What about switching on your AC just before you reach at home? And what if you get a message from your car that air pressure in front tyres are low? Or a message that you missed to take your morning medicines today? These are only a few examples of endless possibilities with “IoT – The Internet of Things”.
One of the most buzzing words in current world of technology is IoT, A concept with a huge potential to change our entire way of living and working. But what exactly is the “Internet of Things” and how is it going to impact our life? Let’s have a look at the basics of IoT, current trends and the future scope.
What is IoT?
Internet of Things is basically a concept to connect all the things (devices, gadgets, home appliances, vehicles, phones, computers, etc.) with the internet and make them able to communicate with each other and provide the required data, information to perform smoother operations.
The most exciting part of this technology is its endless possibilities. It can connect not only devices and gadgets but people, animals and objects to internet and assign a unique IP address to make it distinguishable and able to communicate. For example, a person with heart monitor implant or with wearable circuits, or a farm animal with biochip transponder, plants, an automobile with built-in sensors, street lights, and environment, all could be a part of IoT network.
What are the applications of IoT?
Once you have an understanding of what is basically the Internet of Things, you would know that in fact there are numerous applications of IoT – across almost all industries and sectors. From building and home automation to wearable devices, IoT has its importance in every aspect of our life. These are few key areas where IoT is going to play an important role:
- Buildings and home automation
- News and Media
- Environmental Monitoring
- Manufacturing
- Medical and Healthcare Industry
- Transportation
- Energy Management
- Smart Cities
What is the Future Scope of IoT
With the easy availability of internet and more and more devices like computers, smart phones, smart watches, smart wearable devices, etc. are being made with Wi-Fi functionalities; the network of internet connected devices is increasing rapidly. According to the recent data, there are over 12 billion devices that are able to connect with internet, and it is expected that the number of such devices will be more than 26 billion by 2020. This perfectly predicts an era of IoT where communication will not only be restricted to people to people or people to things but one step ahead with a worthwhile communication between things to things.
