BBC R&D (the place I work) are looking for a Research Fellow to work directly on the Internet of Things…
What is the internet of things you may be thinking?
Well here’s the IBM Utopian vision.
The BBC is looking ahead to a world where human-friendly network-aware technology is the norm. In this world people will continue to tell stories. This project is about prototyping a toolset, which enables exploration and creation of experiences in that world. Working on this project you will explore diverse ‘Internet of Things’ scenarios by building iterative prototypes. The software and hardware extracted will form a reusable toolset enabling the BBC to become a leader in this area and potentially define new standards for technology and usability. Ultimately, the BBC wants to understand how informing, educating and entertaining audiences could change.
This 1-year fixed post is for a Research Fellow to work within BBC R&D, MediaCityUK, with academic supervision from the University of Salford. The main focus of the project is to explore and develop a practical toolset enabling research into user experience/ HCI issues surrounding the “Internet of things”.
The appointed candidate will be based within the BBC R&D team at MediaCityUK (Dock House), and receive academic supervision at the University of Salford. The post is funded through the FIRM project (Framework for Innovation and Research in MediaCityUK), supported by a UK Research Council UK Digital Economy grant.
If your interested check it out here… be good to have you onboaed
Cool!
Probably worth noting that the focus is more on making a practical toolset enabling connecting, control, query and use of things useful and friendly to people, rather than the purely data focus of that video.
Obviously you enable a data focus, but the real benefit to the person is when you turn *your* environment into an exoskeleton (both mental and physical). An internet of *my* things, if you will. Data is one small part of that. While that video focusses on linking lots of people’s things to other people’s things, rather than connecting the things people already have. (eg bluetooth wiimotes, bluetooth PS3 controllers, baby monitors, bluetooth/wifi enabled phones, set top boxes, cookers, bread makers, remote control toys, doorbells, baby monitors, etc – they’re all networked, but not internetworked – even within the home.
BTW regarding that video, imagine Eastenders, Outnumbered or The Royle Family where that video’s world is reality -
your house nagging you to leave 5 minutes early, and setting your
alarms *without your input* – would most people really buy a tool that
nags you, controls you? Later on it even has devices ignoring the user
for the benefit of the power grid… (You could still have the same benefits if you have a person focus, but you get there a different way)