The Internet of Things has just passed its infancy stage and suddenly became a teenager. And as with every youngster there are a few things here and there that could be better, but don’t get us wrong! We know that when it grows up it surely will improve nearly every aspect of our lives. Just like every new wave of technology, the Internet of Things has to go through multiple iterations until it arrives there. We must acknowledge its flaws to make it better and Naran is here to contribute.

Naran Inc. was founded in 2009 by Taehyun Park after he spent several years wandering around Silicon Valley, Redmond, and Tokyo working for Google, Microsoft, and ING Life. We operate out of Paju Book City of Korea, located 30 minutes drive from the capital Seoul. It’s a beautiful place with stacks of books anywhere you look. Literally there are hundreds of books in every coffee shop and if you’ve already convinced yourself that you don’t have enough time to read these days, come here, grab a coffee. In no time you will feel guilty about not advancing enough and change your mind. No wonder that Paju vibe has become the secret ingredient for our work.

 

From Book City we are working hard to develop Prota, a hardware and software ecosystem designed to automate a household life. Prota is a small personal server computer which can control multiple internet connected devices creating a singular user experience. Prota users will be able to write stories telling how their devices should work together to fit naturally into human routine. No more separate apps and manual bridging of multiple tasks. This can be done automatically with Prota.

With the help of Prota, we are also making a series of Microbots, tiny robotic helpers that can be mounted on existing household interfaces so that no one will have to change how they normally use their everyday appliances. The first Microbot Push is a wireless robotic finger that can push ordinary buttons and switches just like a human finger does. Microbot Push works both autonomously, based on predefined context, and manually like a typical button.

Push and Prota is just the beginning. A lot might change but if you are curious for what is to come, join our ride!