Controlling Smart Objects from Web Applications using the Webinos Platform

Abstract

We are surrounded by many objects with which we interact every day. In the future most of these objects will be able to process information and communicate with each other. When this technological barrier will be overcome, the next step will be to facilitate users to interact with these objects. In this paper we try to anticipate this need by proposing a platform that allows users to control objects around them, by transforming the features offered by such objects as services that can be invoked from web applications. The intent of this work is to take advantage of the user-experience in using web and mobile applications to create a kind of "continuity" in the way users interact with real objects. To try to achieve this we further propose a web application which, relying on the proposed platform, aids users to control objects in a domestic environment. Leveraging on the principles of the augmented reality, this application identifies the objects and creates a virtual representation of them. Moreover the application, using a dedicate API for smart objects that we are going to propose, allows users to access objects' features.