Lessons Learned from Online Social Networking of

Physical Things

Andreas Kamilaris, Diomidis Papadiomidous and Andreas Pitsillides

Networks Research LaboratoryUniversity of Cyprus

BWCCA 2011, Barcelona, Spain

University of CyprusMotivation

Embedded Computing...

... merged with Physical Objects

University of CyprusMotivation

But also merged with the Web!

University of CyprusMotivation

But also merged with the Web!

University of CyprusMotivation

But also merged with the Web!

University of CyprusMotivation

The Semantic Web The Pervasive Web

University of CyprusMotivation

The Pervasive Web

“The user can access information and interact with every connecteddevice and the global community in an ubiquitous way.”

“Users will be able to know the right content, at the right time, in the right place and on the right device.”

Web-enablement of physical things.Seamless connectivity and interaction with them.

University of CyprusMotivation

• Two thirds of global Internet Population visit Social Networking Sites (SNS).

• Facebook has more than 400 million active users!

Social networking has become a fundamental part of the global online experience.The Web 2.0 is a social Web!

University of CyprusMotivation• SNS can constitute a driver for the transition to

the Pervasive Web• The missing element of SNS for ubiquitous

interaction with the environment is the inclusion of physical things to their interfaces.

• Online social networks can be transformed into shared smart spaces.

• Social relationships between people can be extended to social relationships with their physical devices.

University of CyprusBackground Information

• The Web of Things.• Reuse of well accepted Web principles.• Embedding Web servers on physical things.• Representational State Transfer (REST).• RESTful, open API.• Extending Web mashups into physical

mashups.• Combining physical mashups with SNS API.

University of CyprusDeveloping Pervasive SNS

Core Elements:• SNS• Open Web API• SNS Applications• Web Mashups – Physical Mashups• Web-enabled Physical Devices (Directly Vs Gateways)• Device/Service Discovery• Web Services (WS-* Vs REST)

University of CyprusDeveloping Pervasive SNS

General Architecture:

University of CyprusReal-World Social Applications

Social Energy AwarenessEnvironmental Monitoring

University of CyprusEnvironmental Monitoring

• Monitor the environmental conditions of the greenhouse of the organic farm.

• Control of the lamps through Plogg smart meters.• Awareness about temperature, humidity and

illumination in the greenhouse through Telosb sensor motes.

University of Cyprus

Resource URI REST Method Parameters Values Return Value

Temperature GET - - text/plain

Humidity GET - - text/plain

Illumination GET - - text/plain

Leds PUT color Red,Green,Blue text/plain

Electricity GET - - application/json

Switch PUT state On,Off text/plain

Environmental Monitoring

• RESTful Web Services• RESTlet Web Framework for Java• 6LoWPAN in TinyOS based on blip

University of CyprusEnvironmental Monitoring

University of Cyprus

The URL points to a WADL service description file.

Environmental Monitoring

Device/Service Discovery:

University of Cyprus

Facebook group SocialFamily.

Environmental MonitoringSharing the Greenhouse Space:

University of CyprusEnvironmental MonitoringInteracting with Physical Devices:

University of CyprusEnvironmental MonitoringA Publish/Subscribe Mechanism:

University of CyprusEnvironmental MonitoringEvaluation:

• Nine workers at the farm - two weeks duration of experiment.

Impressions:• “The application is easy to be used.”• “Excited with the perspective of controlling the greenhouse

while amusing with my friends.”• “The notifications are quite difficult to understand.”• “The user must be online to be notified!”• “I increased my monitoring activity.”• “I became more aware about the farm.”• “How much does it cost to fully automate the farm?”• “This can be applied also in health monitoring!”

University of CyprusSocial Energy Awareness

• Energy awareness can reduce electrical consumption by a fraction of 5-15%.

• Still, people can not clearly consider how much energy they consume.

• Each area, city or country has different tariffs and varied weather and physical conditions.

• A promising way to understand the ”semantics” of consumed energy is to compare it with the amount consumed by relatives, friends and neighbors.

• SNS are the ideal platforms for such comparisons, as they maintain a highly accurate graph of users’ social networks.

University of CyprusSocial Energy Awareness• SocialElectricity Facebook Application

University of CyprusSocial Energy AwarenessFunctionalities:

• People can compare their electricity footprint with that of their neighborhood/village/town.

• Associates electricity with costs.• Promotes sharing of people’s electricity consumption

figures with their friends at a street level.• Useful statistics about the most energy-efficient

streets/villages/cities.• Historical Data.• A green competition. • ”Region Awareness”

University of CyprusSocial Energy Awareness

System Architecture:

socialelectricity Database

User Interface-Facebook Application

INTERACTS

HTTP

TCP/IP

HTTPUniversity of

Cyprus Server

User

Geocode Server

socialelectricity ApplicationHosted

Database Web Service

TCP/IP

Geocode Web Service

TCP/IP

GeoCode Database

TCP/IP

University of CyprusSocial Energy Awareness

System Technologies:

• Microsoft Silverlight 4• XAML• C#• Javascript

• ASP .NET

• MS-SQL Server 2008

• Microsoft Bing Maps• Facebook API 3.01

University of CyprusSocial Energy AwarenessPreliminary Evaluation:

• Deployment at the Computer Science department of the University of Cyprus.

• 72 students of the department.

First Impressions:• “Highly impressed”.• “Entertaining to compare my local energy consumption

with that of my friends.”• “Your street has poorer energy performance than mine.”• “I realized after using the application that I had a faulty

meter. I contacted EAC immediately to replace it.”

University of CyprusSocial Energy AwarenessPreliminary Evaluation:

• Energy Awareness

Not Influenced,

22, 31%

Energy-aware

Students, 50, 69%Energy-aware Students

Not Influenced

University of CyprusSocial Energy AwarenessPreliminary Evaluation:

• High Electricity Bill

Not High, 59, 82%

High Electricity

Bill, 13, 18%

High Electricity Bill

Not High

University of CyprusGeneral Benefits

• The integration of physical devices/services to SNS would promote their sharing.

• Smart objects can become really ubiquitous.• It can help people engage in beneficial activities.• Strong incentives to people, for adopting

sustainable lifestyles.• We can leverage the authentication/authorization

mechanisms of the SNS easily.• Exploit SNS Open API to develop social mashups.• SNS users, find it easier to accept and use pervasive

applications, as they become blended with their overall online experience.

University of CyprusConcluding Remarks

• Social networking will play an important role in future personal/commercial online interaction.

• The physical world is a crucial part of it.• SNS are mature enough for giving a social shape

to pervasive Web applications.• SNS can constitute a key aspect for the transition

to a Pervasive Web, in the Web 3.0 era.• Flexibility, simplicity, security, interoperability,

even sharing.• Social API?

University of CyprusFuture Work

• Enhance our pervasive applications with more advanced, social capabilities.

• Deploying SocialElectricity around Cyprus.• Integrating the two applications together?• Support other real-life scenarios such as health

monitoring.• A Web-based, social API for embedded devices.• Devicebook

Thanks for your attention!

Contact Details: Andreas Kamilaris (camel9@gmail.com)