Recently, an associate of mine sent me an article from TechRepublic, “The Web of Things: A web-connected world of smart devices,” asking for my thoughts about this phenomenon and ideas about how Altia fits in to this connected world.
Like the author of the article, I agree that the “connected device” trend is growing and here to stay.
When it comes to product User Interfaces, there are 3 approaches that can emerge.
- All smart devices are “faceless” and you only interact with them via your smart phone, tablet and PC.
- All smart devices have their own displays and you can interact with them directly.
- A combination of the above.
I predict it will be #3 — a combination of the above.
Today 50% of all smart devices have a dedicated display — and any urgent device requires a dedicated display. What are the industries where those urgent devices exist? Medical, security, automotive, defense, aerospace, commercial cooking, industrial control — and that’s just at the current state of technology.
And guess what – people are always in a hurry so every situation is urgent…home stereo, home appliances, home HVAC. The next time your security system goes berserk in the middle of the night, do you really want to think about looking for your smart phone then making sure it’s charged, finding your security app, making sure you have an internet connection, and so on? Or do you just want to run up to the wall panel and turn it off?
What about when you have house guests? Are you going to leave your phone with them?
At one time, you could have argued that cost was a prohibiting factor. Now? Displays are cheap, so there is little downside to the dedicated display.
In any case, Altia is positioned well to serve the web-connected, smart device world. Altia is the only company that can handle the deeply embedded displays AND smart phones. Altia provides the capability to create a unified look and feel for dedicated displays and their smart phone control counterparts. No need for users to learn two different systems for controlling a single device? That’s a user experience win for your product AND your company.
Whether your smart device will be accessed from a smart phone or an embedded display or both, Altia is the best UI development solution.
