Announcing the Google Internet of Things (IoT) Technology Research Award Pilot

Over the past year, Google engineers have experimented and developed a set of building blocks for the Internet of Things - an ecosystem of connected devices, services and “things” that promises direct and efficient support of one’s daily life. While there has been significant progress in this field, there remain significant challenges in terms of (1) interoperability and a standardized modular systems architecture, (2) privacy, security and user safety, as well as (3) how users interact with, manage and control an ensemble of devices in this connected environment.

It is in this context that we are happy to invite university researchers¹ to participate in the Internet of Things (IoT) Technology Research Award Pilot. This pilot provides selected researchers in-kind gifts of Google IoT related technologies (listed below), with the goal of fostering collaboration with the academic community on small-scale (~4-8 week) experiments, discovering what they can do with our software and devices.

We invite you to submit proposals in which Google IoT technologies are used to (1) explore interesting use cases and innovative user interfaces, (2) address technical challenges as well as interoperability between devices and applications, or (3) experiment with new approaches to privacy, safety and security. Proposed projects should make use of one or a combination of these Google technologies:

• Google beacon platform - consisting of the open beacon format Eddystone and various client and cloud APIs, this platform allows developers to mark up the world to make your apps and devices work smarter by providing timely, contextual information.
• Physical Web - based on the Eddystone URL beacon format, the Physical Web is an approach designed to allow any smart device to interact with real world objects - a vending machine, a poster, a toy, a bus stop, a rental car - and not have to download an app first.
• Nearby Messages API - a publish-subscribe API that lets you pass small binary payloads between internet-connected Android and iOS devices as well as with beacons registered with Google's proximity beacon service.
• Brillo & Weave - Brillo is an Android-based embedded OS that brings the simplicity and speed of mobile software development to IoT hardware to make it cost-effective to build a secure smart device, and to keep it updated over time. Weave is an open communications and interoperability platform for IoT devices that allows for easy connections to networks, smartphones (both Android and iOS), mobile apps, cloud services, and other smart devices.
• OnHub router - a communication hub for the Internet of Things supporting Bluetooth® Smart Ready, 802.15.4 and 802.11a/b/g/n/ac. It also allows you to quickly create a guest network and control the devices you want to share (see On.Here).
• Google Cloud Platform IoT Solutions - tools to scale connections, gather and make sense of data, and provide the reliable customer experiences that IoT hardware devices require.
• Chrome Boxes & Kiosk Apps - provides custom full screen apps for a purpose-built Chrome device, such as a guest registration desk, a library catalog station, or a point-of-sale system in a store.
• Vanadium - an open-source framework designed to make it easier to develop secure, multi-device user experiences, with or without an Internet connection.

Check out the Ubiquity Dev Summit playlist for more information on these platforms and their best practices.

Please submit your proposal here by February 29th in order to be considered for a award. Proposals will be reviewed by researchers and product teams within Google. In addition to looking for impact and interesting ideas, priority will be given to research that can make immediate use of the available technologies. Selected proposals will be notified by the end of March 2016. If selected, the award will be subject to Google’s terms, and your use of Google technologies will be subject to the applicable Google terms of service.

To connect our physical world to the Internet is a broad and long-term challenge, one we hope to address by working with researchers across many disciplines and work practices. We are looking forward to the collaborative opportunity provided by this pilot, and learning about innovative applications you create for these new technologies.

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1 The same eligibility conditions as for the Faculty Research Award Program apply - see here.^↩