Presenter: Steven Posick, Associate Director, Production Workflow Application Development at ESPN
Date: Tuesday, October 7th, 7 p.m.
Location: Danbury Hospital Auditorium
If you haven’t heard the term “Internet of Things (IoT)” before, you probably will soon. We’re all used to accessing the Internet from a computer and now our smartphones and tablets. You may even have your home theater equipment, such as a DVR, Blu-ray player, or video streaming device set up to access the Internet through your home network. But soon other devices in our household, such as our thermostat, will be accessing the Internet to pull information that enables them to run more intelligently. Home automation is soon to become more commonplace, and not just to be found in Bill Gates’s house.
A lot of companies are starting to look closely at this area. Apple is just now releasing their HomeKit framework in iOS 8 to enable home automation developers to connect their accessories to your iPhone or iPad. You might soon be able to tell your iOS device, “Time for bed,” and it can send commands that lock your doors, dim your lights, and adjust your thermostat. In January Samsung announced its own platform for the smart home. Microsoft thinks this technology is going to be of interest to business by connecting devices and sensors to business intelligence tools. And you know Google is in on this, too. See “Google Is Making A Land Grab For The Internet Of Things.”
Our speaker this month, Steven Posick of ESPN, is an insider involved in this technology. He says, “There are many companies working on home automation and the Internet of Things. The [Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers] SMPTE ST2071 standard is the first international standard that addresses the IoT space and therefore will take some time before adoption spreads. It is being adopted within the Professional Media industry and Eclipse Smart Home is built around the core principles (we have been in active discussions with the Eclipse Smart Home Project from the beginning of the Smart Home project).” Steve will discuss the concrete applications and how the work benefits people, from home automation, to improving their media entertainment experience at home, to how the ideas defined within the standard change the way software is designed (keeping that high level).
Steven Posick is a veteran senior systems architect, software engineer, network engineer, computer/network security professional, and information & media technology thought leader, with over 23 years of experience in Information Technology and a 10+ year focus in Media Technology: Identity, Management, and Control. Steven is employed by ESPN, as Associate Director, Production Workflow Application Development, having worked for the company for over 14 years. Steven is also a participating member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), having served as a working/drafting group chairperson and document editor for a number of Media Technology standards, including the recently published SMPTE suite of standards on Media & Device Control over Internet Protocol Networks (MDC) [SMPTE ST2071].
If you’re a software developer interested in a more in depth look at the programming details, Steven is preparing a more technical presentation, “The Control of Media & Devices in an Internet of Things (Iot),” and accompanying white paper for the 2014 SMPTE Technical Conference & exhibition on this topic. There Steven will discuss the topic of Capability-based programming.
Abstract. The “Internet of Things” (IoT) refers to an Internet-like structure consisting of uniquely identified objects that expose services. These services are typically designed using traditional Object Oriented methodologies that encourage the coalescence of features into a single consolidated view. This may work well for homogeneous environments but can be problematic for heterogeneous environments, such as media control systems, where objects may be modular and change their behavior dynamically at runtime. To better represent objects within these environments, and the IoT, the SMPTE ST2071 standard allows objects to be described using sets of uniquely identified features, known as Capabilities. Capabilities can be used in much the same way as building blocks to construct object behaviors and the objects can change their behavior dynamically by changing the set of Capabilities exposed. In addition, the use of Capabilities also allows objects to be discovered within the IoT by the features they support.
DACS meetings are usually held at Danbury Hospital auditorium. (Go to www.dacs.org to find directions and parking information). Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for registration and casual networking. Meetings start at 7:00 p.m. with a Q&A period (Ask DACS), followed by announcements and a short break. The featured presentation begins at 8:00 p.m. The meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 9:30 p.m.
DACS General Meetings are free and open to the public. Members and prior attendees are encouraged to extend invitations to anyone interested in this topic.