Tony: helping people find lost “Things” using the “Internet of Things” technologies

Abstract

Human beings exert a sense of ownership over the “things” in their lives. They own books, tennis rackets, cell phones, and handbags just to name a few. They transport these “things” from home to the office and, then, to recreational areas. And, in the process, they often loose these “things”. Pupils misplace school books. Adults misplace eye glasses. Often these items are found by other people but these other people have no idea who owns these “things” or how to return the “things” to the original owners. Tony helps solve this problem. Tony is a JEE application running under Mobicents on a Beachcomber platform. It allows users to register various “things”. The users are sent a QR (Quick Response) code label to affix to the registered “thing.” If the “thing” is lost and later recovered, the finder need only take a photo of the QR Code and the original owner is notified that his “thing” has been recovered. Depending on the facilities of the item taking the photograph of the QR Code (for example, it might be a smart phone), then GPS coordinates can also be sent to the original owner indicating where the lost “thing” can be found