http://www.wired.com/2015/05/next-roomba-may-recognize-crap/
The Internet of Things is plagued by communication breakdowns. While connected thermostats, egg trays, and even forks can beam data to apps and offer phone-based controls, this isn’t exactly what we were promised from this technology. In order for the Internet of Everything to achieve its real promise of context-aware automation without much user input, disparate pieces of hardware must communicate with one another, understand what’s going on, and control themselves accordingly. Like a sentient being, your home should “know” when to preheat the oven, turn on a bedside lamp, or brew a fresh pot of coffee. If you’re using an app, you’re essentially using a remote control. There’s nothing particularly “smart” about that.
Colin Angle, the CEO of iRobot, thinks making the Internet of Things more useful means marginalizing apps in favor of maps. The company recently announced that by the end of this year, it will market a robot that can create a map of your home by recognizing and labeling everything in it using a camera and a cloud-based engine. It will use that info to drive next-generation operating systems for connected homes.
“This idea that the Internet of Things is going to simplify our lives—I think it will, but we’re going to need some technology that doesn’t yet exist in order to take the benefits,” Angle told WIRED. “What you don’t want is eight gazillion apps on the phone for every single component… What we need to do to improve things rather than make them more complicated is to have our homes be able to track the intent of the people living in it. And then do the right thing.”