Today, the Internet of Things is more than a buzzword. We use it in our daily life through our smart devices to change the channel or dim the lights, to check our home automatically, etc. And we are confronted by the overwhelming amount of data that is generated by each move or input.

Although generation Y and Z are accustomed to use smart devices, they are not familiar with underlying mechanisms of digital technologies and networked services. It requires capacity building support to become a Nerd4.0, opens an external URL in a new window. The LIT Artifact project Tangible-IoT provides selected tangible components from the M5Stack (see also M5Stack.com, opens an external URL in a new window). We have developed explorative learning settings to develop hands-on design and development experience. The IoT components are arranged in a tree-like structure featuring bottom up, top down as well as middle out design. We call it Nerd Tree (see picture). Prospective Nerds4.0 grab a component and adjust it according to their needs and use case. The adjacent Phyton-based development facility helps them to implement a business logic, serving various instances, ranging from simple sensor apps, e.g., measuring temperature and reporting it, to decision support applications, e.g., deciding on a detected window movement in a remote room whether to close it or to call for assistance since a person has disturbed privacy.

Preparing for the "Lange Nacht der Forschung" in autumn 2020 we have created a privacy use case for homes. It serves parents who do not want the bedroom to be accessible all the time by the kids, and vice versa. With different combinations of sensors and a hub to combine several IoT components, a variety of access features, e.g. password, fingerprint, and RFID scan can be implemented on a model representation of a room (see picture). The provided instructions allow a step-by-step introduction as well as an informed exploration of the prepared infrastructure. In this way, each participants should be able to develop and design IoT applications in an inspiring environment.