Few things have gotten as much hype as the Internet of Things (IoT). Some say it will be the biggest technological revolution since the rise of the internet itself. To be honest, the predictions arent that far off. If the IoT manages to live up to expectations, the impact it will have dwarfs anything thats come before. At times, though, it becomes difficult to imagine what the IoT means for the individual. Yes, all this talk of connected toasters and cars can sound exciting, but it all seems a far way off, and you might not think it will affect you all that much. Its natural to be a bit sceptical when everyone is proclaiming how amazing the IoT will be, but its time to set aside the prognostication. The Internet of Things is getting real, and the impact will be felt all over the world.
Its not just that the Internet of Things has the ability to make our lives more convenient, its that it can improve quality of life tremendously. A lot of people are buzzing about wearable technology and how well it fits in with the IoT, but wearable tech goes far beyond people being able to track the number of steps they take during the day. Wearable devices can be used for medical purposes in various ways. Hospitals have quickly caught on to this idea as IoT devices are used for things such as heart monitors, blood pressure monitors, blood sugar detectors, and more. Doctors and nurses can be alerted when warning signs crop up, no matter where the medical professionals may be. The same idea can apply to people outside the hospital. Wearables are even being used for autistic children to predict and even avoid meltdowns.
Take that concept and now change it from wearables to hearables. As you can probably tell from the term, hearables are devices that go in your ear, and the market already has some available. The Oticon Opn hearing aid is one such IoT device. It works by connecting to a smartphone, where users can program how the device works for themselves from a convenient app. Through the commands, users can make sure the hearing aid alerts the user when, say, the smoke alarm goes off. This marks an effective way in which the IoT can improve lives by simply improving on existing products. Suddenly having a hearing aid that connects to the internet opens up a lot of fascinating possibilities.
Moving outside the medical approach, IoT devices are already having an impact closer to home. Smart homes have quickly caught on for people as they see the large number of applications for it. People have already made a big deal over internet-connected appliances like fridges and ovens, but smart home benefits can do much more than that. Take the smart thermostat, for example. Now users can control their thermostat away from home, heating up the house before they arrive there on a cold winter day. Or perhaps youd like to program it to heat up a few minutes before you normally wake up in the morning. That can be done as well. Smart home technology is equally beneficial for things like security, energy consumption, and more, turning your house into a fully interactive object.
Expand the vision of the smart home and you have the smart city. Cities can be complex hubs of interaction, but thanks to advances in big data, flash storage, and IoT sensor technology, they can be harnessed to run more efficiently than ever before. As just one specific example, traffic lights can be turned into IoT devices that gather data on traffic flow and change their patterns depending on a host of different factors, from time of day to the weather. When you commute to work in a smart city, chances are youll get to where you need to go much more quickly than in a city that doesnt use IoT devices.
The Internet of Things isnt just a concept for some far-flung future society — its a reality. While many of the ideas certainly sound like they wont happen until much later on down the line, the future is basically here right now. Everyone will feel the impact of the IoT in their lives, and its no stretch to say the world will never be the same again.