Interaction and humans in internet of things

Abstract

Internet of Things is mainly about connected devices embedded in our everyday environment. Typically, ‘interaction’ in the context of IoT means interfaces which allow people to either monitor or configure IoT devices. Some examples include mobile applications and embedded touchscreens for control of various functions (e.g., heating, lights, and energy efficiency) in environments such as homes and offices. In some cases, humans are an explicit part of the scenario, such as in those cases where people are monitored (e.g., children and elderly) by IoT devices. Interaction in such applications is still quite straightforward, mainly consisting of traditional graphical interfaces, which often leads to clumsy co-existence of human and IoT devices. Thus, there is a need to investigate what kinds of interaction techniques could provide IoT to be more human oriented, what is the role of automation and interaction, and how human originated data can be used in IoT.