Exercises: Connected devices and wearables

Explain in your own words what the "Internet of Things" is and give two examples of connected objects you know, stating what they do thanks to being connected.

A smartwatch is a wearable device. Name three pieces of data it can collect about the wearer and explain how each piece of data can be useful to them.

The figure shows a house with several objects: some are connected to the network (blue lines and arcs) and others are not, as shown in the diagram.

Indicate which objects in the house are part of the Internet of Things and which are not, explaining what you looked at. Then answer: which device is marked with "?", through which all the others connect to the internet?

Which of these objects are part of the Internet of Things? Justify each answer: a standard bicycle, a thermostat controlled from a cell phone, sneakers with a step sensor that syncs with an app, and an unconnected microwave.

For an object to be "smart", it needs three things: sensors that collect information, an internet connection and an app to control it. Identify these three things in a robot vacuum cleaner that cleans on its own and is operated from a cell phone.

Besides smartwatches, there are other wearables: earphones that measure heart rate, rings that track sleep, glasses with cameras... Name two and explain what data each collects and how it can be useful.

The living room voice assistant should only activate when hearing its "wake word". Explain what happens from the moment you say it until the assistant responds, and explain why it sometimes activates without anyone calling it.

A smart fridge notifies your cell phone when milk is running out. Explain the practical advantage of this notification and describe what other object in your home you would like to connect to the internet and why.

You have just bought a smart light bulb. Put the steps to set it up in order and explain why it needs to know the name and password of your home Wi-Fi: (a) screw in the light bulb and turn on the switch, (b) install the manufacturer's app on your cell phone, (c) connect the light bulb to the home Wi-Fi from the app, (d) give the light bulb a name and group it by room.

A smart speaker is always "listening" in anticipation of its wake word. Analyse what data about your family it could potentially collect and suggest three reasonable precautions for using it without completely sacrificing the convenience it provides.

An athlete goes for a run with a smartwatch and leaves their cell phone at home. Compare what the watch can measure on its own (steps, heart rate...) and what functions would require the phone or internet, and reason whether a watch without its own connection is suitable for serious training.

Data from a smartwatch travels to the cell phone of a family member caring for the wearer, as shown in the diagram.

Describe what happens at each stage of the journey, name the element covered with '?' and explain what sensitive data makes this journey and who should be able to see it.

A smart light bulb costs $\$300$ and a regular bulb costs $\$40$. Work out how many regular bulbs cost the same as one smart bulb using the division $\frac{\$300}{\$40}$, and analyze in which cases it is worth paying the difference (programmed scheduling, simulating people being home on vacation, controlling it by voice...).

A sensor on the front door alerts your mother's phone every time the door opens. Describe the full chain of events from when the door opens until the alert sounds, naming all the elements involved (sensor, router, internet, server, application).

A family installs a connected camera at the entrance of their home. Analyse who could end up seeing the images (the family, the company that stores the videos in the cloud, an attacker if the password is weak) and propose two specific measures to ensure that only the family can see them.

A smart thermostat 'learns' the family's schedules and adjusts the heating by itself. Explain what data it uses to learn, what savings it can achieve and what information about the family would be exposed if that data were leaked.

An elderly person lives alone and their family wants to install three connected devices for them that provide safety without taking away their independence. Propose the three devices, justify what each one provides and point out a risk or inconvenience of each proposal along with how to reduce it.

In a 'smart home', the router breaks down and the internet is cut off for two days. Analyse what things stop working and which ones can keep working (think about lights, locks, cameras, appliances), and draw a conclusion about the danger of relying on a connection for everything.

Alex uses a smartwatch to monitor his physical activity. When checking the app on his phone, he finds the following logs from one day:

• From 08:00 to 08:45 (city bus ride, seated): 2 450 steps and an average heart rate of 68 bpm.

• From 17:00 to 18:00 (stationary bike workout session): 310 steps and an average heart rate of 158 bpm.

• From 23:30 to 07:00 (sleeping in bed): 120 steps and an average heart rate of 52 bpm.

Alex claims: “The watch isn't working properly because it counts steps when I'm sitting down and barely counts any when I'm training hard. To fix it, it should send all data to the cloud in real time every second using mobile data.”

1. a) Based on how motion sensors (accelerometers) work, interpret the data and technically justify why so many steps are recorded on the bus and so few on the stationary bike.
2. b) Explain why the 120 night-time steps do not necessarily indicate a malfunction of the device.
3. c) Refute Alex's technical proposal: predict which two serious problems (consider battery life and indoor use) this continuous second-by-second transmission to the cloud would cause.

Design a system with connected objects to remind your grandmother to take her medicine: a pill organiser with a sensor, a speaker that alerts by voice and a message to the family's phone if the pill organiser is not opened. Describe how the complete chain works and what should happen if the Wi-Fi fails that day.

A 'smart city' connects its streetlights, traffic lights and rubbish bins to a common network. Analyse two benefits (energy savings, better services) and two risks (amount of data collected, network dependence, possibility of cyberattacks) and conclude whether you think it is a good idea for your city.

Your friend shares his running routes on a public application that displays the map of every run. Evaluate what sensitive information he is revealing without realizing (where he lives, what times he is not at home, his habits) and write three rules for sharing sports online without exposing yourself.

A toy shop sells a connected doll that speaks to and listens to six-year-old children. Analyse what data that toy can collect, what risks it poses for a family and what three demands parents should make to the manufacturer before buying it.

Imagine your school ten years from now, with connected objects everywhere (lockers, canteen, lights, automatic attendance tracking). Describe two applications that you would install because they are useful and two that you would never install, justifying each one based on its balance between convenience and privacy.