Tecnologia na mesa do bar

Toca o despertador. São 7 horas da manhã. Ainda confuso com o fuso-horário (na Flórida podemos estar de 1 a 3 horas atrás do horário de Brasília), você levanta e acorda sua família para o primeiro dia de diversão nos parques da Disney. Após todo o ritual para levantar e arrumar a turma, vem a pergunta: “Todos com suas pulseiras?” Após a confirmação geral, saem alvoroçados em direção à terra da alegria. Chegando na entrada, a primeira preocupação: “cadê os ingressos?” Bom, não existem mais ingressos. A pulseira que todos receberam é o passaporte para o parque. Não só para entrar, mas também para diversos serviços dentro e fora do parque que farão a diferença na satisfação de cada um que tiver optado pelo serviço. São as Magic Bands. Como os contos de fadas criados por Walt Disney e propagados por gerações, uma nova magia paira no ar no complexo de diversões mais visitado e desejado no mundo. Há aproximadamente 1 ano os parques da Disney implantaram o projeto das Magic Bands...

Every time it rains I am reminded of one of my best friends, João Gustavo Santos (rest in peace). Come lunch time he always asked, ”Can someone lend me an umbrella?”  It turned out that he was unable to keep one for more than a couple rainy days. The reason? The umbrella would get wet, he would set it aside and forget where he left it. Today João wouldn’t lose his umbrellas; he could have a smart, connected one. The umbrella could have a beacon (Bluetooth LE) sensor that could react once the distance between it and its owner (or its owner’s smartphone) was more than 10 meters. These sensors are precise, small and have a battery life of 2-3 years (no need for an internet connection). It´s a cheap solution that adds value by providing an additional, broader service that's not really related to the product itself:  intelligent anticipation that preserves product ownership and investment, even a small one. How much would your customer pay for this added value? How r...

You opened the door for the Internet of Things (see my last blog ) and greet the opportunities. You started to think about different ways to innovate, to incorporate that new concept into your products and services. Or you might have thought that this wouldn´t apply to your business today; or maybe your business can´t handle the infrastructure and tecnology needed to operationalize an IoT solution.   Adopting the IoT While this may sound like a road block for the IoT, it actually represents the current stage of IoT adoption. Perhaps you feel stuck.  You have an idea for a product that would make it come “alive” but you can´t resolve all requirements from an end-to-end perspective. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. There is a very thin line between the whole IoT concept and what can really be done today. The concept is very broad and will evolve and develop in different ways over time. We as citizens will experience a level of automation in our daily lives that might remind u...

In my last blog I talked about how uncertainty could be a problem for IT and that companies must always look toward the future and anticipate possible impacts. Anyone who does that will be adding the Internet of Things (IoT) in their list. Like Cloud Computing (the utility model for which was first introduced by John McCarthy in the 60´s), the IoT is not something new. It was proposed by Kevin Aston back in 1999, at MIT. At that time, he created a global standard system for RFID and other sensors, which later became known as the Internet of Things or a network where objects were connected through different kinds of sensors.    The Internet of Things definition is simple: everything talks to everything through sensors in a shared network. Simple, but complex. The beauty is not to have my house talking to me, but having my house learning my habits and knowing when I usually arrive home from work, and monitor me through my GPS to turn on the air conditioning in time for th...