Only a few years ago, compared to different devices that made it possible to automate houses; home automation started to be widely spoken about. Aspects such as the
Programming (or remote starting) of the heating, the control of the awnings and blinds, the automatic control of the lighting, or incorporating the television video intercom, have become part of many households.
Security problems, with smoke and fire detectors, gas, water leakage, or advanced alarms with perimeter and volumetric sensors; automatic closing of shutters and doors, and so on, have also made significant strides.
What is the Internet of Things
The first phase on this path may be considered home automation; but the so-called Internet of Things (IoT) was made by the distribution and enhancement of the benefits of the network. There is now a full catalogue of interconnected and network-connected devices; which not only make it possible to perform increasingly advanced tasks, but can also determine the best way to do it for themselves.
They are probably the most widespread and used smartphones; but today there are also TVs, clothing and accessories, watches, household appliances or cars that bear the “smart” surname as well.
This approach includes many electronic devices. So this will probably be the trend in a few years (you only have to see, for example, the limited selection of “non-smart” phones available on the market).
Invention Of Internet of Things
Kevin Ashton invented a concept Internet of Things. When he learned that there was a very popular lipstick that was not replenished quickly enough; this Briton worked as a brand manager at a London company.
Ashton figured if there was a chip that instructed when to reset automatically, they could solve this. Since 2000, he has been a researcher at the prestigious MIT; working to disseminate this concept in other fields, such as medical supplies, water, electricity.
Ashton wrote an article in 2009 in which he used this term, stating that if we could track such questions about the surrounding items; there might be substantial savings and significant benefits.
The Internet of Things was born. His ideas have spread to many aspects of our lives in recent years; such that some are even dreaming of a fourth Industrial Revolution in which we have a multitude of Internet-connected devices.
What applications does it have
Our lives have been transformed by the use of smartphones. assignment writing service UK quoted the GSMA-real time intelligence data there are around 5 billion mobile subscribers worldwide. That is two-third of the global population.
If we look at the number of individual users, we can see that there are approximately 5.13 billion, i.e. 66.5% of the world population.
The cell phone or we can say smartphones has now become an important device for many people. Because of all the opportunities it provides us, which are increasingly increasing: high-speed Internet, mobile phone payments, household power.
Furthermore, the Internet of Things is beginning to have a significant presence in:
Wearables:
Clothing and accessories that give the owner different details, such as –
- Heart rate,
- Distance traveled,
- And so on.
Given the increasing concern for health and fitness that exists in large part of the population of developed nations; this is one area with the highest growth.
Home appliances:
Induction hobs that react intelligently to the positioning of pots and pans can already be found on the market. So they measure the measurements of the utensil and change the consumption to that size. Moreover, even record the weight of the ingredients we are adding, to help us prepare the recipes.
There are also ovens that have different recipes that are programmed and inform users when the food is finished.
- In the same vein; refrigerators have been introduced at the world’s most popular consumer electronics fair (CES in Las Vegas) in recent years.
- Warning of foods are about to expire or offering recipes with the ingredients we have available; even recommending that one be purchased if appropriate.
- The computer itself is also supposed to connect to the website of a supermarket in the future to position orders.
Smart homes:
There are automated gardeners who water the garden according to the
- Earth’s temperature,
- Solar radiation and
- Humidity,
Also, systems with –
- Automatic opening and closing of doors, blinds and awnings,
- Temperature and humidity monitoring of the setting,
- Smartphone-controlled video surveillance and protection systems, and even lighting systems
Vehicles:
In recent years, one sector that has undergone a greater boom is cars. We have shifted from on-board computers to connected vehicles, allowing different features; from the automatic warning in the event of an accident to smart traffic management; through the coordination and cooperation of all the components that make up it:
- vehicles,
- traffic lights,
- signals,
- authorities
- so on
Smart cities:
So-called smart cities not only benefit from the aforementioned traffic management possibilities. But also from the management of pollution control or video surveillance systems (this, in combination with big data).
It also helps you to test areas where crime is more likely to occur; enabling the police in Los Angeles to reduce crime in those areas by 25%.
Industry:
Applying IoT to manufacturing, as Kevin Ashton imagined, will enable breakthroughs in many fields. The agri-food industry will be able to better adjust its production to consumption and climatic conditions.
The chemical industry will be able to manage its processes in an optimized manner; and devices that enable patients to be tracked more efficiently and in real time are emerging in the health sector.
How Is It Possible To Invest In Internet Of Things?
There’s one country that has the edge over the rest, in the field of technology – the United States. While there are also leading Asian companies; almost all the investment that is being made in anything related to the Internet of Things is made by North American companies.
There are several companies that innovate in Internet of Things, such as
- Micron Technology,
- Nvidia,
- Cisco,
- Akamai Technologies,
- Garmin,
- Comcast or Fitbit, besides the renowned
- Google,
- Tesla or IBM,
- To name a few.
There is the option of contracting investment funds for an investor who wants to assign; the choice of companies to a competent manager. Also, there are not too many funds concentrating only on the Internet of Things as a relatively recent subject. But there are those concentrating on Artificial Intelligence, a much wider term. Multiple ETFs that replicate technology indices are also on the market.
Also read: How to Approach Modern Technology
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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