IoT - The Internet of Textiles?

I think it's a fairly good assumption from a glance at my blog that I'm interested in technology, in particular mobile technology. What some of you may not already know is that I'm very keen on arts and crafts. I particularly enjoy stitching of all kinds. I started sewing clothes for my dolls when I was probably about 6 years old. I learned embroidery at age 9 when I made my first sampler. By the age of 10, I had my own sewing machine and had started making clothes for myself. I still enjoy all forms of stitching and textiles.

It would be about 10 years ago when I first met the Cute Circuit team who invented the bluetooth-enabled 'hug shirt' (pictured). This was ground breaking at the time. It appeared at Mobile World Congress a few times. I think I probably tried it there about 10 years ago. I experienced the sensors squeezing me based on messages the jacket was being sent. The idea behind it being that two people could send another person a virtual hug via the sensors on the shirts they were wearing. It remember it felt a bit weird. It doesn't feel like a human hug, but, like Pavlov's Dogs, one could learn to associate it with a message of love or warmth from a partner.

The same team then went on to experiment with clothing that lights up and have become pioneers, and perhaps, the world's best at doing this. The video below shows an example of their work for U2 from 4 years ago. They've also worked with other artists including Sarah Brightman and Katy Perry. These garments don't come cheap as they're labour intensive to create, but they're highly effective for a stage show or if you want to make an entrance. You can buy some of their items from their website now. The handbag is my favourite but a little outside my price range!


U2.COM - 'She's Gonna Dream Out Loud...' from CUTECIRCUIT on Vimeo.
http://cutecircuit.com

There are other artists working in this space and it's growing. As is the #fashtech thing. #fashtech covers a wide range of fashion and technology cross overs from providing mirrors that show you in different outfits without you having to undress, to new ways of selling and distributing merchandise as well as technology you wear - from Fitbit devices to new fabrics to connected jewellery to 3D printed clothes and shoes and much more. Some of the innovations will never make it beyond an innovation lab, but some of these things will break through to the mainstream, but it's early days for most.

That's why I was very happy to discover the e-Stitches group who meet every other month or so at the V&A Museum (my favourite London museum). Apparently the group is now about 100 members strong and their focus is on e-textiles. I don't know a lot about this stuff at all, so I'm interested to find out more.

Their next meet-up is on 9 December, is free to attend and will be at the V&A in London (details will be posted here). I'm putting the date in my diary to check it out. I shall report back on what I discover there.

Day 24/30 NaBloPoMo

Security, the Internet of Things and The Future of Humanity

I don't know about you, but security issues with digital devices, websites and apps both worry me and render me feeling a bit lost and as if we're always going to be fighting a losing battle with hackers and fraudsters. There are stories in the news every day about a data hack with consumer data being stolen, being locked out of personal accounts, having our laptops being held to ransom and more. It's very worrying as to how vulnerable we can be. And this isn't necessarily through any fault of our own.

As a consumer, we have little control over what happens on the server of the service we're accessing. So even if we're taking care with out passwords and login details, if the server is hacked, we're still vulnerable. Add to that the plethora of connected devices on the market such as routers, health trackers, Amazon Fire Stick, Google Home, Smart Meters and you see the problem is even bigger than just dealing our phones, tablets and laptops. Much of or town and city infrastructure is also connected such as the Oyster Card system on London's Underground, connect street lighting and traffic lights, CCTV cameras, speed cameras and much more besides. This part of the technology industry is only going to get bigger.

Fortunately, there are some very smart people working very hard indeed to help keep us and our digital lives safe. One of those people is David Rogers, my go to guy on all things mobile security. He writes in a post he's written today,

"We know that regular software updates, whilst a pain to establish and maintain are one of the best preventative and protective measures we can take against attackers, shutting the door on potential avenues for exploitation whilst closing down the window of exposure time to a point where it is worthless for an attacker to even begin the research process of creating an attack." 

That makes me feel marginally better about the tedium of seemingly endless updates to apps and software. It also shows us how important it is to keep these things up to date.

But keeping these things up to date, secure and safe is not a trivial task. It's complex and you're likely dealing with a supply chain rather than a single company. I imagine it could be quite daunting for a start-up or a small company.

If you're a developer of software or hardware or commission software or hardware or are generally interested in these things, especially in relation to the Internet of Things, then you would do well to have a gander at David's post, 'The Future of Humanity Depends on Us Getting Security Right with Internet of Things' and check his list of resources and further reading. He really is expert in this area. And I don't think he's underplaying it when he says that the future of humanity depends on it. With all the connected equipment in hospitals, schools, banks, energy companies, airports, transport networks and more, these are all vital and largely invisible parts of our lives. It's only when they don't work that we feel it and the impact can be truly dreadful, and indeed, life threatening.

I, for one, am reassured that there are lots of people in different areas of the business looking at this, not in silos, but together to come up with the right solutions and to keep coming up with solutions as this area evolves and grow. And if you're a youngster thinking about what career you might go into, I'd say that you'd be fairly sure of a solid and lucrative career by specialising in cyber security.

(Day 3/30 NaBloPoMo done.)

IOT, Connected Devices and You

I thought the Internet of Things was supposed to make life easier and simpler? Just ask Alexa (Amazon Echo) to turn on your music, add things to your shopping list and order them for and even tell you a joke. There are adverts on TV suggesting we turn our homes into smart homes so we can monitor our energy usage. We're encouraged to monitor our fitness with Fitbit devices and Apple Smart Watches. There's everything from a connected toothbrush to make sure you're brushing your teeth properly to a connected babygro that monitor your baby's heart rate and other vital stats.

Turns out we're just making it more complicated than ever - security being the thing about all this stuff that feels the most complex to me.

You've probably already heard that the DDOS attack that put out a whole bunch of websites last week was caused by security weaknesses in connected devices or 'internet of things' allowing a massive botnet to be created.You may say, oh, that's not me. I wouldn't be affected by something like that! I don't have an Amazon Echo or a Nest thermostat or anything like that.

Except, you could be affected. It's not these fancy, high-falluting new gadgets that aided the attackers. The list of devices that were used to propagate the Mirai virus includes printers, routers and TV receivers. How many of us have those in our homes and offices and don't think twice about it? Hmm.

As Benedict Evans said in his newsletter last week where I picked up on this story (you can sign up for it here), "A network designed to withstand nuclear attack, brought down by toasters". He's not far off the mark there. 

I hope someone is working on a solution to help normal people get their heads round this stuff to make it easy to manage our digital lives. I'm already boggled by the amount of passwords, settings, app updates and other online admin I need to manage. I don't want more of this stuff. I want less. How about you?

And how do we raise the profile of security issues like these to make them accessible to the general public and to make it a no-brainer to set-up and manage and lessen the admin burden?

More on the DDOS attack here and here.