UK farmers to test hi-tech beans that could prevent food waste

As agriculture invests more in big data, tech veteran Andrew Holland is getting ready to test his small sensor device in grain silos

When it comes to the internet of things (IoT), the fanfare is often around items like fridges, cars, and entire skyscrapers. But one entrepreneur is thinking small, producing highly-connected devices the size of a bean.

BeanIoT is the brainchild of tech veteran Andrew Holland, who says that the size and shape of a bean (roughly 45mm by 18mm) makes it ideal as a versatile, low-profile monitoring device. Picture a bean in your pocket while you work out, assessing your progress and vital signs without a clunky wrist device. In an assisted living facility, beans could monitor whether residents had fallen or were in medical distress. Or in a grain silo, strategically scattered beans could assess temperature, moisture and CO₂, to gauge potential problem areas before they develop.