San Francisco-based tech firm Chronicled has opened an Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain laboratory in San Francisco to securely test real-world IoT applications.
The company, which is working on an open-source Blockchain-hosted registry for IoT, plans to use the lab to test and develop IoT tools using Blockchain as the guarantor of identity, authenticity and secure payments on products.
Ultimately, Chronicled aims to find a way to produce a ‘unique and interoperable digital identity’ for all products.
Securing the IoT with Blockchain
Chronicled sees blockchain as a diffuse network of servers that communicate and agree to validate a product’s identity, possession, and provenance.
The requirement that disparate nodes agree on a transaction to create, edit, append, or destroy a digital identity offers greater security and I.D. verification than traditional stand-alone servers, the company says.
Chronicled has already trialled the technology on sneakers – to detect counterfeit goods – furniture showrooms – to allow for interactive shopping – and drone delivery. A video can be seen below.
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Chronicled aims to showcase ‘new frontiers’ of IoT
“The Chronicled Blockchain & IoT Laboratory is meant to serve as a showcase for new frontiers at the intersection of the IoT and Blockchain industries,” said Chronicled CEO Ryan Orr in a press release.
“While the company is laser focused on scaling-up commercial solutions, the lab provides an outlet for our engineers to experiment with real-world applications, which in most cases have never been done before by anyone.”
“At a time when multiple new technological frontiers are being reached in 3D printing, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and blockchain, it is exciting to be working alongside a team of talented engineers at the frontier of what is possible and to reimagine how physical property is identified and can be used in business and personal life.”
Currently, Chronicled Open Source provides a toolkit that it says allows any brand, IP creator, authenticator, customizer, or individual to assign a secure digital identity to a physical object by embedding an encrypted chip and linking it to a blockchain record.
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