Internet Of Things (IOT).
What is IOT ?
Internet of Things (IoT) is an ecosystem of connected physical objects that are accessible through the internet. The ‘thing’ in IoT could be a person with a heart monitor or an automobile with built-in-sensors, i.e. objects that have been assigned an IP address and have the ability to collect and transfer data over a network without manual assistance or intervention. The embedded technology in the objects helps them to interact with internal states or the external environment, which in turn affects the decisions taken.
History
The concept of a network of smart devices was discussed as early as 1982, with a modified Coke machine at Carnegie Mellon University becoming the first Internet-connected appliance, able to report its inventory and whether newly loaded drinks were cold. The concept of the Internet of things became popular in 1999, through the Auto-ID Center at MIT and related market-analysis publications. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) was seen by Kevin Ashton (one of the founders of the original Auto-ID Center) as a prerequisite for the Internet of things at that point.Ashton prefers the phrase “Internet for Things. If all objects and people in daily life were equipped with identifiers, computers could manage and inventory them. Besides using RFID, the tagging of things may be achieved through such technologies as near field communication, barcodes, QR codes and digital watermarking.
Why IOT ?
An article by Ashton published in the RFID Journal in 1999 said, “If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things - using data they gathered without any help from us - we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling, and whether they were fresh or past their best. We need to empower computers with their own means of gathering information, so they can see, hear and smell the world for themselves
How IOT Works ?
Internet of Things is not the result of a single novel technology; instead, several complementary technical developments provide capabilities that taken together help to bridge the gap between the virtual and physical world.
These capabilities include:
Communication and cooperation Adressability Identification Sensing Actuation Embedded information processing Localization User interfaces
How Big is IOT ? This new wave of connectivity is going beyond laptops and smartphones, it’s going towards connected cars, smart homes, connected wearables, smart cities and connected healthcare. Basically a connected life. According to Gartner report, by 2020 connected devices across all technologies will reach to 20.6 billion. Woah! that’s a huge number.
Source: HP
HP did a small survey in which they estimated the rise of connected devices over the years and the results are surprising. Are we moving towards a fully automated world?
A survey conducted by KRC Reserach in UK, US, Japan and Germany the early adopters of IOT has revealed which devices are the customers more likely to use in the coming years. Smart Appliances like thermostat, smart refrigerator to name a few are most liked by the customers and are seem to change the way we operate.
Some Real World Applications Of IOT :
Smart Homes
What is a Smart Home?
Wouldn’t you love if you could switch on air conditioning before reaching home or switch off lights even after you have left home? Or unlock the doors to friends for temporary access even when you are not at home. Don’t be surprised with IoT taking shape companies are building products to make your life simpler and convenient.
Smart Cities
Smart city is another powerful application of IoT generating curiosity among world’s population. Smart surveillance, automated transportation, smarter energy management systems, water distribution, urban security and environmental monitoring all are examples of internet of things applications for smart cities.
Smart Farms
With the continous increase in world’s population, demand for food supply is extremely raised. Governments are helping farmers to use advanced techniques and research to increase food production. Smart farming is one of the fastest growing field in IoT.
Farmers are using meaningful insights from the data to yield better return on investment. Sensing for soil moisture and nutrients, controlling water usage for plant growth and determining custom fertilizer are some simple uses of IoT.
Livestock monitoring is about animal husbandry and cost saving. Using IoT applications to gather data about the health and well being of the cattle, ranchers knowing early about the sick animal can pull out and help prevent large number of sick cattle.
With the help of the collected data and ranchers can increase the pouty production.
Smart Retail & Wholesale
The potential of IoT in the retail sector is enormous. IoT provides an opportunity to retailers to connect with the customers to enhance the in-store experience.
Smartphones will be the way for retailers to remain connected with their consumers even out of store. Interacting through Smartphones and using Beacon technology can help retailers serve their consumers better. They can also track consumers path through a store and improve store layout and place premium products in high traffic areas.
End Notes
The future of IoT is more fascinating than this where billions of things will be talking to each other and human intervention will become least. IoT will bring macro shift in the way we live and work.
I hope you had fun reading about all these powerful and promising applications of Internet of things. There are many more areas where IoT is making an impact. Networked Toys is one application of IoT which will change the playing experience of your kids. IoT can also be used in the detection of environmental issues.