( CNN ) You may have heard of the Internet of Things -- the idea that eventually all physical objects could communicate data over the internet to other connected devices . Already many devices in cities -- from automobiles to thermostats -- communicate information to operators , manufacturers and consumers via the internet about their status . But in rural Wales , a region not noted for its connectivity , researchers have begun a study into the Internet of Sheep , attaching wireless devices to livestock to gather information . `` Most of the work on the Internet of Things has taken place in cities , '' Computer scientist Professor Gordon Blair of Lancaster University told CNN . `` But I think we 're quite unique in taking the concept out into a more rural environment . `` This gives it a very different flavor . '' While it has been widely reported that flocks of sheep in the project could transmit WiFi and improve internet coverage in rural areas , Professor Blair said this is not the aim of the research . So far , the study is all about gleaning data from the flock , not transmitting WiFi signals from the animals . He doubts whether sheep could ever become roving wireless internet transmitters . `` I would worry about sheep flocking behavior -- I do n't think sheep are the right animals to do this . `` Other researchers in north Norway have looked at reindeer . Perhaps reindeer are more individualistic in their behavior but I 'm not an expert on animal behavior , '' he said . For animals to be effective WiFi nodes , he said , they need to be social but spread out at the same time ; a tough ask of nature . He said the beauty of sheep was that they flock together -- easily transmitting data until the flock come close to an internet receiving station which would take up the data and transmit it to researchers at Lancaster University . `` The signal goes from sheep to sheep to sheep - it 's a bit like gossip , if you like . '' Sheep jokes apart , the aim of the study is serious . `` We are looking deliberately at breadth , because there may be surprises ; the natural environment is all about dependencies and things that can affect other things , '' Blair said . `` The Internet of Sheep is about capturing sheep movements which could tell us a lot . '' Everything from flooding to drought to agricultural pollution could be monitored with a series of riverside and sheep-bound sensors . `` There 's quite a big risk with the natural environment and sheep -- there are defecation and water quality issues . `` If the pathogens coming through sheep wash into rivers and then into estuaries and water supplies -- that can be very dangerous . '' The study has been backed by a £171,495 ( $ 265,000 ) prize from the UK 's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to look at ways of bringing the Internet of Things to the countryside . The project is currently centered in Conwy , North Wales , where sheep farmer Gareth Wyn Jones -- star of the BBC series The Hill Farm -- is cooperating with the project . `` Under EU regulations we already have to electronically chip sheep so the technology is already there in one respect , '' he told the BBC . `` We have 3,500 sheep so whether a digital collar for all of them would be feasible is another matter but if someone said to me 10 years ago I would be tweeting to 7,000 followers from the top of a mountain or putting videos onto YouTube , I would never have believed you . `` We are on a journey over the next 10 to 15 years and the contribution technology can make to agriculture is immense . '' Blair , meanwhile , said the project 's first hurdle would be finding a way to adequately tag the sheep with internet sensors . The whole unit , he said , was likely to be no larger than a packet of cigarettes . `` We have looked at collars . I do n't know if you know sheep , but they get up to mischief and there 's a danger that a collar could endanger the sheep . `` The sensors might be too big for ear tags and sheep do lose ear tags . Maybe we could use a belt around their middle . `` We 're looking for something that wo n't harm the sheep . '' While the study is limited to sheep flocks for the time being , Blair said there 's no reason why it may not be extended to other livestock animals . `` We might look at cows in the future , '' he said . Read more from Make , Create , Innovate : . Will you soon be able to 'swallow the doctor ' ? Meet the world 's first 1,000 mph car . Out of juice ? Try a cardboard battery .
The Internet of Things is the idea that all physical objects could communicate data over the internet to other connected devices . In rural Wales , researchers have begun a study into the Internet of Sheep , attaching devices to livestock to gather information . Researchers say the beauty of sheep is that they stick together -- easily transmitting data between the flock . When the flock comes close to an internet receiving station it would transmit data to researchers at Lancaster University .