What is the future of the internet of things and how would it benefit you?

What is the future of the Internet of things? You would like to know how the internet of things will affect you in the future, right?

Good!

You know, early mornings are usually difficult for most of us.

You’ll need to wake up on time, make some breakfast, go for a quick exercise, prepare and dash out to work almost immediately.

During all this chaos we lose track of so many things, on your way to work you begin to doubt if you turned off the coffee maker or if you properly shut the garage doors.

Do you return home and risk being late for that important business meeting or do you keep going?

If you have ever experienced a scenario like this, then you will understand what the Internet of things is and how it will affect your future.

Let me introduce you to the internet of things and how innovation is changing the world as we know it.

The internet of things refers to any and every device that connects over the internet (such as smartwatches, automated doors, and self-driving cars) and can share data and information independently with one another using inbuilt sensors.

Inbuilt sensors help devices communicate with their surroundings and other devices, for example, automatic doors have motion sensors which detect movements and allow them to open when being approached.

Other examples are proximity sensors, Infrared sensors, and temperature sensors.

Why bother about the future of the Internet of things?

Some years ago, the computer could only be used by programmers and the government because of its size, cost, and difficulty in operating.

Today computers are the most common piece of electronics in the world. Almost at every turn, we interact with a piece of electronic device, from our smartphones, watches, cars, and houses, it is impossible in this age to go a day without interacting with a piece of electronics.

The Internet of things which seeks to provide a platform where devices can communicate with one another will certainly be the new normal of the future.

The internet of things will certainly affect the way we see life and carry out our activities in the future.

How would the internet of things affect you in the future?

The internet of things will affect you in so many ways. To understand how the future with the internet of things will be, let’s take a look at some possibilities;

But before we do, click on this link and take a look at 101 jaw-dropping facts about the internet of things that would knock your socks off

How IoT and 5G development can affect your future

Networks have come a long way from 2G/3G/4G LTE connections and now have been developed up to the 5th generation.

Previous generations faced so many challenges like area coverage, latency, and slow connections in heavily populated cities.

5G network is the new guy in the block of communications network and it promises to take care of some issues previous generations had.

Its cell towers are modified to improve area coverage problems.

Also, the 5G promises decreased latency, given it speeds up to 10 times faster than its 4G predecessor.

All this will mean a more efficient and reliable network, to share and receive data as more devices will stay connected without overcrowding the network.

What is the future of the internet of things and how will it benefit you?

Waking up to an alarming clock, starting a wood furnace to heat up the house, or manually turning on/off lights will soon become a thing of the past.

Your future home will see the use of sensors or smart thermostats to control pretty much all the features in the house.

So early in the morning, your windows would automatically open to allow fresh air into the house, your coffee maker will begin making your coffee, lights will turn on/off when you walk in or out of a room using motion sensors.

Your home security camera feeds will be controlled remotely to frighten thieves, your garage doors will open and shut with a simple tap.

Your car will be able to self-drive and also receive weather and traffic information, to help you make better decisions.

Also industrially, 5G development will promote the creation of IoT that benefits industries whose operations depend on a time-sensitive output and ultra-fast data sharing such as freighter fleets, oil derricks, mines, and construction sites.

So businesses that have production lines in different geographical locations, can have harmony in production by sharing data in real-time.

Other businesses may see a complete move to automated processes, with improvements in robotics and artificial intelligence processes such as drones, and automated vehicles and traffic will realize greater distribution flexibility, proactive maintenance, and real-time monitoring.

The Future of IoT and Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to any system, device, machine, or computer program that is designed to perform certain tasks without human assistance.

It is built with the ability to think, understand, make suggestions, and even talk when necessary.

A typical example of AI is the google mail (Gmail) account.

Grouped into primary, social, and promotional emails, it auto filters spam emails (unwanted email messages that are sent in bulk, and are usually repetitive), and sends regular notifications when necessary.

In the future, you’ll be looking at human-like machines that take the place of soldiers in wars.

This effort will go a long way to save more lives.

Also, companies in the future will move from hiring human force to designing human-like robots to perform their tasks for them.

This too will make work a lot easier and boost productivity.

However, such a great step will cost the jobs of many employees, and increase the rate of unemployment, which will affect lives negatively, and bring about hardship.

Many experts regard AI as a key for unlocking the full potential of IoT deployments and applications.

As IoT expands, so does generated data, giving rise to data management problems.

Analyzing this data to draw insight is one problem likely to affect businesses, considering the fact that most business models are data-driven.

AI can address this issue and enhance business actions by including machine learning into IoT devices, to predict conducive work conditions.

Also, machine learning will be applied in analyzing data streams to identify patterns and parameters, requiring adjustment to maintain efficient operations and ideal outcomes.

AI-enabled IoT will further be used to automate essential processes to eliminate disruptive factors, such as human errors.

Including AI in IoT will enable companies to avoid unplanned and costly downtime (time during which a machine is out of action or unavailable for use, either due to maintenance or system failure).

Downtime can cause you and your business to critically suffer colossal revenue loss.

Early maintenance can be done using AI analytics to predict equipment failure. Machine learning algorithms will be used to identify data stream patterns to predict the potential of equipment failure.

Such capabilities will assist you and your business enhance equipment availability and uptime, reducing the general maintenance costs, and minimize the time needed to plan for and implement maintenance programs.

Now, with Artificial Intelligence and IoT constantly collecting and analyzing our private data, there comes the question of security, consumer privacy, and safety.

As with any new technology, improvements will be made until the system becomes secured.

However, the internet of things and AI will bring about the creation of human-like robots to take the place of human force in companies and organizations.

This will make the workflow of such companies smooth, easy, and efficient; since the robots can be programmed to carry out more than one task at a time, which will increase productivity, and eliminate the stress of paying people to perform those tasks.

Again, such human-like robots will be programmed to take the place of soldiers in future wars.

This will save more lives than are lost in wars today.

The Future of IoT in healthcare

Almost every individual does some kind of exercise once a week to keep fit, we run, stretch, practice yoga, visit the gym and take a walk in the park. This shows how important our health is.

Even with all these, our busy schedules make monitoring our health difficult, this is the reason why we need these special devices.

MarketWatch estimates that the Global Internet of Things in the medical field is expected to grow at a cost of about $162.2 billion, by the end of 2024.

The present use of IoT in healthcare includes the Hospital information management system (HIMS), which collects and manages medical records.

It stores up-to-date information about appointments, doctors, and patients. Electronic Healthcare Records Systems (EHRS) stores and shares data among various specialists to achieve better treatment results.

Patients can also contact doctors 24/7, which is important for patients with chronic diseases.

Mobile Healthcare is mobile applications that can be used to get consultation online, scheduling the offline consultation for emergency or regular treatment.

According to IQVIA about 320,000m Health apps are available today.

Future IoT applications in healthcare will include wearable devices, drug tracking systems, medical supply chains, remote patient monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment.

Smart devices can track the health conditions of patients with chronic diseases, and this data can be shared with the patient’s physician who uses it to make decisions.

Also, these devices could be able to get help in emergencies, by sending a signal to the patient’s healthcare provider in emergencies like an asthma attack, heart failure, or another medical issue so an ambulance is dispatched right away.

IoT will also play a great role in drug monitoring and compliance. It will allow physicians to monitor the effectiveness of drugs administered, and also reminds patients to take their next dosage of the drug (compliance) when due.

It may go a step further to remind the patient’s caregiver when they fail to take their medications.

IoT will also be used to monitor hospital assets performing vital functions in real-time.

Hospitals cannot afford to use damaged equipment, as it can cause disasters.

Connecting IoT devices for control and management can enable hospital staff to monitor patients under treatment, and with intelligent analytics, damaged equipment can easily be identified, enabling prompt maintenance.

As such, IoT will improve the quality of healthcare, and reduce its cost. Your health will be monitored in real-time anywhere you are, through connected devices and wearables.

There won’t be any need to leave your home for the hospital or call the hospital in the case of an emergency, since your information is already made available to physicians and healthcare providers.

Also, IoT will solve human possible problems like input errors, fatigue, and lack of concentration, that put patients at risk.

Since machines don’t suffer from tiredness and loss of concentration like humans, IoT will be carrying out several human tasks at the same time to eliminate possible errors and provide accurate results.

The future of IoT and Blockchain

Blockchain is a distributed ledger like a dairy/database which holds records and transfers data in a transparent, auditable, and safe manner.

Its data is considered clean, as it is resistant to change of existing data. Today, Blockchain is considered a very promising technology for the future.

The reason why blockchain seems safe and less open to attack is that although its ledger is public, the data contained inside is verified and secured using advanced cryptography (coding).

Although the blockchain allows stored data to be shared amongst users, the shared ledger isn’t owned by anyone person or organization, and so it is completely transparent and includes all ledger history since its origin.

New users can track and trace records to the very beginning before they joined the network.

This will make data inflexible, protect systems from fraud and forgery as correction of data/information will be rejected by the many computers used in the verification process.

Blockchain can be used for several types of data, although it is used currently in cryptocurrencies for sending and receiving money.

Blockchain may likely be used in the future to take care of the large personal data being collected by IoT devices.

It could find uses in storing sensitive data like healthcare records, property and contracts, taxes, voting, and tracking.

Due to security concerns about using IoT devices, blockchain may find a wide area of implementation.

For example, in a blockchain system, all connected devices must communicate to confirm that a transaction took place, and is therefore an authorized occurrence.

After the approval, each device keeps records of such transaction details. This will make the blockchain suitable for security, banking, and proofs.

Also, blockchain will be used in smart contract transactions as a measure for securing internal communications.

All user interactions with IoT devices can be recorded in a blockchain database, ensuring access to uncorrupted security data when need be.

An example of blockchain already used is the development of ADEPT (Automated Decentralized P2P Telemetry), which is based on M2M (machine-to-machine) communication.

This initiative by Samsung and IBM is a decentralized IoT system that enables billions of IoT devices to perform self-maintenance, and broadcast transactions to peers on the same network.

The future will see blockchain enabling data owners to monetize their data. Using IoT sensors, device owners will be able to exchange generated data for micropayments.

With blockchain, healthcare facilities will better secure patients’ sensitive data and information from cyber-attacks and thefts.

This will help save many lives, because an attack on a hospital’s database may lead to manipulation of prescriptions, and lead to possible deaths.

The future of IoT in Mobile Application Development

Combining IoT with mobile application development is perhaps the most logical thing to expect in the future, as studies by Smart Insights show 90% of us spend considerable time on our mobile devices and mobile apps.

The application development business is booming due to our increased dependence on technological solutions and the increasing popularity of smartphones.

IoT advancements will have great impacts on mobile application development.

Mobile devices offer totally portable IoT solutions which make managing a whole lot of other devices easy.

Rather than having multiple switches and each device having its own controller, our phones can be a one device control all.

From wireless kitchen appliances, smart mirrors, video doorbells, smart lightning, self-regulating vacuum cleaners, home automation is the future.

With an app, we could also control the lighting, temperature, alarm systems, garage door, and even water sprinklers in our gardens.

AI-powered voice assistants are also taking the center stage and receiving wide acceptance.

Car manufacturers may use mobile apps to program maintenance, infotainment tasks, safety procedures, and diagnostics.

These apps could control doors and lights, activate the online anti-theft alarm, control the infotainment system, and get real-time traffic and weather information.

Mobile applications may also be used to track both moving and non-moving assets and people on the production floor, to improve their management and usage with the help of IoT sensors.

The app would help businesses to track shift performance, identify employees or assets entering restricted areas, find the location of an employee in real-time in case of the need to reassign them to another task, and monitor manufacturing flow by tracking product parts of equipment like toolboxes.

If you found this article helpful, please share it with your friends or leave a comment below and tell me in your words how the Internet of things will affect us in the future.

Originally published at https://infosecreporter.com on November 12, 2020.