

Ask HN: What is the killer 'internet of things' app? - guybrushT

Internet of Things is gaining traction, but I don&#x27;t see any killer apps beyond phone-controlled washing machines, refrigerators etc. - these are not fundamentally different &#x27;apps&#x27;. I would love to get some perspective and understand from YOU - what do you think can be the &#x27;game-changer&#x27; or &#x27;killer app&#x27; for internet of things. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
======
jlgaddis
I have primary responsiblity for, among other things, networking for an
electric utility company. I'm sure everyone has heard of the "smart meters"
that similar companies are deploying. I don't know I'd go as far as to call it
a/the "killer app" but these "smart meters" have completely changed how this
company operates day-to-day.

In addition, I live in the midwest and we've had some pretty good winter
storms in the last month or two. One of the biggest things, I think, is that
the MTTR electric service to their customers (during/after such a storm and
widespread outage) has dropped to a level that they had never before
experienced.

~~~
mlwarren
I work for a smart metering company and I can confirm that there are a lot of
interesting developments in this space. In addition to the meter itself and
the functions the meter can do (automatic reporting, disconnects, connects,
etc) I think the possibility for incentivized home automation will be a big
driver in the internet of things.

Some consumers may be interested in throttling their power when load is high
on the grid for environmental or cost saving reasons. When the utility
provides a monetary incentive for the customer to throttle their AC or turn
off their pool pump during periods of high load a lot more people suddenly get
interested.

------
ajcarpy2005
Blinds open at dawn to naturally awaken, close when you leave for work or at
dusk. Windows open when it is nice out but close most or all of the way when
it's about to rain. Lights only on when needed. Automatic toilets. (like at
some stores) Music and videos pause when you leave room.

I will mention that one big aspect of connected technology that is so
attractive to me is the technology heing built into the home itself...simple
things like speakers in each room.

In a home, especially a smart house, form is function...like in Biology. It's
about being surrounded by stuff that adapts to change...each person's
tastes/preferences and needs of the moment.

Maybe a digital bulletin board would be a killer feature. A traditional color
LCD screen would be nice but expensive. Maybe an e-ink/e-paper display would
work well for that. I read that they are less than 30X the price of an LCD
which would be highly affordable. This would be very large and display a
calendar, daily agenda, and various reminders/notes.

Nice question. It's difficult because most of the hardware really doesn't
exist yet.

~~~
davidnagy
@ajcarpy2005 what pieces of hardware do U think are missing?

~~~
ajcarpy2005
A hub for the IOT. Many companies in this space have their own base stations
and the wireless router also acts as a 'hub' for many devices in this space.
(Cloud printers, Nest thermostat, etc) A device with more computing capability
could evolve into a sort of specialized home server for handling home
automation.

If you are having guests over, this hub could schedule your Roomba vacuum to
clean the floors before company arrives and not interrupt.

It almost seems like we will need an operating system for handling the
complexity of all the 'peripherals,' interactions, and applications in the era
of home automation.

Even though web connectivity is very popular, it may be best to have a layer
of software that is a little more stable that can mediate all the applications
that run on it.

------
JacksonBond
Hey guybrushT....I work for relayr.de, we just launched the WunderBar on
Dragon Innovation Crowdfunding, a starter-kit to enable IoT apps. We think the
idea of a "killer app" is cool, but even cooler is lots of killer apps!! to
enable the innovation and creative potential of all app developers. Lower the
barriers and give them tools to start creating fun and useful apps that use
smart devices combined with things they themselves make smart with sensor-
enabled Beacons. I mean the app economy as we know it (the mulit-billion
dollar one today) is only basically 5-6 years old. The key was an enabling
platform for both creating and distributing these creations, across devices,
across device manufacturers, where each user has more control over the device
data they own. Does this makes sense?

~~~
JacksonBond
oops, forgot the link: [http://www.dragoninnovation.com/projects/35-wunderbar-
by-rel...](http://www.dragoninnovation.com/projects/35-wunderbar-by-relayr)

------
JacksonBond
oh and P.S. you can also see a an article I wrote about this topic here:
[http://thenextweb.com/dd/2014/01/16/app-developers-
enabled-e...](http://thenextweb.com/dd/2014/01/16/app-developers-enabled-
enough-internet-things-era/#!tXsj6)

