Towards the Web of Things: Web Mashups for Embedded Devices

TLDR

The Internet of Things envisions integrating the physical world with computer networks, but current approaches rely on competing standards and custom solutions that demand extensive time and technical expertise. This work proposes applying Web 2.0 mashup concepts to embed real‑world devices in the Web, enabling them to be combined easily with virtual and physical resources. The authors illustrate how REST principles can be applied to embedded devices, demonstrating concrete implementations on Sun SPOT and Ploggs wireless energy monitors. RESTful interactions enable rapid prototyping and mashups that fuse physical and virtual worlds, as shown by the presented implementations.

Abstract

In the \Internet of Things vision, the physical world becomes integrable with computer networks. Embedded computers or visual markers on everyday objects allow things and information about them to be accessible in the digital world. However, this integration is based on competing standards and requires custom solutions, thus requires extensive time and technical expertise. Based on the success of Web 2.0 mashup applications, we propose a similar approach for integrating real-world devices to the Web, allowing for them to be easily combined with other virtual and physical resources. In this paper we discuss possible integration method, in particular how the REST principles can be applied to embedded devices. Then we illustrate these principles with two concrete implementations: on the Sun SPOT platform and on the Ploggs wireless energy monitors. Finally, we show how RESTful interactions can be leveraged to quickly create new prototypes and mashups that combine the physical and virtual world.