There used to be a time when Man was amazed by sci-fi movies. Now man lives a world immersed in science. Technology is evolving rapidly. IoT or the Internet of Things has become a lot familiar in our lives. It refers to the network of physical things like home appliances or security systems connected to the internet for effortless utility. IoT uses internet, data storage, analytics, and sensors to become better efficient to meet our daily needs.
The IoT provides a lot of convenience and comfort in the modern, fast-paced living. One cannot imagine going on a holiday without internet and navigation. Let us look at how this fantastic innovation is influencing our lives daily.
Smart Homes and Electronic Gadgets
Home automation or smart home systems allows the owners to control their appliances, house temperature, lighting remotely through smartphones or laptops, which gets connected to a user interface. Home security and alarm systems are used in many houses to monitor young children or in general for safety reasons. It is safe energy, that is, lights getting switched off when one is not using it. A smart refrigerator can analyze the lack of groceries and notify it in your smartphone grocery list.
Animal Farming and Smart Agriculture
IoT has developed enough to serve for animal safety. Cattle grazing gets monitored through portable sensors, which the animals should wear. Calorie intake, potential hazards, interior humidity and temperature monitoring, is possible through IoT. The sensors can help the farmers understand the optimal time for breeding by analyzing animal fertility.
Climate change and lack of farmworkers are the two factors affecting the farming industry today. IoTs can analyze the best time to irrigate the crops, check temperature soil humidity, water level by collecting the data through sensors. The lack of farmworkers gets balanced through farm machines and internet-enabled gadgets. Smart farming has changed the agricultural management system by optimizing labour needs and observing weather patterns like high wind, heavy rain or extreme frost. IoT for agriculture and animal farming is getting adopted in many western countries as part of high-tech farming.
Smart Cars
Smart cars can be a big boon for an easy commute. Connected cars with “talk to each other” low of technology where cars and drivers work together for creating an easy flow of traffic. Companies like Tesla, Volvo and Mercedes are trying to make smart cars a reality for the ordinary consumer. Such technology can avoid traffic jams, parking space management and make the commute in general much more comfortable. Driverless cars such as Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) and Autonomous Electric Vehicles (AEVs) can significantly help in management smooth traffic by reducing human-errors. These vehicles are a significant advantage to the elderly and disabled persons, and it can also cut the carbon emissions as it is powered electrically.
Healthcare and E-Commerce
IoT enabled devices can provide better healthcare and safety for patient care. Physicians can monitor the patient’s vitals remotely and provide superlative care. IoT also has devices collecting data on patient’s blood pressure variation, exercise check, diabetes, calorie count and so on. Its transformation is visible in healthcare applications, hospital management, and even insurance companies.
E-Commerce is the shopping magnet of the twenty-first century. From safety-pins to furniture sets, you get everything you need. But IoT enabled retail has a lot of other benefits, like better tracking and logistics, better customer service and maintenance, and the much-known personalized data delivery. IoT has many more uses than just securing Canadian online casino with free spins and providing safety to gaming endeavors. It has taken over the E-Commerce world in the last couple of decades. The supermarkets have automated check-ins and check-outs with the help of IoT. The shoppers can walk in, do the shopping and walk-out as their smartphones cover the bills.
Industry 4.0 and Smart Cities
Industry 4.0 is the term for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It is the automation of the manufacturing industry with the help of IoT for easy, efficient and cost-effective production methods. The machine-to-machine communications are integrated through IoT, reducing human intervention for lesser errors and labour cost. Another impressive aspect of IoT in industry 4.0 is ‘Predictive Maintenance’. Machines are enabled to predict and perform cost-effect updates and maintenance before the system fails or damages.
Smart cities are not mere talks, not possible ventures with the help of IoT. Connected cities can change the life of its citizens, by providing better traffic management, connected cars for an easy commute, smart garbage for waste management, and even to improve air quality. The New York City management is increasingly becoming smarter with congestion management, easy charging portals, super-fats free wireless connectivity, and so on. Amsterdam is another city developing quickly with robots, power generation through shared data, and none is possible without the internet of things.
The IoT is a considerable advantage for modern society. But there are security and safety issues as well. IoT for smart cities, home appliances, smart cars require shared data. Hackers can easily decipher personal details through smartphone applications. Such a lack of proper security needs clearing.