5 IoT-enabled Halloween Frights

Who doesn’t love Halloween? Here at floLIVE, we also love having fun with IoT, and what better reason than to add some spooky fun to this holiday? Below are 5 of our top Halloween-inspired IoT connectivity ideas. Let us know how they turn out, and make sure to add your own top scary IoT use cases into the comments!

The Costume that Fits to an IoT

Want to impress when trick-or-treating? Add a little connectivity to your get up, with some seriously cool tech-enabled costumes. Want to be a fibre-optic sea warrior? Here’s your step by step guide. Morphsuits, known for their tech-enabled t-shirts that show freaky clown eyes, moving bloody eyeballs, and zombie guts being blown out of your chest have started experimenting with accelerometers to automatically burst into action at the right time.

We’re expecting great things from IoT-connected costumes in years to come. This one-of-a-kind dress even sources emotions from Twitter to change color in real-time. Now that’s cool.

Creepy Toys

Is there anything scarier than a teddy bear or a doll that’s watching you? It doesn’t take much to set up an adorable cuddly toy that’s actually terrifying, like this guy’s Bearlexa hybrid.

For an easier version, set up your connected-toys with their own new Halloween-themed phrases, or personal information about your visitors. vTech’s famous Laugh and Learn gets a lot less funny and a lot more spine-tingling when it greets your guests by name in its cheeriest voice.  Mwahahaha…

Alexa’s Halloween Song

“There are only three things that can strike me with terror. Water, bad Wi-Fi, and a 404 error.” That’s our favourite line from Alexa’s Halloween chart topper, but it was seriously hard to choose. Sure to add some vibe to your spooky evening, get her playing that track by asking nicely, “Alexa, Sing the Halloween Song.” If you’re looking for less harmless fun and more heart-attack inducing terror, tell Alexa to “Ask spooky scream to start in X minutes”, then invite in your guests of choice and sit back to watch the fun!

Smart Pranks

Looking to scare that special someone for everyone’s favorite holiday? A smart mirror is your weapon of choice, we promise. Link your smart mirror to your phone, and you’ll be able to display any image of choice, including people who aren’t there when you look behind you, or gruesome and grisly images to make anyone jump out of their skin when they least expect it.  Just check out this adorable kid showing you how it’s done!

Drones!

If we say drone + old sheet and you haven’t already worked out we’re planning an epic ghost prank, you may not deserve Halloween. A simple version of this prank involves the following steps:

1. Using a Styrofoam ball, cut out eyes and a mouth, and carve the inside, just like you would on a Halloween pumpkin.
2. Insert two finger lights into the eye holes, which will make the eyes glow as it flies.
3. Tape lightweight fabric to your drone, without touching the propellers. Top tip: Cut the fabric into strips, so that it looks extra ghostly as it moves through the air!

Use these IoT-enabled drones to do anything from following a friend trick or treating, to accessorizing your own home with dynamic decorations, or just getting your neighborhood or workplace in the spirit of things! Why stop at a ghost? This guy made an extremely realistic flying skeleton, and you could also try creating spooky ideas such as giant bats, Harry Potter-themed dementors, witches, and more.

Don’t Forget to Stay Safe!

We’ve just scratched the surface of what IoT can do for everyone’s most chilling holiday. Smart lights and decorations can add the festive touch, while smart kids rucksacks and watches can keep children in sight even while they’re trawling the neighborhood for candy by the bagful. We could even imagine a smart city getting in on the action, adding a little atmospheric smart lighting or ghoulish correspondence to the mix!

Whatever you choose, make sure that you’re following IoT security best practices, with a guest network that has a strong, unique password, utilizing 2FA where possible, and disabling any of the features that you don’t need, such as remote access.

Got a favorite IoT-enabled costume or prank? We’d love to hear about it!