From SCDigest's OnTarget e-Magazine
- Nov. 18, 2015 -
RFID, IoT and AIDC News: Interesting Idea for Use of the Internet of Things in a Consumer Products Application
French Company Feeligreen has Cosmetics Applicators that Send Usage Information Back to Marketing and Product Development Teams
SCDigest Editorial Staff
Applications for the Internet of Things (IoT) seem fairly obvious in many industrial type environments.
For example, Caterpillar has put sensors on millions of its construction machines that send data back on how the product is being used, the health of the machine that can be used to predict failures before they occur, and more.
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He added that "If it's just asking why the customer hasn't used your product in two weeks, that's not going to work. There's a fine line between value and harassment."
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GE is doing the same with its aircraft engines, not only collecting and analyzing the same type of data as Caterpillar, but also having created a new analytic information service it is selling to its airline customers based on that data.
And just this week, Cincinnati manufacturer Mazak Corp. was profiled in local media for adding an array of sensors to all its production machines, which send real-time data to the company's analytic applications . Mazak says that by understanding everything that's going on with its machines, it is able to know when it's being the most productive, and what may be decreasing productivity, identifying opportunities to address those problems.
That's all well and good, and such industrial/manufacturing applications do seem to be delivering real value for a growing number of companies. In addition, such applications can often be seen as very evolutionary, as manufacturers have been monitoring information from production equipment for many decades. The difference now is being able to better analyze that data, make it available easily to whomever needs it, and/or to monitor equipment far outside the four walls of the enterprise.
But the IoT hype machine is running full speed far beyond just these industrial applications.
Take for example, recent comments from Fortune magazine reporter Jonathan Vanian, who wrote breathlessly that "The Internet of things, in which anything from refrigerators to cars are connected online, is such an important development that companies failing to recognize it risk becoming irrelevant."
With that as backdrop, some interesting news this week on potential use of IoT in consumer products applications.
At a recent conference in the UK, a young French company named Feeligreen was demonstrating its IoT-based systems for cosmetic and health care products.
It works like this: The company has produced a connected handheld device which, in combination with the right cosmetic cream, uses micro-currents and LEDs to treat wrinkles, cellulite, stretch marks or blemishes.
That device in turn connects to the Internet and is controlled by an app that can track consumer usage, with the consumer's permission, and then send that data back to Feeligreen.
(RFID and AIDC Story Continued Below)
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He also had some interesting thoughts relative to IoT and consumer privacy - and what might convince customers to allow data about how they use products to be communicated to the manufacturer or brand company.