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Ask HN: Object you'd like to see connected to the internet?

by shervinshaikh on 8/6/14, 4:39 PM with 83 comments

• by byoung2 on 8/6/14, 5:03 PM

  Technology is getting so cheap that eventually we'll have everything connected and wonder why it wasn't always that way.

  First, I'd like my sprinkler system connected so I can see and adjust the schedule, check current soil moisture levels, etc. Better yet, let the system adjust itself based on current conditions, forecasts, etc. I would use this mainly for my vegetable garden, not so much fo

  Second, I'd like my refrigerator to track and record historical internal temperature. The fridge should be below 40 degrees at all times for food safety, and I have a thermometer inside that is 40 or below whenever I look at it, but recently I went home during the day when it was 96 degrees outside, and I saw that the temperature in the fridge was almost 50. It cooled back down in the evening, so if I hadn't gone home to check I would never have known.

  Cars are getting more connected (particularly GM cars with OnStar). File this under "obvious" but new GM cars will have an 8 device LTE hotspot built in that is on whenever the car is. My brother has an Escalade and he has an app that can tell him stats about the car like tire pressure, etc. It would be nice if every car had this feature.

  It would be nice to have more data about water usage inside the house, so I'd like a sensor on every water fixture. It wouldn't be too difficult in theory to add a meter at every water supply line and have that connect to WiFi or Bluetooth to report hot and cold water usage. It would be interesting to know that the dishwasher used 15% of the water, while the showers use 36%. I'm not sure it would be super useful, but definitely cool to see.

• by JasonFruit on 8/6/14, 5:09 PM

  Nothing but my computers. I don't want anything that affects my real, physical life to be open to trickery. Imagine having someone checking what is in your mailbox, what your waking hours are, how much weight you've gained, where you drove last night — it's not worth it to gain a little convenience.

• by eps on 8/6/14, 5:09 PM

  A big neon sign that says "I am on the Internet of Things" that would flash every time it gets an ICMP ping and do nothing else. This would capture nicely the essence and general usefulness of an average IoT device :)

• by shrike on 8/6/14, 5:03 PM

  My fridge. A simple barcode reader I can scan an item with when I use the last of it. We could develop applications that add it to a offline or online shipping list, track the amount of 'item' we eat every month, our spend etc.

  We could complicate things a bit more with two barcode readers, one when we add an item to the fridge, another when it's empty. That would let us find recipes based on what's available in the fridge or even what's available and likely to expire soon.

  Barcode readers everywhere! Extend the same idea to the pantry, under the sinks, etc.

  This is the closest I've seen to date - https://fresh.amazon.com/dash/

• by ericfranklin on 8/6/14, 5:35 PM

  Traffic lights. While not directly personal or "Internet of Things", traffic lights could really use some AI. It would be fantastic if they could learn routine traffic patterns (rush hour, weekends), detect flow (green light, but no one is there), even receive traffic data from Google/Apple/etc., then automatically adjust timing accordingly. Even mesh networking with nearby intersections.

  I can't count the number of times I have been waiting at a red left turn light, with a green straight light and no other cars around. Or, backed up at a red light with no cross traffic, yet cross traffic has a long green.

  It is probably a complex problem to solve and suspect the biggest barriers are bureaucracy and control. Is there anyone on here that works with traffic lights? It seems like they are setup once with a predefined timing and are rarely ever changed.

• by ww520 on 8/6/14, 5:08 PM

  Cars. I'd like to turn on the AC afar remotely 15 minutes or half hour before get into the car on a hot day, or heat it up remotely on a freezing day. Some might already be doing it (Tesla).

  Watering system. It can look up the season/weather and adjust the amount of water to sprinkle.

  Battery. So that it can send out a signal when it's low on power. I know it's probably impractical but we are talking about ideas for the future.

  Credit card/smart cash card. Yes, I want to look up balance/transactions, transfer money, and be alerted on charges on the card itself with the screen and network on it.

• by cordite on 8/7/14, 2:21 AM

  This might seem rather silly, but what if toilets were connected?

  I don't mean just stall availability, but rather for a health reason. Japan, about 5-7 years ago or so, made some smart toilet that could tell what your diet is from the stool. What if with similar technology, individuals could be warned for slow or immediate changes based on similarly obtained data points?

  Individuals with certain diseases can have immediate preventative care and also prevent transmission of those diseases.

• by theoutlander on 8/6/14, 7:35 PM

  Reading all the suggestions here sparks my interest in an idea I was tinkering with last year after I moved into a big house and I wanted to monitor and control everything through the web / phone app. In addition, I wanted useful stats about everything (a lot were mentioned in this thread). The main problem I was trying to address was building a centralized system that would communicate with devices built on different protocols (Zigbee, ZWave, Bluetooth, etc.) and allow them to communicate with each other via the central controller.I started to work on it, but got caught up deciphering various protocols and have been trying to validate the idea before venturing further into it. I hate the idea of owning several independent systems and want something that's unified - at least as far as monitoring goes. It sounds like there is a need for smarter homes. I would love such a unified system at home. I've also considered creating hardware to facilitate certain use-cases.

  If anyone wants to collaborate on this, it would be fantastic! I was planning on making it open-source and free for home use. It wouldn't be a bad idea to simply solve some of the use-cases for folks on HN.

• by wsinks on 8/6/14, 5:03 PM

  It's not adding things to the internet that excites me, it's the context you can put into them as well.

  For instance, right now I move between work in San Jose, my parents house, and my SF house. The context and control changes in each place - my family, my roommates, my corporate policy and teammates.

  I generally don't care about connecting things to the internet unless those things are also taken care of. I just need a couple knobs to turn.

• by cdcox on 8/6/14, 6:44 PM

  I don't know about connected to the internet, but it would nice to have more built in sensors in an oven/stove. They have digital thermometers, but it would be nice to get a total IR/temperature profile of what's inside. Maybe some basic computer vision programs. Something like 'looks like your bread is done and its temperature is correct, we'll turn the over down automatically unless you issue an override'. Perhaps even better would be a smart microwave that detects temperature unevenness with some IR setup and adjusts it's internal plate/heating mechanism to compensate.

  I guess the internety aspect would be, people could upload ideal cooking/completion settings to achieve certain results. Or it could let you start food up as you are approaching home, but this would lead to some food borne pathogen issues, so it's probably not a good plan.

  Though really this might be a bit excessive.

• by ErikRogneby on 8/6/14, 5:09 PM

  I would love for my breaker panel to be smart. Knowing the power draw of different breakers and being able to trend those. Analytics could alert me to a slowly failing compressor on my fridge or a burnt out element in my hot water tank.

  Lots of other cool features that could come with a smart panel a well.

• by swah on 8/6/14, 5:01 PM

  Its "small stuff", but if many objects in my house published their state and events, I could do lots of little things, insignificant as "no need to check the mailbox because the little door was not opened today".

• by macguyver on 8/6/14, 5:47 PM

  Our refrigerator. It is big and things easily go bad if we don't periodically go through and do an "inventory" of what's there, what needs to be eaten.

  A fridge should, ideally: Track counts of objects, Have date of entry of objects, Have a freshness meter for all objects, and give me a map of the location of each object.

  I have in mind how to visually display this info and have R&D insights to other ways to make this practical. Lots of innovation :)

• by dxgray on 8/6/14, 5:13 PM

  All devices that contain time of day displays. I live in 800 square feet and with appliances, clocks, etc. There can be 4 minutes difference across 25 feet.

• by jo_ on 8/6/14, 5:12 PM

  My front door, the buzzer, and maybe the door to my room and the lights. It would be nice if UPS ringing my doorbell sent an SMS to my phone so I could remotely unlock it. That way they can put the package inside my gate or front door, and I'll relock both after departure (which I can verify via webcam). No more arriving at 7:00 AM so I can leave at 3:00 PM to pick up a package.

• by ryanSrich on 8/6/14, 5:36 PM

  Just to name a few:

  - Stove

  - Cat feeder

  - Sink

  - ...actually pretty much everything in my kitchen

  - Selectable thoughts

  - A physical notebook

  - All restaurant ordering systems. So I can get the check right to my phone, pay with my phone, tip with my phone. No paper checks.

  - City streets. So I can get real time data when I'm biking that tells me a certain road is closed or if traffic is heavy. I know this exists with Google maps but I'm talking about having the physical streets connected so the data is real time.

• by sadkingbilly on 8/6/14, 5:28 PM

  A sump-pump that sends an email when it detects water and/or runs. Would be great if it included a humidity measurement too.

• by YetAnotherBozo on 8/7/14, 3:07 PM

  Eh, I think that for the near term, the internet of things is on the ropes. I think nobody's buying arduino or beaglebone, raspberry pi, etc. books any more. I think plenty of people bought one gizmo and a book, and now it's sitting in a drawer somewhere.

• by terhechte on 8/6/14, 5:15 PM

  My plants, so they can tell me when they're thirsty, need more sun, need less sun, hungry (i.e. minerals + water), whether they have a bug, whether the room is too hot, too cold, or whether the room is too humid, or not humid enough.

• by xyclos on 8/6/14, 5:21 PM

  I want coasters at the bar to be connected, so the bartender gets a notification that I'm in need of another drink. (but not the cups themselves, that would be ridiculous)

• by apolymath on 8/7/14, 6:59 AM

  SLR cameras, drones, cats... anything that records video, photos, or audio, and any kind of sensor, so that the data can be instantly uploaded or even streaming at all times.

• by fakeasaur on 8/6/14, 6:00 PM

  Automated trucking would be cool to see in my lifetime, but to be honest the idea makes me really uncomfortable because it would put roughly two million people out of work.

• by Meai on 8/6/14, 5:22 PM

  I'd like a sticker that I can stick on things and find wirelessly / via gps / some other method so that I never lose things again.

• by terjeto on 8/6/14, 10:02 PM

  Our brains so we can communicate quickly and remote without noice polluting the environment.

• by terjeto on 8/6/14, 10:14 PM

  Lawnmover so i can remotely control it from afar (or just read stats if its a bot)

• by terjeto on 8/6/14, 10:18 PM

  Battery levels on all my batteries (tv remote, wireless mouse, flashlight ..)

• by contingencies on 8/6/14, 5:39 PM

  Sexual organs. Enough said.

• by dees on 8/7/14, 12:39 AM

  It would make sense for me to be able to preheat my oven or stovetop remotely. Going all the way into the kitchen and back just to flip a switch and to come back and wait for 5 minutes seems insane these days. Things that could be dangerous like these would need additional sensors and safeguards against forgetfulness or deliberate exploitation, of course, but with this topic we're talking about a next-gen stack of technology instead of a Ben Franklin coil in a box with a knob. I believe the reason these things have not already been tackled (at least not for the mass-market) is that the production costs are disproportionately high compared with consumer demand for those small conveniences, considering most of these types of devices already do not need frequent replacement or upgrade, and are prohibitively expensive for a lot of households in the first place.

  My laundry machines and dishwasher are relatively smart appliances, but again, it's needlessly wasteful to have to remember to walk all the way across my house to check on their progress instead of just receiving a notification when they are done, and being able to view their usage and performance stats on a dashboard somewhere to make better decisions about how and when to use them. It'd be nice to be able to load up each machine and let it decide when to begin its cycles based on how full it is and with delayed timing to optimize for the lowest cost electricity.

  A refrigerator that can track the weight and volume of its contents and help maintain a shopping list is something we've talked about having for decades, but none has ever been successful yet. I'm not suggesting this is easy functionality to solve for, but perhaps thinking about it in different ways would help. What if each compartment were operated independently and could do more than just maintain a cool temp? Maybe a box that controls temp all the way from freezing to roasting as well as humidity. It could take your dishes prepped for cooking the night before and go ahead and heat them up to be ready to eat at the appropriate time, with no second manual process needed. It could double as a dehydrator, and maybe even keep track of when things will expire and pre-emptively dry them to avoid waste. If this were a stackable thing big enough to fit a big turkey or a pizza inside, I could imagine having several of them stacked or spread out instead of the traditional fridge/freezer combo box that can only be installed in one place in my house, and is hard to access under/behind for maintenance.

  Speaking of maintenance, if we're already adding some small general-purpose computer to each of these things, why not have them all self-contain operation and maintenance manuals, and politely remind when they are due for some cleaning or repairs? Most of these devices don't need to have a built in display, but instead should be managed via a web page or connected software on a phone, tablet, or other PC. I think it'd be pretty nice to open a general-purpose smartphone app and within a few taps get a step-by-step illustrated guide on how to properly replace some part or do routine cleaning on any of my dozens of household devices. The next step beyond that is to even be able to order the replacement parts or 3D-print them locally from the same app.

  What I'm especially interested in at the moment is aquaponic/aeroponic household gardening/farming and how to assemble a reasonably small and self-contained low-to-zero maintenance system that just tells me when to add food or chemicals and when individual plants/fish are ideal for harvest. I've been playing around with a Back to the Roots Aqua Farm, which is just a simple Betta fish tank with an integrated herb garden system on top, where the fish feeds the plants and the plants keep the water clean. This is really just a lower-hassle way of keeping a small fish, but the same principle works for larger setups with edible fish and plants and there are a lot of "everything you need to get started" kits out there but I have yet to see a true "open box, add water, insert fish and seeds" package other than this one, and of course it's extremely dumb as far as self-maintenance goes, the only real benefit being that you have a fish tank that doesn't need to be manually cleaned as often. A more sophisticated setup would involve timed pumping, grow lights, and autonomously administered food and maintenance chemicals, where really all you have to do is harvest and replace the plants and fish, and keep re-filling the stockpiles of whatever food and other additives are needed to keep everything in optimal health. I'd be really interested in buying such a setup in some type of one-box form-factor, and I think that such a thing may really be the future of sustainable agriculture. Something where I install the thing and simply extract food from it, and the pool guy can handle the periodic cleaning and re-supply that it requires.

• by MrZongle2 on 8/6/14, 5:28 PM

  Vladimir Putin's shock collar.

• by fla on 8/6/14, 5:06 PM

  Not my door-lock !

• by joewalnes on 8/6/14, 5:31 PM

  Hulk Hogan

• by Fjrjcjsiwbfcnde on 8/6/14, 5:50 PM

  Oh boy! Now I can live out my 1984 fantasies where not only am I carrying a tracking device at all times, but literally everything around me is bugged with sensors!

  People being able to assassinate me with a software update to my car is also a major plus.