| Sumario: | This article reports that Smart-Its are small devices that integrate a microprocessing unit with sensors, actuators, and wireless communication. These devices are similar in composition to typical wireless sensor network nodes, but are conceived as add-on devices for artifacts in the physical world. As add-on devices, they are designed to operate in the background of physical artifacts. This gives primacy to artifacts and their familiar use in human activity while the technology is embedded invisibly to afford additional functionality. The Smart-Its hardware is based on a modular device architecture and allows for a large degree of flexibility in terms of network support and type and number of sensors and actuators. Smart-Its are programmed for single applications embedded in artifacts. They can be repurposed by replacing the executable code. Depending on the type of Smart-Its, this can be done wirelessly with an over-the-air programming tool. The Smart-Its platform has been used to study a variety of applications deployed into physical artifacts.
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