Everyone is talking about the Internet of Things, but just what does it take to merge the physical and digital world? Brazilian entrepreneur Rodolfo Saccoman has been working on designing hardware and platforms for the coming explosion of connected devices. Put one of his AdBeacon units in a retail store or next to a billboard, and you can track people’s reactions, their emotions and demographics. His new product, the MATRIX, is like a Swiss Army knife of sensors and hopes to do for the IoT what the smartphone achieved for mobile. It just won an innovation award at CES 2016. Catching up in Miami at the offices of his company AdMobilize, we spoke about the future potential of a world in which every object is not only connected, but can see, comprehend and engage intelligently with our gestures and intentions.