Cyberpsychology meets IoT

Internet of Things (IoT) refers to an emerging infrastructure that allows creating networks of physical objects, enabled by micro-electrical systems, wireless communication, and Internet technologies. In this vision, everyday objects are no longer ‘‘passive’’ entities in the environment, but can actively communicate with each other to provide services that improve our lives.

Existing examples of IoT systems include fire extinguishers that send signals when they are empty, or distributed environmental sensors that monitor air quality. In the last few years, IoT has taken an important step forward, growing from a futuristic vision to a concrete business opportunity that is attracting significant investments by key ICT players and public institutions. As the European Commission estimates, the market value of the IoT in the EU alone is expected to exceed one trillion euros in 2020.

The term ‘‘Internet of Things’’ was introduced in the late 1990s by Kevin Ashton at MIT, to refer to a scenario in which everyday objects are able to communicate between themselves and be managed by computers. According to this vision, objects become digitally augmented and connected entities, which can collect different types of data from the physical context and transmit them over wireless networks. In Ashton’s own words:

If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things—using data they gathered without any help from us—we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling, and whether they were fresh or past their best. We need to empower computers with their own means of gathering information, so they can see, hear and smell the world for themselves, in all its random glory. RFID and sensor technology enable computers to observe, identify and understand the world—without the limitations of human-entered data.

In order to be integrated in the IoT infrastructure, an object must satisfy at least one of two requirements: digital presence (i.e., to own an IP address for being univocally identified in the network) and connectedness (i.e., to exchange data without other entities). In general, it is possible to distinguish between two main types of communication enabled by the IoT paradigm: The first is thing-to-thing, which refers to technologies and applications wherein objects can interact with other objects (i.e., by monitoring or modifying the status) and eventually notify humans when required. The second is thing-to-person/person-to-thing, where people interact with smart objects and vice versa. IoT applications are being developed in any activity sector, including industry, healthcare, entertainment, and scientific research. According to a recent forecast by Gartner, the number of connected things will reach nearly 21 billion by 2020.

The emergence of IoT has two key implications. The first is that objects will be transformed into ‘‘smart things’’ that are able of enhancing existing products/services and creating new ones. The second consequence is that these smart objects will be embedded in self-organizing networks, which in turn will organize in larger networks, and so on. This will result in a ‘‘nested infrastructure’’ of IoT-enabled products and services, whose hierarchical complexity could eventually match that of biological systems. Thus, IoT is not just another technological development: it is a new interaction paradigm between the physical and digital environment.

As a field that investigates human behavior in technological context, cyberpsychology has an important role to play in the realization of the IoT vision. Some of the questions to be addressed may include, but are not limited, to the following:

• what are the psychological impacts of living in ‘‘augmented’’ environments, in which objects become ‘‘social’’ actors?
• which novel types of networking practices are enabled by hybrid physical/digital en- vironments?
• how can we ensure that the design of IoT products and services will be sensitive to human—and not exclusively technological—values and needs?

To be appropriately investigated, these issues may require the development of new theories and methodological approaches. In this sense, IoT provides cyberpsychologists with the opportunity to go beyond the study of social networking and virtual reality, by exploring brand new scientific ?frontiers.

Crucially, this will require our community not only to learn about the key developments in the IoT paradigm, but also to start thinking creatively about its potential applications in research, therapy, and training.