[HH] Google Physical Web

[Tom Metro]

Another tip from µNews...in episode #5 the host mentions "Google
Physical Web"(offset 2:36):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj8vAcMGEIM#t=155

An article on the same topic:

Google's 'Physical Web' project looks to inject Internet of Things with
more search
http://www.zdnet.com/googles-physical-web-project-looks-to-inject-internet-of-things-with-more-search-7000034320/

  A Google UX designer is imagining a Google Now like world for the
  Internet of Things.

  A new open standards project by Google called 'Physical Web' aims to
  make the experience of navigating the Internet of Things (IoT) in the
  future much like searching the web today.
  ...
  ...relying solely on apps to connect with every new IoT device
  (vending machines or parking meters, for example) will be impractical
  and he's proposed a more web-like approach "that lets anyone interact
  with any device at any time" -- much like using a browser and search
  engine to explore the web, rather than a single purpose app.
  ...
  The gist of the idea to create a "discovery service" by giving each
  smart device a URL that, with the help of Bluetooth Low Energy chips,
  broadcasts messages to nearby devices in the form of a web page with a
  snippet of information, a full interactive web page, or a deep link
  into a native app.


Something like this could be a boon to those wanting to integrate IoT
devices into a larger home automation system.

For example, when Philips designs a smart bulb, they're thinking of it
as a stand-alone device (or at best used with other bulbs of the same
type), and their focus is only on using that one product, so naturally
they gravitate towards creating a proprietary app.

If they don't also provide good open, documented APIs, then integrating
with a lager system becomes a pain. (Philips may take this next step,
but not all IoT vendors will.)

So aside from cutting down on the unnecessary "appification" of
everything, creating some common standards for talking to IoT devices
should have wide benefits, and if Google pushes it, it has a better
chance of being widely adopted.

 -Tom