Social networking on the Web has become an integral part of our lives. Merging of computing with physical things enabled the conversion of everyday objects into information appliances. This merging allows Smart Homes to offer new automation possibilities to their residents. We propose utilizing existing social networking infrastructures and their Web-based APIs in order to integrate Smart Homes to the Web, offering social status to physical devices. We exploit the functionality and the Web 2.0 technologies provided by Facebook to transform the interaction with the Smart Home into a shared, social experience. A preliminary technical evaluation indicates that our approach is feasible and it offers acceptable performance. This work has been presented at the 21st Annual IEEE International Symposium on Personal,Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC 2010), Istanbul, Turkey, September 2010.

1. Social Networking
of the Smart Home
Andreas Kamilaris, Andreas Pitsillides
Networks Research Laboratory, University of Cyprus

2. Motivation University of Cyprus
Embedded Computing...
... merged with Physical Objects
Introduction of Information Appliances!

3. Motivation University of Cyprus
• New possibilities for Smart Homes...

4. Motivation University of Cyprus
• The Web of Things.
• Reuse of well accepted Web principles.
• Embedding Web servers on physical things.
• Representational State Transfer (REST).
• RESTful, open API.
• Extending Web mashups into physical
mashups.
• Towards Web-based Smart Homes...

5. Motivation University of Cyprus
• Two thirds of global Internet Population visits
Social Networking Sites (SNS).
• Facebook has more than 400 million active
users!
Social networking has become a fundamental
part of the global online experience.
The Web 2.0 is a social Web!

6. Core Idea University of Cyprus
• What about sharing devices between people?
• A Web-based Smart Home with Social Behavior.
• Web Mashups with SNS.
• Extend social relationships between people to
social relationships with physical devices.
• Use of REST.

7. System Architecture University of Cyprus
• Monitor the environmental conditions of the
Smart Home.
• Energy awareness and control through Smart
Metering.
• Social Integration of the Smart Home.

8. System Architecture University of Cyprus

RESTful Web Services.

Restlet Web Framework for Java.

6LoWPAN in TinyOS, based on blip.
Resource URI REST Method Parameters Values Return Value
Temperature GET - - text/plain
Humidity GET - - text/plain
Illumination GET - - text/plain
Leds PUT color Red,Green,Blue text/plain
Electricity GET - - application/json
Switch PUT state On,Off text/plain

9. Web Mashups through Facebook University of Cyprus

10. Discovering Home Appliances University of Cyprus
The URL points to a
WADL service
description file.

11. Sharing Home Appliances University of Cyprus
• Facebook group SocialFamily.

12. Controlling Home Appliances University of Cyprus

13. A Pub/Sub Mechanism University of Cyprus

14. Concluding Remarks University of Cyprus
• The Web of Things is a reality.
• Web-based Smart Homes is a promising
practice.
• Web Mashups with physical devices.
• Flexibility, simplicity, security,
interoperability, even sharing.
• Social API?

15. Thanks for your attention!
Contact Details: Andreas Kamilaris (camel9@gmail.com)