• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, December 23, 2015

One of the more fascinating aspects of The Internet of Things is the unlimited potential for transformational innovation.

From a consumer perspective, IoT conversations tend to focus on personal devices, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, or smart home gadgets, like thermostats and TVs.

While all of those are moving to mass adoption, they are the relatively early iterations of Internet-connected objects.

Even though we’ve been hearing many predictions of what The Internet of Things may bring next year (2016 IoT Predictions: Big Data, Beacons, Wearables, Security), the reality is that no one really knows beyond the somewhat obvious.

There are many connection experimentations underway in search of more ways to leverage IoT capabilities.

• Absolut opened its own IoT lab to explore how a connected bottle might link with other products to change lighting or music in a home.
• Cognac maker Remy Martin has a connected bottle that includes NFC technology to secure the product is authentic and enhance customer engagement via mobile device.
• Johnnie Walker created a smart bottle that conversed with consumers via messages using IoT technology.

While none of these may strike most people as earth shaking or even practical, they are experimentations. They are starting points for major brands to see how their particular products and marketing may be impacted by The Internet of Things.

Toymakers also are experimenting, with interactive dolls like Barbie providing interactive voice with a child, thanks to real-time cloud connectivity.

Department store Kohl’s launched its own labs a while back and is exploring drones for package delivery, robots and even self-driving cars.

These all are early research efforts to see what role The Internet of Things will play in each organization’s future.

Efforts like these will determine what the world of connected objects looks and behaves like.

It’s less about the connected objects and more about how brands and marketers leverage those connections with their customers.