Technology never stops bringing us exciting developments and always promises to improve our lives. In recent years, there has been an explosion of creativity and technological innovation, with bold projects being undertaken in all corners of the Earth: from wireless power, 3D printing, gamification, autonomous vehicles and automatic content recognition, to mobile robots and – the topic of this post: Internet of Things or, as some call it, the Internet of Everything. Sounds great? Well, it’s probably because it is. The promise of this company is nothing short of a game changer, with the ultimate goal of bringing all inanimate objects to life, in a truly Frankenstein way.

What is the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a scenario where every thing – device, human, network, etc. – has a unique identifier and the ability to communicate over the Internet. The idea is to create a situation where we don’t have to control each piece of equipment separately, but instead have high-level control over a complex chain of integrated events, over an “army” of interconnected devices that can communicate with each other. as well as with us.

The Internet of Everything combines several trends, including cloud computing, the growth of connected devices, Big Data, the increasing use of video, and the growing importance of mobile applications compared to traditional computing applications. The Internet of Things is an evolutionary result of the trend towards ubiquitous computing, a trend that has assumed the need to embed processors in everyday objects.

Kevin Ashton, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the MIT Auto-ID Center, explains the potential of the Internet of Things:

“Today, computers, and therefore the Internet, are almost completely dependent on humans for information. Almost all of the 50 or so petabytes (a petabyte is 1024 terabytes) of data available on the Internet was captured and created by first time by humans typing, pressing a record button, taking a digital photo or scanning a barcode…

“The problem is that people have limited time, attention, and precision, all of which means they’re not very good at capturing data about things in the real world… If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things , using they collected without our help – we could track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost.”

‘Rule your world on a smartphone’

Although it still sounds like a futuristic fantasy, the IoT is already happening, with many technologies in very advanced stages of development. The potential of this technology has inspired developers to produce solutions geared towards both the consumer and the B2B market.

The battle for consumer hearts and minds is centered around home automation, with companies like SmartThings, Nest Labs, and Ninja Blocks leading the way. Another important consumer-facing area is self-quantification, which is playing an important role in developing consumer awareness of the potential of the IoT.

Beyond the consumer, the vertical B2B applications of IoT are very promising in several areas, such as transportation, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail.

Development projects

SmartThings started as a Kickstarter project and has grown into a resourceful company offering a range of clever products, including physical devices for home automation and apps to control them. It is built on a cloud-based software platform that allows users to install apps into their lives that make the world more responsive and enjoyable. More exciting still, SmartThings is building an open platform and explicitly embracing developer communities, paving the way for a more open and diverse environment perfect for unrestrained creativity. Applications under development cover areas such as: Convenience, Family, Fun & Social, Green Living, Health & Fitness, and Safety & Security.

Another promising project, created to foster open digital systems, is Xively Cloud Services™ (formerly Cosm and formerly Pachube). It bills itself as the ‘world’s first public cloud for the Internet of Things’ and aims to provide a common foundation through which any device connected to the Internet can communicate with any other device.

Like Cosm before it, Xively will offer a way for different devices to connect with each other, albeit now with commercial terms of service for commercial users and services freely available for development projects. The existence of platforms like Xively seems to be critical to building a true Internet of Things rather than what we actually have now.

Internet or intranet?

So far, despite all the exciting developments, the Internet of Things is still in its infancy, with most devices connected to the Internet but still unable to communicate with each other, creating a de facto plethora of Intranets of Things. instead of a unified Internet. of things. What is needed now for this technology to really take off is a common platform that unrelated devices can connect to, ideally an open source one to maximize the potential for future innovation and developer engagement. The devices offered today are also very expensive and their scope for communication between devices is still quite limited.

In the future, the development of the IoT market will inevitably bring more compatible and affordable consumer products that will be available to more people. But for all the talk about the benefits of the IoT, no one seems to raise any real concerns, such as: what if machines, capable of communicating and interfacing with each other, no longer need us and run away, or otherwise? contrary, unite and turn against us? There must be a sci-fi movie about this scenario somewhere. Either way, epic times are ahead.