First of all What is Internet of Things(IOT)?
The Internet of things is an environment in which objects, animals or people are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human to computer interaction. The Internet of Things is otherwise popularly called Internet of Everything or Network of Everything and refers to the network of physical objects or “things” embedded with electronics, software, and connectivity to enable objects to exchange data with the production, operator and other connected devices based on the infrastructure.
So, what exactly it will do to the “Things“?
The Internet of Things allows objects to be sensed and controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct integration between the physical world and computer based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit. Notably, each thing is uniquely identifiable through its embedded computing system but is able to interoperate within the existing Internet infrastructure.
Typically, Internet of Things is expected to offer advanced connectivity of devices, systems, and services that goes beyond machine-to-machine communications and covers a variety of protocols, domains, and applications. The interconnection of these embedded devices is expected to usher in automation in nearly all fields.
The term “things” can connote a wide variety of devices such as heart monitoring implants, electric clams in coastal waters, automobiles with built in sensors, or field operation devices that assist fire fighters in search and rescue. These devices collect useful data with the help of various existing technologies and then autonomously flow the data with the help of various existing technologies and then autonomously flow the data between other devices. Besides the plethora of new application areas for Internet connected automation to expand into, Internet of things is also expected to generate large amounts of data from diverse locations that is aggregated very quickly, thereby increasing the need to better index, store and process such data.
In its original manifestation, one of the first consequences of implementing the Internet of Things by equipping all objects in the world with minuscule identifying devices or machine-readable identifiers would be to transform daily life. For example, such technology could grant motion picture publishers much more control over end user private devices by enforcing remotely copyright restrictions and digital restrictions management.
Has this been done already?
Yes, The first appliance of the concept of IOT was in a Coke machine at Carnegie Melon University in the early 1980s. The programmers could connect to the machine over the Internet, check the status of the machine and determine whether or not there would be a cold drink awaiting them, should they decide to make the trip down to the machine.
What’s happening now in this field?
Noteworthy is the fact that the concept of Internet of Things is accelerating in its market integration because of the fact that it allows for growth in analytics and cloud computing. Secondly, because it increases interconnectivity of machines and personal smart devices. Lastly, courtesy the proliferation of applications connecting supply chains, partners, and customers the concept of IOT is found to be accelerated in the market.