The Internet of Things is the digital interactive connectivity between people, animals, devices, structures and places.
Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) predicts some 25 billion devices will be connected by 2015, and 50 billion by 2020.
“Smart” phones were only the beginning. Soon and very soon, millions of devices and structures will be “smart.” They will connect, creating “smart” cities, “smart” states, “smart” countries and even a “smart” world.
Let’s fast-forward to 2020. Meet hypothetical Milwaukee couple Ted and Alice. Let’s chronicle the start of their day and how it will be impacted by the Internet of Things.
It’s 6:30 a.m., and their “smart” alarm has awakened them. It also has turned up the thermostat and started the shower at a pre-set temperature. In addition, it has already started brewing a pot of coffee.
An alert is beeping in the kitchen, reminding Ted to take his blood pressure medication. He looks down at a wearable device that is monitoring that blood pressure.
Another alert reminds Alice to take her multi-vitamin.
Alice can hear their baby stirring on a monitor, which also documented the child’s heart rate and temperature throughout the night.
Before they leave for work, Alice lets the family dog out. However, moments later the wearable device on Ted’s arm alerts him that the dog has strayed from the yard. The dog has a GPS tracker on his collar. Ted locates and retrieves the dog.
As they exit the front door on their way to work, Alice realizes she left her keys on the kitchen counter. That’s OK. The “smart” lock system on the front door waits 60 seconds before engaging the lock, so she goes back into the house to retrieve her keys.
On his “smart” phone, Ted receives a status report about his elderly father, who is resting comfortably at a nearby nursing home.
As Ted and Alice approach the garage, the “smart” garage door senses their arrival and automatically opens.
They start their vehicles, exit the garage and the door closes behind them.
Alice is driving down the highway, which she knows will soon be populated by driverless cars. As she approaches a “smart” bridge, it sends a warning to her “smart” car that the bridge is covered with ice. She slows down accordingly.
Ted drives over another bridge, which was built with “smart” cement, which detects a crack in the structural foundation of the bridge. The “smart” cement sends a warning to the city engineer’s office, which dispatches an expert to inspect it.
Alice now approaches an intersection at which some “smart” traffic lights detect that her vehicle is approaching and turn green just in time.
All of this, and Ted and Alice haven’t even arrived at the office yet. Imagine the changes that will be happening there… n
