Your phone’s wake-up alarm resets itself to 30 minutes earlier than programmed because there’s traffic congestion on your usual route. As you drive to a meeting, your favorite coffee stop has your order ready before you approach the drive-up window. While sipping the latte, you’re directed to a gas station with the lowest price in the area.
Such unseen forces of organization seem like the stuff of science fiction, but Minneapolis-based
AsystMe is working to create a legion of “automated personal assistants” that make life easier for all of us.
The company recently garnered a nice chunk of angel funding from private investors in Minnesota and North Dakota, as part of a larger initial round of funding. Investors were impressed with the enterprise’s knack for creating automated assistants that do tasks on users’ behalf. The system works by monitoring relevant data sources, and responding based on user preferences.
AsystMe founder Joel Nash came up with the idea for the company after spending years as an engineer and entrepreneur. In the past, he automated tasks for factories, but began being interested in home automation, and finally, in data automation.
“People always talk about data overload, how people feel stressed because they’re trying to constantly monitor data and work with technology,” he says. “With this approach, our solution is to put a layer of automation between people and these data sources.”
Some of the scenarios that Nash envisions may be a few years away, but they’re not too far-fetched. For example, notification services can already remind users of dry cleaning pickups, client meetings, and personal trainer sessions. Sending an automated order to a coffee shop or monitoring traffic data can easily be folded into those existing tasks.
“There’s no reason why we can’t have more automation to deal with information overload,” Nash says.
Source: Joel Nash, AsystMe
Writer: Elizabeth Millard