I got back from our SHOS convention in Orlando and talked to a bunch of manufacturers that are all putting "smart" appliances in your home this year (or at least they are more heavily marketing it). It will register any sensors on the machines and send it back to the manufacturer (or whoever collects and analyzes that data).

After analysis, that data is presented back to the consumer in the form of a Kenmore/LG/Samsung Smart Home app on your phone. You can see your water heater usage, fridge error codes, etc and even get quick troubleshooting information.

The next step is revenue generation off that data collected. As someone said in the Netflix thread, Netflix has SO much data and can make superb purchases without much risk, they know more about their customers than their customers know about themselves, to a degree.

Same thing with smart devices. I think in the future you're going to have local IT vendors that specialize in appliance repair (or have staff that performs appliance repair). Imagine subscribing to a local vendor for repair work, and when your machine is acting "differently" your vendor calls your PROACTIVELY and says,

"we noticed your fridge is generating an error code, or the fan is turning on way more than it should, we'd like to check it out and make sure its working correctly"
OR
You're watching TV and an alert pops up in the corner showing an error code on your fridge, you click the message and it shows you the details, links to a couple of youtube videos to troubleshoot, or an option to setup a maintenance call with an actionable time and date (ON YOUR TV mind you).

Most likely, because of the mass populace's ignorance on how valuable the data you generate is worth, the manufacturers will keep this data under lock and key and it will be "Their" data, not yours. Unless something changes.


Sears Home Services sure is sitting pretty to be able to be that vendor who can do everything that needs to be done in a home, and will be able to analyze their Kenmore customers information. Their conversation will be "hi mr customer, we're here today to look at your fridge, but also noticed that your heater is working harder than normal. We'd like to check your roof/windows while we're here to see if there's an easy fix... if not we can schedule the work to be done asap"


Some are even speculating that the info is so valuable that the machines may be given away and you just pay a maintenance fee.

Anyways, just food for thought. I'd like to figure out how I can be that local vendor who gets their customer's data and can help their local community, rather than a big centralized cluster that Sears Home Services currently is.

Definitely it is the future. I specialize in customer support and have been talking about this proactive support method with many customers. One thing is I don't know how loyal customers are to brands like Kenmore, Samsung, etc. Huge opportunity for them to incentivize people into a single brand.

I think the information should be shareable at consumers preference, not required because you buy their product... but with legislation siding with big business lately I don't expect much.

Consolidating all information and sensors on an appliance such as pressure on door, how long a door is held open, etc can be identifiable information.

Input: Steve opens door, closes door, opens door closes door

Steve turns around and the tv is playing a directed advertisement to a food establishment and/or pops up with takeout options, or some quick recipes based on the inventory in the fridge, here's a YouTube to show how it helps"

All the data generated from machines from tv to phone to fridge all stored in geographical format... big data.

What's big data to you?

That sounds terribly intrusive. Not sure what the great benefit for the consumer is for giving away all this data.

That example I would consider big data (notification of when I am in the fridge). Not necessarily troubleshooting sensors on appliances or vehicles.
Minor difference I guess.

How about trashcans that track your rate of usage by barcode and then create a shopping list for you. That data would be packaged and sold.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/reviewedcom/2017/01/03/this-device-puts-your-trash-can-in-charge-of-your-grocery-list/96112186/

Input: User A (based on pressure when opening and closing door) opens and shuts door, repeats 2 or 3 times, leaves door open for a few minutes.

Assumption: User A is undecided on what he will eat, or he's not sure what he can make with the ingredients available.

Reaction:
1. Inventory fridge items, generate quick recipes based on what's available and recipes subscribed to online,
2. generate quick food delivery options to pop up on phone app, accept payment through the fridge/tv/phone app (maybe with some type of digital currency because you can't give your fridge cash, or your fridge is already loaded with the total budget you are willing to spend on food this month and you manage it thru your fridge inventory system in the cloud *bwaaaaaaaaaaa*)
3. Get options for dining out (favorites and new places), order a self-driving vehicle to arrive in x minutes/time, depart.

Result: less anxiety, less energy consumption because your fridge is opened less often, full details of all options available (or at least direct-marketed options)


Again, I'm all for this HUGE HUGE amount of information consolidation and analysis, but it's really creeping on all the bad things that this can do.

Other side of the sword:

example a.
Law Enforcement - Warrant issued
1. Verify customer is home based on his/her use of appliances. (ie how this individual uses the machines) because you know that we won't be able to prevent the abuse of the 4th amendment, unless we do through technology and encryption of personal information ESPECIALLY meta-data.
2. Serve warrant with expectation of assumed criminal's presence.

There are some pretty scary scenarios that all this data will be used at your detriment instead of your benefit.

Diggity said:

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That sounds terribly intrusive. Not sure what the great benefit for the consumer is for giving away all this data.

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Diggity, i wholeheartedly agree. It should be your information to disclose at leisure, not the manufacturers' data that they can choose to share with whomever they like. But this type of data should be used to benefit you because it will be SO helpful.

So I sold ERP (energy resource planning) software for large box stores and whatnot for a while. This type of information being generated is wonderful in order to decrease your energy spend on a enterprise level. This type of software and sensors are being developed to bring that down to a consumer level. I think that's pretty non-intrusive and can be managed on an individual or enterprise level. REIT's and property managers can see all of their machines in real-time, or have a service provider that does, while they carry on with what makes them money.

Thats valuable.

There's a lot of change incoming. Beware the behemoths, like Google, apple, samsung, MSM, Verizon etc. They will have nearly the same data and more than even the NSA about your habits and personally identifying information. Gonna be a crazy world.

You're not going to be required to supply the data. You don't want it, don't connect it. But, they will sell you on missing out on an enhanced service.

Install this sensor and we can proactively help your non-connected machine, we will be able to discount our service contract to a lifetime contract and then an option for us to buy your machine from you and get your a brand new set within 6-8 years at a discount for the service. We can resell or lease your old machine that's been taken great care of by you and our service agreement.

Not only that, but you'll be able to take this machine to the best of it's capabilities and it'll learn how to best service your needs as an appliance. Want it to play music for you in the morning based on the weather? How about when your phone/smartwatch/wearable moves into the bathroom your coffee starts grinding and making coffee (maybe a different or random coffee each day you can set it from your phone at any point) fridge asks you what you want it to make and lists your inventory inside it and after confirming pantry inventory will tell you what recipes are available based on your level of chef aptitude and which chefs/recipes you follow ( OR TRY THIS NEW ONE FROM RACHEL RAY *advert in corner*)

As you move into the bathroom, your scheduled home tasks kick into gear. Coffee starts grinding/roasting/making, water heater gets your shower to the perfect temperature so you can just walk in and go (no waiting and wasting water) your schedule for the day pops up on the glass in the shower along with other items of interest at your personal discretion (remember you're user A, User B would have their own personalized or learned configurations). Budgets you may have set for all of your appliances, maybe related to energy consumption or inventory needs (salt for water softener, budget for repairs, groceries or home supplies that are reorderable, consumable etc), easily accessible from the shower. Maybe it'll show you how much energy your SolarCity Roof panels generated onto the grid and earned "community credits" usable at any local retailer serviced by your utility provider...

As you get finished in the shower and move to the kitchen your machines are already primed for perfection and everything is already ready. No decisions needed to be made you meaning you can focus on whatever else it is you want to focus on, work or play.


anyways there's a lot of possibilities out there. dystopian and idealistic. It'll probably just be a way to be pegged with advertising everywhere you go. And you'll be forced to watch or pay a penalty, not a tax. You'll also be forced to participate or you'll lose a % of your money all the time.

https://www.facebook.com/cognitivescale/videos/1135629799886682/

CIO of MD Anderson discussing democratizing Healthcare.... holy **** this is a great watch. I've met this guy(or his associate can't remember it was 4 years ago) when I did Fiber sales in Houston and seen the inside of the data center, cool stuff.

Cognitive scale is implementing blockchain tech and machine learning to mine all this information and create efficiencies in so many industries.... especially healthcare. Big Data is craaaazy

http://www.the-blockchain.com/2016/10/20/cognitivescale-launches-ai-blockchain-brain/

Quote:

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Benefits of Blockchain-powered AI applications and processes include:

• Compliance: Driving greater awareness and compliance of operational guardrails of the business so that regulatory policies, procedures and best practices are followed
• Immutability: Protecting the customer experience through an immutable Profile of One to drive assured commerce with audit trails for improving quality, accuracy and confidence
• Trust: Providing unique digital identity management through a Blockchain-powered profile of one to reduce risk, drive a customer-focused experience, and secure the system with evidence of tampering and data breach notification
• Veracity: Guaranteeing the veracity of underlying data and operational procedures making it independently verifiable by customers, auditors and regulators to reduce compliance effort and costs

For financial services firms, the company will combine Blockchain technology with its Deep Cognition Engine to power identity, insights, and process assurance. Specifically, the company will use its Blockchain-powered ENGAGE product to offer personalized services based on the client's individualized profile of one while ensuring that advisors operate within the specified guardrails. In addition, its Blockchain-powered AMPLIFY product will help identify regulatory red flags and assure compliance within and across business networks by providing audit trail for regulators to verify compliance while dramatically reducing costs, complexity and time.
For healthcare organizations, CognitiveScale ENGAGE will use Blockchain technology to provide unbreakable trust and security for patient data. Insurance companies and providers can feel confident in the accuracy of patient identities and the security of patient data, which helps to expedite time-consuming and costly procedures like billing and claims while improving the quality of patient care, and reducing the likelihood of medical errors.

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To tie back in with your appliances:
Fridge:
"Now Steve, you know your doctor said to reduce your _____ intake, have this apple instead?"

Farmer, You're probably right. Home Services is going to have a lot of data, all they need is the right machine learning algorithm and the company will essentially run itself off of labor provided by local technicians that are qualified by online reviews, like uber, but less centralized.

now whether they can recognize the opportunity (as i see it) is up in the air. Someone will capitalize on this market early on and be successful, and then it will quickly get gobbled up.

Apologies for sounding like i'm selling something, I'm interested in the space and excited/frightened about what this all will mean for us as a human race. It's like "Wall-e" kinda.

"Here are all of your best options considering all the data available on you and the world and supply and demand, sorted from best to worst based on what we think you (individually) will benefit from"

"Here are the things you (or your kids) should be most educated on considering future applications of labor and marketplace demands, would you like to see what options are available for your children thru Udacity or Khan Academy that best suits their learning environment, or we can schedule time with a live tutor in your area that specializes in these subjects."

"This is what your timeline of activities looks like, (schedule of things you did today with timestamps) after analyzing your online, shopping, business/workrelated, and entertainment activities we think that you may want to invest in a time management strategy or application. here are some popular options based on your personality and style"

I could definitely sell the hell outta this product, but i odn't think it exists quite like this yet.

The data should be owned by the individual though. otherwise we're a different kind of slave and that's just dystopian.

lead said:

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Your example is not what I'd consider "big data"

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lead is right.
Big Data is a nice buzzword, and everyone wants to get into it without finding out if those techniques are needed or not. What most companies have is not "Big Data".

Microsoft and Amazon are already on it.

Off topic:

Wheels- are you capable of a post where you don't have to type paragraphs?

BoilerAg10 said:

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Off topic:

Wheels- are you capable of a post where you don't have to type paragraphs?

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symptom of my adhd. thanks for understanding.

Foamcows said:

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you are investing on the wrong side of big data... sure eventually something will take off in regards to sensors and home automation.... however, right now what that will be is a gamble.

If you want to invest in big data, invest in the storage side. Big data needs storage, and lots of it. It also needs the ability to analyze that data... I would argue the safer, but more boring investment is in the tech that will house all this fancy big data.

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Foam,
Have you heard of any decentralized solutions? watch that video i posted from the CIO of MD Anderson, they have one of the most sophisticated and future safe systems being invested into right now.

They are using machine learning AI and blockchain technology together to automate personal care and personal health data from being accessed centrally. there's no need for the huge massive data centers because its a shared pool of data, like bittorrent. If you've worked with them on any IT side you'd know they have an insanely robust disaster recovery system for their data.

The whole video is him talking about how AWESOME this already is, and if HIPAA could get out of the way they could make healthcare cost drop instantly while improving dramatically the customer experience and direct care.It's pretty exciting stuff.

Frok said:

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Most of my appliances don't work 100% correctly right now and I'm okay with that.

I really don't want some repair guy calling me about my appliances every week telling me it needs to be fixed. Sounds like a salesman's dream but a bunch of annoyance for everyone else.

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Exactly what I was thinking!

Also as much as Google and Amazon know about me I'm not sure I want them knowing I open my fridge at 7:30am and 6:30pm daily.

Upside/downside, depending on standards for personal privacy/encryption of info, I don't know that the consumer will get to make that choice.

Might be a conversation to start having with your congressman, as this is juuuuuuuust around the corner. And if you don't think big govt doesn't want big data in their back pocket, well...

They day my refrigerator tells me to put down the ice cream and eat an apple is the day I sell everything I own, buy some land in the country, and build myself a house from rocks and sticks.

Ironically, I will be able to grow fruits and vegetables but not ice cream.

Ulrich said:

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They day my refrigerator tells me to put down the ice cream and eat an apple is the day I sell everything I own, buy some land in the country, and build myself a house from rocks and sticks.

Ironically, I will be able to grow fruits and vegetables but not ice cream.

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Yeah but imagine if your cow could tell you the best times for it to be milked, and then the milk is made into ice cream automagically in your smart farm.

Big data was invented by the Russians, Trump, and Larry Ellison. Expect great things. MAREGA.