REST Interfaces to the Internet of Things

This talk shares insights from an on-going project coordinating data from Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and using a declarative interface to that data. REST (REpresentational State Transfer) is the architectural basis of the web. As Wikipedia points out “REST’s coordinated set of constraints, applied to the design of components in a distributed hypermedia system, can lead to a higher-performing and more maintainable software architecture.” So how can you apply the same ideas to the Internet of Things? The Internet of Things is driven by many tiny low-powered processors that produce data in a variety of different formats, and produce the data in different ways, sometimes on demand (such as thermostats), sometimes by pushing it (such as presence detectors). Traditionally, applications have to be a mash up of accesses to devices and formats. To use the data in a cohesive application, the data has to be collected and integrated; this allows very low demands to be put on the devices themselves. This project places a thin REST-layer around a diverse collection of Internet of Things devices, hiding the data-format and data-access differences, and updating the devices automatically as needed; this then allows a REST-style declarative interface to access and control the devices without having to worry about the variety of device-interfaces and formats.