In today’s digital era, more devices are built with Wi-Fi Capabilities. Also, various sensors can now be embedded in most of the devices. All this is due to the boom in the internet connection and the fact that with each day, the internet speed is improving and its cost is declining. This has lead to a not so new concept which has now become the topic of discussions among the techies, called the internet of things or IoT. So what is actually IoT, how does it work and what are its applications? We will discuss it all here in this article. Lets get started. What is ‘Internet of Things’? If we refer to Wikipedia, it says “The Internet of things (IoT) is the network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and connectivity which enable these objects to connect and exchange data.” So clearly, the “things” referred to in “Internet of Things”, are nothing but devices, vehicles etc that have sensors and software embedded in them. These things are connected to each other via internet and hence its name. In simple terms, we can say that Internet of Things is a collection of devices and applications put together to perform useful stuff. These things can be anything from cell-phones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps and wearable devices. For example, your wearable device can tell you how much active you were on a particular day at your workplace and share that information with other devices you use. This is how internet of things can help us in our daily lives. This concept may seem to be new, however, it is not. Read on to know about the history of IoT. History of IoT The growing technology and access to the internet have brought the internet of things into the limelight since 2015-16. However, this concept is not new. In fact, it dates back to the 70s when the concept of interconnected things was called “embedded internet” or “pervasive computing”. It was in 1999, the term “Internet of Things” was coined by Kevin Ashton, while working in supply chain optimization at Procter & Gamble. In order to garner attention from his employees on the then trending topic of RFID technology and internet, he presented the whole idea as “Internet of things” and that was the first time when this term was used. However it was only in the summer of 2010 did this concept gain popularity, when in the same year it was included in the five-year plan of the Chinese government. Eventually over the years with the growth of the internet and embedded technology, IoT became popular among the masses. New technologies paved way for a wide range of applications where IoT could be used fruitfully. Let us have a look into some of the practical applications of IoT . Applications of IoT According to a survey conducted by HP, it was shown that the number of connected devices or “things” have increased drastically over the years. This means IoT has been successful in bridging the gap between the physical and digital world for a better future. The scope of IoT is quite extensive with technology expanding with each growing year. Here we have listed 5 practical applications of IoT, just to let you know how it would affect our lives in the long run. 1. Smart Homes Smart home technology or home automation aims at providing security, comfort, convenience and energy efficiency to homeowners. Here multiple devices are interconnected. For example, with closed circuit camera at your home premises that is connected to your mobile device via internet, you can see all... read more
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