In the modern world we live in today, we highly rely on our devices and the connectivity that it offers us.
Internet plays a great role in that connectivity ranging from work to play; we are all addicted to the multiple applications internet has to offer. Internet of things is a term that refers to things that are connected to the internet.
In the past decade the number of devices we used that were connected to the internet were 1 or at max two but now with the advent of more practical applications. We have smartphones, tablets, smart TV’s and even smart watches. It’s estimated that the number of devices that will be connected to the internet in 2020 would be around 50 Billion.
We all want to make the most informed and enlightened decisions based on the vast amount of information available on the internet and this translates to more demand for connectivity between machine and humans.
IoT has greatly influenced the following:
1. Automation.
2. Productivity.
3. Empowerment.
4. Intelligence.
Everything from factories to houses is now being automated with systems interacting with each other to better utilize resources.
The productivity aspect is huge. From Smart phones that have alarm clocks that sync with your calendar to make sure that you wake up at the right time to smart heaters that automatically adjust bathroom temperature to provide for the quickest most comfortable bath.
It is empowering humans to make the most important decisions and to leave trivial predictable decisions to the machines. It is helping us make the best use of our time.
With everything connected, it offers us a great deal of information that is organized and ready to be used, which is resulting in much more intelligent and informed decisions; From which food to pick up when doing grocery shopping to which exercise is best suited for our fitness goals.
Some of the Companies that have taken the initiative and have built IoT friendly products are:
Phillips has created a smart bulb that allows consumers to choose any color for the bulb from any picture in there smart phone with all the bulbs connected it can adjust lighting to create any required setting.
Nest is a smart thermostat device that connects to the internet and uses your input to learn more about your habits.
This makes it intelligent enough to automatically adjust temperature in your house for when you arrive from work or at night or any other time based on you what it’s learned about your behavior.