While much of the tech industry seems to be focused on rolling out an array of wearable devices, several companies are looking forward to a world where even more devices are connected to the web and accessed by users. We have already seen bits of this concept in the form of NFC-based wireless payment systems where users can interact with point-of-sale devices using their smartphones. Efforts thus far have tended to be only marginally successful due to attempts by vendors to lock users into their solutions and apps. Google is working on a new project they have dubbed the Physical Web to one day create an open, standards-based method for users to connect to the Internet of Things.
The project is headed up by Scott Jenson and lives within Google’s Chrome team. The Chrome team may seem to be an unusual place to sponsor this project. The team thinks the Physical Web should be an open standard that anyone and everyone can use, much like Internet protocols. Although access to physical objects may not necessarily occur via a web browser, Jenson thinks it should not require a dedicated app or software either. Ideally, users should be able to just walk up to a device and access any relevant information that is being shared or perform certain types of interactions, like make a payment.
Jenson gives a few examples of how the Physical Web would work. For instance, users could walk up to a vending machine to make a payment and get a cold drink without having to open the Coke app or the Pepsi app or the ABC Vending app. Another use could be parking meters that accept electronic payments. Jenson also suggests something like the ZipCar rental system that would work using the signs for the parking spaces. Depending on where chips are placed, Jenson thinks “everything should be just a tap away.”
Analysts suggest the market for smart devices could explode in the next few years. Intel says there will be 15 Billion devices deployed by the end of 2015 and Cisco thinks there will be 50 Billion connected by 2020. To achieve numbers like that, users will have to be able to access them easily and quickly, which is why Google is trying to stay ahead of the curve.
source: Physical Web
via: TechCrunch
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