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The Physical Web Project

As the popularity of internet-connected gadgetry and everyday items increases, a future where all objects and people are able to directly interact through the internet seems to be coming closer to reality. Researchers and tech companies have called this scenario the Internet of Things. A “Thing” in the Internet of Things is anything that has the ability to transfer data over the internet. It is predicted that there will be explosive growth in the proliferation of these internet-connected devices. Google has begun the Physical Web Project, an open standard or protocol which enables users with mobile phones to connect with any internet connected device and interact with it on demand. This new technology will rely heavily use link analysis techniques which we discussed during class.

An example given in the article by Overmeyer of a scenario of the use of the Physical Web Project is a user being on the street with internet connected billboards, parking meters, traffic signs, and vending machines. Any business can offer an online experience for their customers when they walk into the store. Since there are dozens (maybe even thousands) of internet connected “things” that the user’s mobile device has the ability to connect to, the project will need to use link analysis to determine what is relevant to the user. Instead of pages, the nodes that this network will be made up of are internet connected objects and users. Similar to the idea of using hubs and authorities and PageRank, the Physical Web Project will use the Principle of Repeated Improvement to refine the importance of nodes. Inferring measures of authority on patterns of links and of nodes will prevent users from being overloaded by numerous and irrelevant internet-enable “things” to connect to. Eventually, there will be a large number of smart devices to choose from, the link analysis techniques employed will ensure that when the user will interact with only relevant things. This is analagous to a Google search, when users enter a query into Google, they will be fairly confident that what they are looking for are in the top few search results.

While smart appliances, intelligent thermostats, and internet-connected cars are becoming more commonplace, each of these things requires the downloading of a mobile application in order for a user to interact with it. Apps are somewhat superfluous and not as intuitive as what Google hopes will eventually be the norm: the open standard that the Physical Web Project provides. This project is the next step to a more seamlessly connected world of smart devices.

Sources:

https://google.github.io/physical-web/

http://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/news/search-engine-optimization-tools-may-shift-with-googles-physical-web-project/

http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/02/google-the-physical-web/

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