If you are a person involved in the tech industry for some time, you may have heard the term "IOT" which is an acronym for the "Internet Of Things". It is the most promising technology area or the "Next Big Thing" in the tech industry at least for the next 5 years. Enough said about the hype. Let's talk about what is it and why do we need to care?
What is "Internet"?
First of all, we need to understand what is Internet. According to the most used resource(Google search) in the world we can define Internet as below.
"a global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols"
If we take that definition in simple terms, "Internet is a large network of interconnected computers which are connected through standard protocols like HTTP to provide various facilities like information(Google search) and communication(Skype, Viber)". That is not so simple right. Anyway that is it and I think we all understand that.
What are "Things"?
In the context of IOT, "Thing" means a device or accessory which has the following capabilities.
- Sensing (Sensor/Actuator)
- Communication (WiFi)
- Unique Identity (IPV6)
Basically that means any particular item which has the capability to sense and communicate with a unique identification considered as a "Thing". We can make any dumb item a "Thing" in IOT world by adding sensors and transmitters/receivers.
What is "Internet Of Things"?
Now we know about "Internet" and "Things". Which derives that we know about "Internet Of Things" which is the "Network of interconnected "Things" (devices) which are connected through standard protocols (Yet to be identified) to provide facilities like information, wisdom, communication to build a smarter world which consists of Smart homes, Smart cities, Connected cars and improved Health and Safety"
That definition looks Cool right. Being "Cool" does not mean that we should care about that.
Why we should care about "IOT"?
People always wanted to live smart. They wanted to be smart at everything they do. Let's take an example that you are going on a business trip alone by your company vehicle. All of a sudden, some other guy comes speeding and hit your vehicle and you got injured badly. Your life will be under threat if there is no one to help you out. But if you had a smart car which has crash sensor which is connected to your mobile device and when the crash happens, it will check for the nearest hospital and send an automatic message to the ambulance service. This will make sure that you get an ambulance at earliest possible time. Once the ambulance arrived they can extract information related to the accident over bluetooth in few seconds by communicating with the sensor and send those details with your Personal ID and before you are admitted to the hospital, they can assess the situation and prepare all the documentation things done before you are admitted to the hospital. This will save every important second during this process which might have decided your life if these facilities were not there.
That sounds bit "serious" right. That is only an example where IOT will improve our healthcare and safety. There are lot to be told. You can find more information about "Why" by having a look at the below TedEx talk.
IOT has already made waves in the tech industry and Gartner suggests that it would become a more mainstream technology area in the upcoming years with 50 billion IOT devices to be available by 2020.
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