The article discusses the concept of smart objects as building blocks for the Internet of Things (IoT), emphasizing their role in transforming everyday objects into intelligent entities capable of understanding and reacting to their environment. The authors introduce a hierarchy of architectures with increasing levels of real-world awareness and interactivity, focusing on activity-, policy-, and process-aware smart objects. They highlight the importance of interrelated design decisions and explore how these objects can cooperate to form an "Internet of smart objects." The authors present case studies from industrial applications, particularly in petrochemical and road construction industries, where they converted existing work objects into smart objects by augmenting them with embedded sensors and wireless capabilities. These smart objects can autonomously interpret sensor data, make decisions, and communicate with each other and users. Key insights include the interdependence of design dimensions such as awareness, representation, and interaction. The article also discusses the challenges and opportunities in realizing the vision of an IoT built from smart objects, including the distribution of functionality, modeling and programming, and human interaction. The authors conclude by detailing the design and implementation of activity-aware and policy-aware smart objects, which support various applications in industrial settings.The article discusses the concept of smart objects as building blocks for the Internet of Things (IoT), emphasizing their role in transforming everyday objects into intelligent entities capable of understanding and reacting to their environment. The authors introduce a hierarchy of architectures with increasing levels of real-world awareness and interactivity, focusing on activity-, policy-, and process-aware smart objects. They highlight the importance of interrelated design decisions and explore how these objects can cooperate to form an "Internet of smart objects." The authors present case studies from industrial applications, particularly in petrochemical and road construction industries, where they converted existing work objects into smart objects by augmenting them with embedded sensors and wireless capabilities. These smart objects can autonomously interpret sensor data, make decisions, and communicate with each other and users. Key insights include the interdependence of design dimensions such as awareness, representation, and interaction. The article also discusses the challenges and opportunities in realizing the vision of an IoT built from smart objects, including the distribution of functionality, modeling and programming, and human interaction. The authors conclude by detailing the design and implementation of activity-aware and policy-aware smart objects, which support various applications in industrial settings.