Google wants to turn urbanites into beta testers of a ‘Physical Web’

Google is hard at work attempting to build what it is calling the Physical Web -- a connected network of physical objects accessible through the Web browser.

What's striking is that Google's vision is an intensely urban one, suggesting that city dwellers will be at the vanguard of the development of the long-promised Internet of Things. Scott Jenson, a designer on the project, writes: "Our core premise is that you should be able to walk up to any 'smart' physical object (e.g. A vending machine, a poster, a toy, a bus stop, a rental car) and interact with it without first downloading an app. The user experience of smart objects should be much like links in a web browser: i.e. just tap and use."