How “The Internet of Things” is Transforming Our Lives
Will the day come that we can simply look down at our wrist and get a full, up-to-the-minute report on our health status? Might our refrigerator soon bypass us entirely and tell our car to remind us that we are low on milk? Science fiction? On the contrary, this reality is within reach of us all!
Much is being said these days about Artificial Intelligence and Robotics taking over our world, but we are actually experiencing the advent of a Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0 and we barely realize it. These technologies that “talk” to each other are changing the way we work and live, and today on Ever Widening Circles (EWC) we dive into that world of possibility.IoT, or “Internet of Things” is a term we will be hearing a lot about. It allows everyday objects such as a clock, a TV, a refrigerator, your car, your home and even your body to have computing and communication capabilities when connected to the Internet.
Here’s a great little video to get us started on this journey into the Internet of Things with a piece by GCF Learning Free: (Check them out! We had a solid look at their website and they look like they could be a game-changer for folks around the world!)
Below are the Ten ways the Internet of Things is transforming our lives
Whatever happened to those intelligent fridges we were promised? The ones that would send you a message telling you to order more oranges, or notify your online retailer to deliver more dairy. Those clever fridges were the most talked about example of how the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) was meant to transform our lives. But they never quite arrived.
Is the IoT myth or reality? And if it is reality, what impact is it likely to have on our everyday lives? And why does business automation hold the key to IoT success in your organization? It’s time to find out.
First, a definition. The IoT is the concept of connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet (and/or to each other). This includes everything from cell phones and coffee makers, to wearable devices and, of course, fridges. The IoT also applies to components of machines, for example a jet engine of an airplane or the drill of an oil rig. Analysts estimate there will be almost 30 billion of these connected devices by 2020.
Here are some examples of how the IoT is likely to impact business and society in the coming years.
Drive the IoT
Now you can drive the IoT. Electric car-maker Tesla’s software automatically downloads service updates and if necessary, autonomously schedules a driver to pick the vehicle up and bring it to a Tesla facility. Say goodbye to waiting in repair garages and haggling over the price of a component.Wear the IoT
Ralph Lauren’s new Polo Tech Shirt streams athletic performance biometrics like heart rate, movement intensity and energy output to the cloud. Integrate with other wearables like FitBit, to receive a unified experience of your athletic performance.Become tomorrow’s Roger Federer
French tennis company Babolat has added sensors and connectivity into some of its rackets. The Play Pure Drive system allows players to analyze ball speed, spin and impact location to improve their game.Making light of the IoT
Philips hue LED bulbs allow consumers to control lighting with their tablet or smartphone. Users can program the bulbs to dim at night, or blink if they detect an intruder.Smart cities
There are many examples of this. In in Singapore, city authorities are testing smart systems for managing parking and waste disposal to adjust to daily and weekly patterns.Making farming more friendly
The John Deere Field Connect system monitors moisture levels and sends the data to farmers. The environmental sensors also measure “air and soil temperature, wind speed, humidity, solar radiation, rainfall and leaf wetness.”Flying high
Virgin Airlines Boeing 787 aircraft are totally connected—from the engines, to the flaps, to the landing gear. Speaking to Computerworld UK, their CIO said, “We can get upwards of half a terabyte of data from a single flight from the different devices which are internet connected.”Looking after the elderly
Specialized sensors are equipping living spaces to monitor the health and general well-being of senior citizens, while also ensuring that proper treatment is being administered and assisting people regain lost mobility via therapy.Looking after your property
Bosch has developed an IP-enabled security camera that will allow you to connect with your security system when you’re not there. Accessing the Bosch iPhone app gives you a real-time view wherever you are.Never be late again…possibly
In many cities, driverless cars that signal street sensors will give city officials the appropriate data to improve traffic patterns.
Make no mistake, the IoT is happening now. And if you want to land and expand your IoT strategy, you need business automation. This enables you to automate all the IT processes associated with the IoT—provision, deploy and process. You don’t need to code anything.
Business automation hides all the complexity of the computing environment, giving IT developers a fast, easy and advanced means of deploying innovative IoT applications. It all adds up to faster deployment of innovative, high quality IoT solutions, increased efficiency and lower risk.
Let’s give all those fridge manufacturers business automation—then those intelligent fridges might even see the light of day.
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