One day, your high-tech eyewear will talk to the refrigerator and let you know when you're out of milk. From there, you could send a tweet to your spouse — either via the specs or the fridge — and ask him to pick up a gallon on the way home. If he forgets to lock the car door after getting home, the TV will notify you.
As more companies integrate smart, connected capabilities into household items, it's only a matter of time before the Internet is in everything. In fact, Gartner Research predicts "smart home" technology will add $1.9 trillion to the global economy by 2020.
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But the Internet of Things — this concept that all devices, objects and systems could be connected and share information in the future — will only work if everything works together. Right now, there are limitations: Your Samsung fridge can't talk to your Sony TV because every company prefers to use proprietary technology, which isn't compatible with another company's.
As a part of an effort to fix this issue, nonprofit organization The Linux Foundation launched the AllSeen Alliance on Tuesday. The initiative is backed by 23 consumer electronics and software applications, including LG, Panasonic, Sharp and Qualcomm, and takes on a vendor-neutral approach with the help of open source software and collaboration development. When companies start using the same available code, they can develop services on top of it and push it out to consumers more quickly.
"Lots of people believe that the Internet of Things is the next big tech wave, but there are still major challenges," a Linux Foundation spokesperson told Mashable. "Right now, individual vendors are pursuing its vision and strategy, but we need true brand integration for it to take off."
On a basic level, some household items are already connected to the Internet, from Samsung's Internet-connected refrigerator, which tweets and streams music from Pandora, to the Nest thermostat, which is controlled via smartphone and learns your temperatures based on your behavior and schedule. In the future, the AllSeen Alliance hopes these types of products will work together.
"Devices in the Internet of Things are supposed to interoperate autonomously, but right now, that's not the case," the spokesperson said. "You need a layer to let different product brands to talk to each other."
Members of the AllSeen Alliance, which is the broadest cross-industry consortium in the smart home space to date, will contribute software and engineering resources on an open framework so an industry standard can be put in place.
"In the future, everything will be connected, communicating and intelligently sharing resources, and the alliance is a strong step in that direction," the spokesperson added.
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