Interactive world

Using the internet and wireless technology to connect with (i.e. collect data and/or remotely control) everyday objects is nothing new. But increasingly, the technology formerly used in major supply chains is reaching small businesses and consumers. The convergence of several factors have made this primordial soup not just ready, but already brewing up life.

The right conditions:

• An increasing foundation of flexible applications (Google maps, etc)
• Cheap contract manufacturing
• Deep market penetration of various key electronic components (cameras, GPS, motion sensors, batteries, wireless communication, lcd screens)
  

And the first signs of life:

• A keyword linked to a website to track lost/traveling items (i.e. sendmehome)
• A motion recorder device to measure physical activity/sleep quality (i.e. FitBit)
• Personal RFID or 2-D barcodes (i.e. TouchTag)
  

Just think what you could do if you could collect information out of everyday objects and then tell them to do something given that data. This already has and potentially could touch a variety of markets w/ various applications:

• Fitness (nutrition and exercise tracking)
  
• Household utility usage (and controls)
  
• Payment systems (consumer-consumer)
  
• Medication disbursement
• others..

Hat tip to TechCrunch for the heads up on sendmehome and thanks to fatknowledge and Andrew Jackson for pointing out fitbit.