Living with the Internet of Things Event

PETRAS Internet of Things Research Hub, held an event to showcase a number of its research projects in the Tate Exchange on the 8th and 9th of February. It was a drop-in event over 2 days which was free and open to the public.

Design Informatics showcased two pieces as part of the event- GeoPact and Karma Kettles. For more details on the two pieces please see below. As well, please watch the short film prepared by Billy Dixon from the event.

 

GeoPact

GeoPact has been developed to explore new urban transport and delivery solutions. The system collects and verifies location data from smart objects with certainty and security, unlocking its potential for everyday use. Smart contracts help us harness this data, linking it to real-life transactions, with a variety of possible applications. It could help governments measure and prove carbon reduction targets, enable drivers to prove a record of safe driving for insurance purposes or even let you know for sure when an important package has been left on your doorstep.

GeoPact presents a vision of the future that explores a fusion of location-based IoT and ledger technology. Focusing specifically on verifying the location of smart objects and vehicles, we consider futuristic new models of consumption and essential low carbon transport solutions.

 

Karma Kettles

The Karma Kettle considers the expansion of distributed systems as a way to support more flexible energy infrastructures. In contrast to centralised national grids, distributed systems require lower initial investment, which allows for smaller enterprises to produce and sell energy in a free market economy.

The Karma Kettle simulates a context of distributed energy generation where domestic batteries contribute to store part of the energy available in the grid, ultimately helping to balance on and off-peak times and prices. The kettle displays states of scarcity and abundance of energy in the grid and in the storage grid and rewards users for pulling or pushing energy into the grid according to the state of the grid contributing to their energy “karma”. For example, if energy is highly available in the grid and in storage, users are encouraged to use it, this way, using energy would contribute to a positive karma. If energy is scarce in the grid and in storage, users are encouraged to push stored energy into the network. In this case, using would contribute to a negative karma. The project attempts to investigate the potential for IoT devices to support end consumer energy trade and bottom-up energy generation.