Jordan O'BrienGoogle is throwing everything it has towards ensuring that it is dominant when it comes to the Internet of Things – unveiling a new platform called Brillo.
The platform was unveiled at the company’s annual developer event, called Google I/O, where senior VP Sundar Pichai described it as “Android, polished down… an end-to-end functioning operating system.”
Brillo’s goal is to refine the IoT user interface, but it won’t do it alone, with Google adopting a new language for all IoT devices to use – Weave.
As a communication layer, Weave will enable devices to talk to one another, the cloud and Android-based smartphones.
Unlike other smart home systems however, Brillo and Weave is slightly different. Devices in the user’s home aren’t just linked to a single source like a hub, or in this case a smartphone, instead they’re all linked together enabling a domino effect of smart home functions.
This means arriving home and unlocking the door can trigger a myriad of different appliances, from turning on the lights to making a cup of coffee.
While it’s clear Android will be supported by Brillo and Weave, Google has yet to rule out whether or not it will make its way to other platforms, such as iOS.
Using Brillo, Google wants a common UI across all devices, no matter what they do.
That means even if the user is controlling their oven, it’ll look virtually identical to the control system they have for their door lock, or lights.
Google is going to be making Brillo available to developers in Q3 of this year, with Weave documentation set to be announced throughout the year.