GondalFOUNDED:
February 2014BRAND NAME: GOQii
ENTERPRISE NAME: RHLvision Technologies Pvt. LtdENTREPRENEUR:
Rohildev Nattukallingal (24)FOUNDED: August 2013LOCATION: Kochi,
KeralaBRAND NAME: Fin Robotics
A simple interface
BY BERYL [email protected]
It started in 2010, when RohildevNattukallingal, then in his
thirdyear of computer science and engi-neering from Kathir College
of Engi-neering in Tamil Nadu, decided thathe wanted to create a
touchless technology that could do somethingas simple as regulating
volume con-trol on the laptop or TV screen,without the user having
to leave hisseat.
This led Rohildev to develop RHL-camMouse, a gestural interface
for computing using finger movementsfrom afar to perform basic
functionssuch as controlling volume, drag
and drop and copy-paste on a PC. That was just the beginning.
From
there, he moved on to other gesture-based technology projects
such asFernePlayer, a touchless musicplayer for smartphones, and
IntAds, an interactive video ad platform, askull image recognition
software,and finally in May 2013, Fin, a wear-able ring that
converts the palm intoa gesture interface, allowing the
wearer to control devices such as smartphones, smart TVs,
automo-biles and home automation devicesusing integrated Bluetooth
sensorswas born.
In July 2013, Rohildev set up FinRobotics with an initial seed
fund of`15 lakh from Dr Ritesh Malik, an entrepreneur from start-up
fund, Guerilla Ventures. Rohildev alsoraised $200,000 through
start-up
crowdfunding platform Indi-egogo.com in January 2014 and got
3,000 pre-orders from customersacross 41 countries, aged
between18-45 years, said Famees T., chiefoperations officer at Fin
Robotics.
The devices are expected to belaunched by the end of May at
aprice of $120 in the US and India through the official website.
Nattu-kallingal, who has filed for two pat-ents in the US and
India, is alsolooking to add more features to Finand is currently
in the research anddevelopment mode to develop onthis with his team
of 15 employees.
From winning second runner upposition at the Microsoft
BizsparkStartup Challenge in May 2013, tobeing the only Indian
start-up to beinvited for the Pioneers Festival2013, Europes
largest start-up festi-val in Vienna, Austria, in October2013, to
being selected as one of thetop 15 start-ups in the world in
Janu-ary at the TechCrunch Hardware Battlefield 2014, to being the
young-est speaker at GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in
February 2014, Nattukallingal has been on awinning spree with his
various smarttechnology trysts and Fin is just yetanother feather
in his cap.
BY ASHNA [email protected]
When Sagar Apte and Deepak Tho-mas left their jobs at US
technol-ogy firm PubMatic, the two automobile enthusiasts were
quite clear about what they wanted: equipping automobiles with
intelligent features that are stand-ard in many cars abroad.
CarIQ Technologies was launched in
October 2013 with money raised from several angel investors.
Later,Catapooolt, a crowdfunding platformwas used to raise
funds.
The idea was to bring the entire carto the cloud, Apte said in
an interview. The company provides an online solu-tion for owners
to monitor their cars. It provides statistics and interacts with
service providers who can analyse and assess these parameters. It
helps detect components close to failing and analy-ses how the car
is driven. It sourcesinformation on road conditions,weather and
even the fuel supplied.
CarIQs USB-like device plugged intoa port under the steering
wheel con-nects to the Internet. It tracks parame-ters such as
coolant temperature, serv-ice alerts and engine load, while
con-
tinuously giving feedback to the driver.Once the platform
detects that there
is a parameter in critical condition, itstarts sending out
emails to nearby workshops and mechanics. CarIQ cur-rently has more
than 200 customers using the platform in India. Each devicealong
with a two-year subscription package costs around `6,000. Apte
expects the cost to come down as vol-umes increase.
We think the potential in the com-pany is immense and its
benefits arenot restricted only to car users. Going ahead, the
company with its access toso much data can create a lot of valuefor
insurance companies, said JohnKuruvilla, investment professional
withGenNext Innovation Hub, an incubator founded by Reliance
Industries Ltd.
CarIQ is part of the first batch of theInnovation Hub. The firm
is looking toraise funding in a few months.
Making cars smarterENTERPRISE NAME: CarIQ Technologies Pvt.
LtdENTREPRENEURS: Sagar Apte and Deepak ThomasFOUNDED: August
2012BRAND NAME: CarIQ
Abhishek Latthe (left) and Apurva Shetty.
RAKESH MUNDYE/MINT
S. KUMAR/ MINT
Rohildev Nattukallingal (centre).
BY A SHNA [email protected]
In 1999, Vishal Gondal foundedgaming company Indiagames,which
was later acquired by Walt Dis-ney Co. in a deal worth $80-100
mil-lion. Gondal, who was managingdirector of the digital arm of
Disney-UTVwhich is a part of Walt DisneyCo. (India) Pvt. Ltdquit in
April of2013.
GOQii is his second venture, whichhe started in February last
year. It pro-duces bands that measure the amountof physical effort
made by the bodythe number of steps taken and dis-tance walked.
This data is linked to anapplication available on the phonethat is
tracked by fitness trainers,nutritionists and dieticians. The
appli-cation then provides advice to theuser about the kind of diet
and exer-cise he or she needs. The companyoffers two subscription
models at`6,999 and `11,999 for the half-yearlyand yearly packages,
respectively.
GOQii uses the concept of KarmaPoints, which users can collect
rela-tive to the distance they walk or runwhen using the product.
The com-pany has partnerships with philan-thropic organizations who
will con-vert the Karma Points into donations.
The company competes with Fitbit,Nikes FuelBand and Jawbone
UP.According to Gondal, his firm is not inthe wearable band
business, but inthe business of helping people get fitand changing
their lives. Soon GOQiiwill be opening up its platform toother
bands, which means that youcan use any band. In turn, we will
usethe band of your preference to con-nect you to good karma and a
goodcoach, which will ultimately help youreach your lifes goal.
GOQii had raised an undisclosedamount in angel funding from
NeerajArora, business development head atmessaging service WhatsApp
Inc., andMarco Argenti, vice-president,mobile, at Amazon Web
Services Inc.in 2014. GOQii has the backing ofinvestors from varied
backgroundssuch as Amit Singhal, senior vice-president and software
engineer atGoogle Inc., and Bollywood actorMadhuri Dixit-Nene.
The health bandVishal Gondal.
Deepak Thomas (left) and Sagar Apte.
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Swamy. At that time, Bank of Indialent us `26 lakh without any
collateralunder a central governments schemeCGTMSE (Credit
Guarantee FundTrust for Micro and Small Enter-prises).
We are now looking at doing moreresearch and development work
aswell as expand our reach. We are talk-ing to few investors to
raise about `1crore to get into the consumer space,he adds.
The 13-people company which,apart from working with
manufactur-ers, works with municipal corpora-tions and city
administration depart-ments for monitoring and controllingthings
such as streetlights and waterlevels in overhead tankers, is
planningto launch affordable consumer prod-ucts for monitoring and
controllingwater, gas and energy consumption inhouseholds through
SMSes or anAndroid app.
started designing a product that couldmonitor different
parameters of anindustrial process, collect all the dataand send it
on a centralized platformthrough SMSes for the client. Later
hemoved the product from SMS-basedto GPRS-based platform.
He founded Meti M2M India withGeetesh N.S. in 2012 with an
indus-trial product which monitors variousparameters, including gas
or liquidflow, temperature, pressure andhumidity for different
processes inmanufacturing industry, put all thedata on a
cloud-based, centralizedplatform, provide the analysed data
tomonitor the processes to conserveenergy and take the corrective
meas-ures if required.
While looking to manufacture theproduct two years back, we
startedlooking for funds. We went to fourbanks with our proposals
but three ofthem rejected us outright, says
BY MOULISHREE [email protected]
From a data entry operator in thecentral governments excise
andcustom department for 13 yearsto being a technical consultant
for asemiconductor company to becominga co-founder and managing
directorof a company that deals with theInternet of things,
Narayana Swamyhas come a long way.
Swamy doesnt hold any fancydegrees; he is not even an engineer.
Iwasnt qualified enough to do otherthings. I was always
underestimatedand mostly bossed around, saysSwamy who is an
Industrial TrainingInstitute diploma holder in computerscience.
Between working in the govern-ments administration
department,and learning coding and creating soft-ware for the
excise and customdepartments, he set up an electronicslab in his
house in 2004. With thehelp of two of his friends, GeeteshN.S. and
Ganesh Raja, he startedlearning about basics of
electricalengineering.
In three years, he became techni-cally sound enough to start
consultingfor US-based Cypress SemiconductorsCorp., solving
problems online for itsclients around the world. After quit-ting
his government job in 2006, hejoined Cypress full time. There,
helearnt more about core electronics onthe job over the next five
years.
I always wanted to start my owncompany, even when I was
workingfor Cypress, says Swamy. In 2011, Ihad a chance to work on a
project forHPCL (Hindustan Petroleum Corp.Ltd) for monitoring their
under-ground pipelines.
He got an idea from the project and
ENTERPRISE NAME: Yuvera Solutions Pvt. LtdENTREPRENEUR:
Raghvendra Saboo (38)FOUNDED: February 2013LOCATION: BengaluruBRAND
NAME: Linqs
Monitoring manufacturingENTERPRISE NAME: Meti M2M India Pvt.
LtdENTREPRENEURS: Narayana Swamy, 40, Geetesh N.S. (42) FOUNDED:
April 2012LOCATION: MysoreBRAND NAME: Meti
Medical telephony
BY ASHNA AMBRE [email protected]
After working as a medical-devicedesign engineer for a firm in
Pune,Gautam Morey joined a Taiwanesemobile phone company. This gave
himthe idea of creating something in themedical telephony
space.
Morey disrupted the way results ofeletrocardiogram or ECG tests
weresent, which was by faxing a printout.He set up Sofomo Embedded
Solu-tions Pvt. Ltd with an initial invest-ment of `9 lakh and went
on to raisean early stage round with FusiontechVentures in 2010.
The ECGs sent byfax were often unclear and could lead
ENTERPRISE NAME: Sofomo Embedded Solutions Pvt. LtdENTREPRENEUR:
Gautam MoreyFOUNDED: 2007LOCATION: PuneBRAND NAME:Lifeplot UNIQ
to wrong information being transmit-ted to the doctor, said
Morey.
He designed a device, which is ableto receive and transmit
12-lead ECGs(12 is the number of ECGs that a doc-tor needs to
diagnose the exact treat-ment needed for a critical patient)using
wireless technology direct to thecardiologists mobile phone in 40
sec-onds. The product is called LifeplotUNIQ. Morey used embedded
technol-ogy and medical instrumentation tocreate the product and
offers it as amobile solution.
The device runs on battery for up tothree hours, after which it
has to be recharged. It can store the details ofthe patient and
minor medical records.It records ECG and sends the report onany
type of a cell phone. It can be eas-ily fitted in ambulances,
remote pri-mary health centres, small rural nurs-ing homes and all
types of hospitals.The device, priced at `40,000, is used by over
100 medical institutions andhas recorded ECGs for over
10,000patients.
ENTERPRISE NAME: Tagbin Services Pvt. LtdENTREPRENEURS: Saurav
Bhaik (24), Chetan Bansiwal (22) and Ankit Sinha (24)FOUNDED: May
2013LOCATION: GurgaonBRAND NAME: Tagplug
BY MOULISHREE [email protected]
A typical household. Threefriends. But typical problems.Starting
with the frustration ofirregular water supply in Delhi andmounting
electricity bills, threeflatmates started looking for a solu-tion
to problems that plaguedaround a million households in thenational
capital.
The trio, Saurav Bhaik, ChetanBansiwal and Ankit Sinha, created
Tagbin Services Pvt. Ltd in May2013 to solve everyday problems
byproviding low-cost home automa-tion tools and solutions that
couldset and monitor electrical appli-ances in homes in real time
as wellas track electricity consumption.
From the class of 2013 at theIndian Institute of Technology,
Roorkee, now in their office in Gur-gaon, the three continue to
inno-vate in the home automation spaceto reach out to
middle-incomehouseholds. We are providingexperiential solutions
through technology, says Bhaik, co-founder and chief executive of
Tag-bin Services.
Couple of years back, when wewere sharing an apartment inDelhi,
we used to have two basicproblems. First, water used to come
between 4am and 5am so wecould never get up on time. Sec-ond, our
electricity bill went as high as `20,000, says Bhaik. Sincewe were
engineers, we thoughtwhy not solve these problems our-selves?
When we started researchingabout it, we found that there
weremore than a million households which had water coming at
irregu-lar times, adds Bhaik. So we builtan automation tool for the
water motor which would switch it on at a pre-determined time. It
had analarm as well as a monitor to seeelectricity consumption.
What started with a simplemotor became a full-fledged low-cost
home automation solution that can switch on and off
electricappliances, set alarms, monitor them and track electricity
con-sumption in ones home through asmartphone.
If you go to big brand compa-nies, they will provide you
auto-mated solutions, which will costyou lakhs, says Bhaik. But we
cando the same thing for about `20-30k. Our focus is to provide
tech-nology to Indian middle-income homes.
The solution that Tagbin pro-vides works on Wi-Fi. It has a
three-pin plug and switches, bothof which have Wi-Fi chips that
con-nect with the router which, in turn,is connected to the users
smart-phone, facilitating Internet moni-toring and tracking of the
electricappliances as well as consumption.
The companys brand Tagplughas already caught investors
atten-tion. Soon, we are planning to make a separate company for
Tag-plug. We are talking to investors atpresent as we look to raise
about`20 crore.
Tagbin will continue as an expe-riential marketing solution
throughtechnologies such as virtual and augmented reality. Under
Tagplug,the three founders are planning tostart mass production of
theirproduct in Shenzen-based facto-ries. We will be using three
differ-ent factories in China to producedifferent parts of the
product, which will be shipped and assem-ble in India, said
Bhaik.
Solving household issues
HEMANT MISHRA/MINT
Narayana Swamy.
BY MOULISHREE [email protected]
Raghvendra Saboo had been look-ing for an idea to start a
companyduring his entire career spanning morethan a decade that
included a stint as one of the lead developers at OracleCorp. The
idea came one day out of theblue.
One day our water purifier broke, somy wife had called somebody
to fix itup. Usually for its maintenance, I usedto keep a record of
what was changedwhen and what was needed to be changed, says Saboo.
That day, itsuddenly came to me rather than goingback to my excel
sheets where I main-tained its records, why couldnt it tell me
itself what was it and what was required.
Since that day, I started imaginingevery physical thing talking
aboutitself. There was a time of madness in between, he adds.
That is when he started working onthe concept of hyperlinking
the physi-cal world with the aim of making physical products
smarter by connect-ing them to the Web. He started work-ing on
creating digital identities of physical products or what he calls
alter ego.
When we click a hyperlink, it givesus more information about
that partic-ular word. Here, we are talking about creating
hyperlinks for a physicalworld. Why cant a particular thing
tellabout itself? he says. With our solu-tion Linqs, you can access
information
about any physical product through your smartphone.
Linqs has a platform to build andhost micro mobile Web services
forthings. It provides a unique identity(ID) to every object and
from theobject ID serves a Web service tailoredfor the users
context. In addition, ithas tools that use Linqs tags based onNFC
(near field communication) andQR (quick response) codes on
productsto connect them to mobile Web serv-ices hosting content
about that partic-ular product directly from companies,marketers or
brand managers of thatproduct.
In phase one, we are creating toolsfor creating content for
which we are looking to tie up with products, brands,marketers,
says Saboo. In phase two,most of the content which has beencreated
for desktops, we are looking toconvert it for mobile
consumption.
To make a case for the technology,Saboo started with
business-to-con-sumer products to show what it is actu-ally about.
First we started with digitalbusiness cards, 1Card, with NFC
tech-
nology which instantly shares yourcontact, social and location
details, ready to be saved in a phones addressbook with a tap or a
scan, Sabooexplains.
Funding was the difficult part forSaboo.
When I launched the product, eve-rybody was convinced on the
needpart of it, but nobody was convincedon the technology part of
it, he says.So funding was difficult. I funded it though my
personal savings. But the biggest challenge was starting the
com-pany alone. All my friends are settled and working in good
companies withhandsome packages. Nobody wanted to leave his
job.
However, we have been fairly suc-cessful with our customers,
thus I havebeen able to generate cash flow to keepthe company
running, he adds.
With more people adapting to tech-nologies such as NFC, Saboo
says evenif Yuvera had entered the market tooearly, things are
changing for the betterwith investors turning positive on the need
for the technology.
Products with alter egos
Raghvendra Saboo.
HEMANT MISHRA/MINT
MANOJ VERMA/MINT
Saurav Bhaik.
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IIoT: DRIVING GROWTH IN THE NEXT DECADEAs the world starts to
overcome a period of sluggish demandand low productivity growth,
economists, business leadersand political leaders are eyeing the
next wave of technology innovation to rekindle the world economy.
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)the fast growing network of
increasingly intelligent connected devicescould be the largest
driver for economic growth and employment in the next decade. IIoT
is a network of physical objects, systems, platforms and
applications that contain embedded technology to communicate and
share intelligence with each other, the external environment and
with people. The business and economic potential of IIoT on the
industry and economy can be even more significant and disruptive
than similar technologies that are being applied in the realm of
consumer electronics.
IIoT will create new markets as data from billions of
connecteddevices unleash an era of products and services that will
generate new revenue streams for the manufacturing ecosystem. It
could add as much as $14.2 trillion to 20 of the worlds major
economies over the next 15 years, according to the latest analysis
from Accenture. It also promises a greater fillip to hard-pressed,
mature economies than to their emerging market competitors. This
would help restore a more healthy trade balance in the global
economy.
The national absorptive capacity (NAC) index by Accenture isa
measure of potential for economic diffusion of IIoT in a given
country and countries in higher positions on the index are more
likely to reap the rewards of IIoT diffusion. The US, Switzerland,
Finland, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands occupy the top
positions in the index, while India is at a lower level. To put
this into perspective, IIoT can add as much as $47.21 billion to
the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030. India can
leapfrog to join the countries on the top of the IIOT chart if
companies are willing to take bolder actions and make greater
investments in innovation and technology than they are doing
today.
There are many companies at the forefront of IIoT-led
transformation. Road transport solutions provider Michelin
solutions is one such company that has built a high-tech,
high-touch IIoT system to reduce fuel consumption in its clients
truck fleets. For its new EffiFuel solution, sensors inside the
vehicles collect data on fuel consumption, temperature, speed and
location, which is then transmitted to a cloud service. Michelin
solutions fuel experts analyse the data and make recommendations to
fleet managers and its instructors train
drivers in how to use less diesel when driving.Result: truck
fleet managers can save twolitres of fuel for every 100km
driven.
Taleris, a joint venture between Accentureand General Electric,
tackles the issue of airline delays and cancellations caused by
equipment failure. It uses sensors that track the performance of
equipment and engines whether in flight or not. By focusing on
airline fleet optimization far beyond the operational condition of
a specific piece of equipment, Taleris can impact overall
maintenance schedules. This systemic approach means less
disruption, lower costs, better spare-parts inventory management
and more satisfied travellers.
These examples illustrate how IIoT has the capacity to create an
outcome economy, where companies compete on their ability to
deliver predictable outcomes instead of just products and services.
It is through the outcome-based applications that IIoT can generate
new revenue streams. So far, however, businesses have made gradual
progress in applying IIoT to reduce operational expenses, boost
productivity or improve worker safety. Drones, for example, are
being used to monitor remote pipelines and intelligent drilling
equipment can improve productivity in mines.
This slow start in shifting to revenue generating applications
may be due to the fact that many countries do not have sufficient
underlying conditions to enable this new digital revolution to
sweep through their economies. Accenture analysis shows while IIoT
could lift the annual GDP of the US, the Nordics or Switzerland by
at least 2% by 2030, Spain and Italy look likely to enjoy gains of
about half that. That dramatic difference can, in part, be
attributed to the quality of their infrastructure, technology
skills and innovative capacity, as well as the ease of creating new
business models.
The good news is that IIoT is already here, at least among
themost forward-thinking companies. But much of its potential is at
risk of being lost as companies and policymakers fail to exploit
the opportunity. According to an Accenture survey of more than
1,400 business leaders, only 36% claim they fully grasp the
implications of IIoT. Just 7% have developed a comprehensive IIoT
strategy with investments to match.
IIoT presents an opportunity to transform economies for
thosecountries that are willing to put in place the necessary
infrastructure and Indias commitment to digitizing the economy
could prove a right step in that direction. If IIoT is to be
incorporated in a significant way to drive both productivity and
growth, business and government leaders need to cooperate in three
key areas. First, they must welcome entirely new and more open
organizational structures as business models evolve through the
shift to a more sophisticated outcome economy. Second, they need to
collaborate across industry, sectors and borders to form standards
that promote the security and interoperability of data and
machines, as well as establish governance structures that encourage
and reward the appropriate sharing of key data. Finally, they will
need to invest in the new skills needed in working environments,
which increasingly amalgamate digital and human labour.
Avinash Vashistha is chairman and geography managing director at
Accenture India.
AVINASH VASHISTHAEXPERT VIEWRespond to this column at
[email protected]
Todays realities Tomorrows vision
IIoT: CREATING OPPORTUNITIESThe Industrial Internet of Things
has been heralded primarily as a way to improve operational
efficiency. But in todays environment, companies
can also benefit greatly by seeing it as a tool for finding
growth in unexpected opportunities. IIoT presents companies with
opportunities to upgrade and offer new services, improve products,
and enter new markets. Consider how General Electric, Michelin and
CLAAS are going to
market with product-service hybrids by adding digital services
(shaded boxes) to their pre-digital products (solid boxes). But
even companies that do not sell products, such as Virtual
Radiologic, can take advantage of opportunities to expand into
digital services
challenges to the defence and resilience of the industrial
internet of ThingsCompanies, policy makers, customers and other
stakeholders will have to work together to mitigate the risks of
intelligent equipment connected to networks.
Source: Accenture
Long lifecycle of systems
Need for continuous operation
System changerequest lag time
Vendorlock-in
Lack ofdocumentation
Regulatorycompliance
Organizationstructure
Human health and safety
Outdated or non-existent policy and access management
Software, sensors and controls running todays facilities and
equipment are outdated and difficult to upgrade. Companies cannot
readily incorporate new features and improvements.
Limited integration between internal systems (managerial apps,
plant data sources) and external partners creates data silos.
Aging operating systems and vulnerable operational technologies
pose security risks because they cannot be easily retired or
replaced.
Limited embedded computing or intelligence control at the
device, product or plant level.
Sensors, communications and other operational technologies are
working together with information technologies, most likely meshing
in the cloud.
Standard, fast software development techniques are used to
create intelligent industrial products.
A common data model and sensing and control architecture that
supports the flow of insights and action throughout an organization
and its ecosystem of partners.
The IIoT infrastructure is trustworthy and resilient to
inevitable compromise.
General Electrics aircraft engine maintenance business, born out
of its jet engine business, is now moving to preventive maintenance
and expanding into aircraft fleet optimization
commercial offering
categories
information services
Scheduled maintenance(GE Aviation)
new market segment
Jet engines (GE Aviation)
digital product linepre-digital product line
equipment services
products
Go-to-market approach
Michelin is helping truck fleet managers reduce fuel consumption
and costs and allowing them to pay for tires on a kilometres-driven
basis
commercial offering
categories
information services
new market segmentdigital product linepre-digital product
line
equipment services
products
Go-to-market approach
Tires (Michelin)
Farmers can operate CLAAS equipment on autopilot, receive advice
on how to improve crop flow and minimize grain losses, or
automatically optimize equipment performance. The company is now
partnering with other organizations to provide information services
to growers via a marketplace called 365FarmNet
product or service
information services
new market segmentdigital product linepre-digital product
line
equipment services
products
Go-to-market approach
Machine automation services (CLAAS)
Farm equipment(CLAAS)
vRad began life as an X-ray interpretation service. It has since
expanded into the IT services business, offering software services
business and more recently an analytics service
product or service
information services
new market segmentdigital product linepre-digital product
line
equipment services
products
Go-to-market approach
Radiology interpretation(vRad)
Source: Company websites
Information services sell data and insights or manage a market
that sells data.
Equipment services sell product operations and optimization
services or sell the product using an as-a-service or
for-performance payment model.
Industrial Internet of Things security
issues and considerations
General Electric
Michelin
CLAAS
Virtual Radiologic
Key
Fuel consumption reduction service(Michelin Solutions)
Tires as a service(Michelin Solutions)
Tires with sensors(Michelin)
Radiology workflow
SaaS (vRad)
Radiology analytics and benchmarking
(vRad)
Remote diagnostics and optimization services (CLAAS)
Farm equipment with sensors (CLAAS)
Partner in ag info service marketplace (365FarmNet)
Preventive maintenance(Taleris joint venture)
Jet engines (GE Aviation)
Aircraft fleet optimization (Taleris joint venture)
COLUMN
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THE CONNECTED LIFEIOT BEST GADGETS
The latest generation of gadgets are a lot more self aware, and
play along with other devices as wellInternet of Things (IoT) is
all about the connected life. These new age gadgets have integrated
Internet access capabilitieshook them up to a wired or wireless
Internet connection. They are assigned
an Internet Protocol (IP) address in the background, just as
your laptop or phone would, and join the network. These gadgets are
designed for machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, and
alsoutilize the connectivity with your smartphone or tablet for
additional functionality. Simply put, the data from such devices is
shared over the network, stored and accessed via a smartphone or PC
app.
The exciting part is that these apps can also be used to trigger
actions, which you normally would do by pressing a physical button
on the gadget, or via a remote control. We look at some of the
coolestInternet of Things category gadgets that money can buy, and
some that are up for pre-orders.
Vishal Mathur [email protected]
luggages boarding card
TrakdoT Luggagewww.trakdot.com $49.99 + $19.99 annual
subscription (shipping extra)buy: NowYou land in New York after a
tiring 14 hour journey from New Delhi. Make your way to collect the
luggage after the arrival formalities. Everyones suitcases and
handbags mill around on the belt and the monotony is broken every
few seconds by the joyous cheer of someone who has identified
theirs. The crowd starts to thin out, but your suitcase is nowhere
in sight. Trackdot luggage is the most helpful accessory to avoid
such inconvenient moments. Charge it, drop it amidst your clothes,
and monitor the movement of that piece of luggage via the
smartphone app (Android and iOS). When the aircraft is on the
ground, this little device wakes up and latches on to available GSM
mobile networks at that location (as a user, you dont need to worry
about setting the networksthis does it automatically, just like how
Amazon does on the Kindle e-book readers). GPS, which is usually
the default method used by most tracking devices, has been avoided
because it doesnt work inside airport terminal buildings or in
closed spaces. If your luggage pops up on the app and shows Los
Angeles as the location, time to head to the airline helpdesk and
request that the necessary corrective action be taken.
mood lighting
emberLighTwww.emberlight.co$49 (shipping extra)buy: Pre-orderAny
product that can upgrade the existing gadgets in your home will
always pack in more value than the others that require a ground-up
investment. Emberlight turns the lighting fixtures in your home,
into the smart lights. It is essentially a holder attachment, one
that fits on the existing one and the bulb screws into the
Emberlight instead. These devices allow complete lighting level
control via the smartphone app (iOS and Android), over the local
Wi-Fi. Users can also set timed modes for automatic dimming of one
or more lights. Plus, on a cold winter night, you wouldnt need to
get out of the warm bed to turn off the living room lightone tap on
the smartphone screen takes care of that.
WindoW of opportunity
Wink hub and Quirky+ge Tripperwww.quirky.com$50 + $40 (shipping
extra)buy: NowIf you are living in an unsafe neighbourhood, or
simply forget to lock the windows and doors before leaving home, we
would suggest you install Tripper. The package includes two
sensors, which you can place on doors, windows or even the kitchen
cabinets. These sensors connect to the Wink Hub which, in turn, is
hooked up to your homes Wi-Fi network. The open/closed status is
available via the smartphone app (Android and iOS), with alerts if
the status changes. The Hub itself is compatible with even more
smart sensors, bulbs, alarms and camerasin case you want to add
smarter quotient to your home along the way.
sharing moments
ceiVa Share framewww.ceiva.com$149.99 (shipping extra)buy: NowIt
has often been said that photographs capture memories and make them
permanent. The traditional photo albums have been replaced by the
smarter digital frames with Wi-Fi connectivity. The CEIVA service
also bundles unlimited online photo storage space, connected with
the frame. Click a photo with your smartphone, and share it
instantly with any connected frame from within the CEIVA Snap app
(Android and iOS). Each frame has a unique email address, letting
your friends and family share snaps too. The 8-inch screen has a
1,024x768 pixel resolution.
breathe easy
fooboT air moniTorwww.foobot.io169 (shipping extra)buy:
nowFoobot has a bunch of sensors on itself, which constantly
accumulate data about the quality of indoor air. The smartphone app
breaks this down into individual elementssuspended particulate
matter, humidity, CO2, etc., and then suggests steps to rectify the
situation in case any element is too low or two high. Over time,
Foobot will understand the sources of air pollution too, and
suggest alternatives. A must have for someone who suffers from
throat related illnesses, or just generally lives in a polluted
environment. The long-term benefits of this product make this worth
the investment.
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the ring on your finger
moTa SmarT ringwww.mota.com$99 (shipping extra)buy: Pre-orderIf
you ever wanted a wearable that didnt gather attraction like a sore
thumb, this is the one to consider. Essentially the size of a
finger-ring, the MOTA Smart Ring pairs with your smartphone
(Android and iOS) and pushes new notificationstext messages, calls,
emails, Facebook updates, Twitter mentions, etc.to the ring.
Without having to take the phone out of the pocket, you can read
the updates on the rings screen. Wearables have limited
functionality at the moment, but are rather addictive once you get
used to them.
the baker
drop kiTchenwww.getdrop.com$99.95 (shipping extra)buy: NowThe
Drop Kitchen package blends the Connected Scale and the Recipe app
(for Apple iPadan iPhone app in the works). The app lists recipes,
which are interactive and can be tweaked according to your
requirement (or if you dont have enough of a particular
ingredient). The scale connects to the iPad over Bluetooth and
measures the ingredients accurately. The battery of this scale
lasts about 1 year. This could do well in a kitchen of someone who
loves to cook.
the cookie that doesnt crumble
Sen.Se moTherwww.sen.se$199 (shipping extra), $299 (shipping
extra)buy: NowThis rather fun combination of a control pod (Mother)
and sensors (known as Motion Cookies), allows you to keep tabs on
things and people. Stick one cookie to the toothbrush of your
child, and youll be notified when the dental care procedure
before hitting the bed is complete. Tag it on your childs
schoolbag,
and youll be notified via the smartphone app when the child has
safely entered home. Want to know who moves your furniture while
you arent looking? Simply put the cookie on a piece of furniture,
and get an alert
the instant movement is detected.
drink smartly
VeSSyL connecTed cupwww.myvessyl.com$99 (shipping extra), $119
(shipping extra)buy: pre-orderThis cup has a capacity of holding up
to 384ml of liquid. In essence, it monitors the quantity of liquid
you have been drinking, and displays that on a small screen. It
works with water, milk, tea, coffee and even slightly thicker
liquids such as milk shakes or yogurt. The battery fully charges in
60 minutes, and lasts 3-4 days before you need to dock it and
recharge. The interior of the cup is non-stick, and the lid is
spill proof. Keeps tabs on the liquid intake, and also pairs with
your phone to give notifications in case it detects you arent
hydrating enough.
safer biking
hammerhead onewww.hammerhead.io$85 (shipping extra)buy:
Pre-orderThis is a safety and convenience gadget for cycling
enthusiasts who love to discover new places. The device locks on to
the handlebars of just about any bicycle and the blinking LED
lights tell the rider which direction to take next. The 20-hour
battery life should cover most of the treks. The smartphone app
(Android and iOS) can be used to plot a route on a map and a single
tap sends it via Bluetooth to the One device attached to the
bicycle. There is a 15-lumen headlight to show you the way after
the sun has gone down, or use the flashing mode to alert rescuers
if you are stuck. Plus, Hammerhead One is as cool a name as the
Jensen Interceptor.
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Connecting, collaborating and making it happenInternet of Things
(IoT), seemly a very new idea, actually tracesits roots back to
1999 in the precincts of MIT, a hallowed institution which has
always been a hotbed of innovation. Many believe that IoT is simply
that point in time when the number of objects or things connected
to the Internet exceeded the number of people on this planet. In
2003, there were 500 million devices that were connected, and the
human population was 6.3 billion. That was only about 0.08 device
for every person. The concept of IoT as we know today did not exist
then, because the number was relatively small and smartphones were
yet to be introduced, which would eventually distort the ratio
beyond recognition. By 2010, there were 12.5 billion connected
devices for 6.8 billion people. About 1.84 devices per person. In
2015, it is estimated to be 3.47 devices per person (25 billion
connected devices and 7.2 billion people). If it goes like this,
6.5 devices per person is envisaged in 2020. By these estimates,
2008-09 would have been the time when it happened. An IoT augmented
world will have trillions of sensors, feeding into billions of
intelligent systems, running on millions of applications.
Globally, governments focus in IoT has been a function of
intensity of commitment and use case coverage. Countries such as
China, Australia, the US, Germany and the European Union have a
high level of penetration. Whereas, Malaysia, India, South Korea,
Japan and Singapore fall in the mid-range. The Chinese government,
in its 12th five-year plan, has made a commitment of $800 million
and allocated 23 sq. km area for IoT, in one of the SEZs. Both the
US and Australia are focusing on building a strong broadband
network, a pre-requisite for smart cities. Germany has proposed
heavy usage of IoT in manufacturing and though the EU is equally
upbeat, concerns around data security are still being averted.
In India, the smart city and digital India campaign will
leverageIoT to bring about change. Addressing and solving problems
that large cities are crippled with is about being different
(smart). Issues such as transport system, parking, lighting, waste
management, water management, womens safety, etc., are areas with
varying degrees of concern.
We will need sensors at strategic points to collect data,
applications to analyse this data and analytics to ensure quick
decision making. Other sectors such as agriculture, health
services, energy, and disaster management can supplant the way
things are done with IoT. Besides direct applications of IoT, the
IT industry can provide allied services such as analytics and
applications just as well.
The participation and collaboration of key stakeholders
(government, industry and citizens) at appropriate stages is
crucial, as much as effective policies, selection of essential
domains and emphasis on problem solving. Ultimately, it is about
increasing value for stakeholders and bringing down cost. The
framework of the proposed IoT policy has five vertical
pillarsdemonstration centres, capacity building and incubation,
R&D and innovation, incentives and engagements, human resource
developmentwith two effectual horizontal supports, standards
and governance structure. For example, demonstration centres
will identify, prioritize and
then develop five domain-specific strategies such as green
buildings, smart grids, industrial monitoring, healthcare,
telematics, etc. An initial funding of `125 crore through the
public-private partnership route is expected, where private firms
are required to put in an equal amount. The government will promote
institutional capacity building with ERNET (Education and Research
Network) as the nodal agency, and 15 other academic/institutional
partners. Under this programme, the government will fund to create
resource centres and test-beds as a common experimental facility.
National Centres of Excellence (CoE) for IoT (CoE-IoT) will be set
up to host incubation infrastructure that will support start-ups,
SMEs, students and other innovators. Nasscom and allied bodies will
liaise with industry while ERNET will provide the academic
interfacing. Initially, there will be five such centres for a
period of five years, and each centre (at an estimated cost of `35
crore) will provide for
a 40-seater facility. For this alone, `100 croreis likely to be
allocated by the governmentand the remaining will have to come
fromthe industry.
The R&D and innovation initiative in the IoT policy
frameworkwill identify core members of R&D in each field of
technology, promote cloud-based open source projects and initiate
test labs for hardware-to-hardware and hardware-to-software
integration. There would be incentives and engagements to attract
venture funds in related domains such as memory processors,
sensors, low-power devices and solar electronics. The human
resource development focus, across levels, will create IoT
education and awareness programmes in the department of electronics
and information technology (DeitY) for developing specific skill
sets.
These are some of the big-bang approaches that are likely to
come about and ensure that things happen as per plan. The
committeesadvisory committee, governance committee and programme
management unitwill have to work in collaboration and see the
project through.
If IoT is about connecting devices seamlessly, then
stakeholderswill have to ensure that collaboration between
departments, various bodies, industry, academia and such other
happen just as smoothly. The efficacy of this project will largely
be determined by how easily disparate structures are able to work
together, yet retaining their USPs and strengths.
The 2020 vision of creating a $15 billion IoT industry for India
iswithin reach, provided we work now, work fast but most
importantly, work with people and ideas which may be very different
from our own.
K.S. Viswanathan is vice-president at Nasscom.
Knowledge Partners:
www.livemint.com
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INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT) The Internet of Things is the networked
connection of physical objects. IoT is one of the many technology
transitions that enable the Internet of Everything (IoE)
M2M Machine-to-machine
P2P People-to-people connections. Collaboration (e.g.
Video/TP)
M2P Machine-to-people connections. Big data/Analytics (e.g.
information dashboards)
CONNECTED CAR Smart cars
SMART OBJECTS A smart object is an object that enhances the
interaction with not only people but also with other smart objects.
It can not only refer to interaction with physical word objects but
also to interaction with virtual (computing environment)
objects
INTERNET OF EVERYTHING (IoE) The Internet of Everything is the
networked connection of people, data, processes and things. The IoE
is made up of many technology transitions, including the Internet
of Things
INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS Its enabling the IoT on industrial
devices
INTELLIGENT AGENT (IA) It is an autonomous entity which observes
through sensors and acts upon an environment using actuators (i.e.
it is an agent) and directs its activity towards achieving
goals
RADIO-FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION It is the wireless use of
electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the purposes of
automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects
CONNECTIONS The information flows from one entity to others for
specific purposes, where entities include people, devices,
applications, and networks. Can be people-to-people (P2P),
machine-to-people (M2P), or machine-to-machine (M2M)
GLOSSARY