The number of connected devices has risen significantly. Some devices, such as fridges, were never intended to be connected to the Internet. Yet, they are ordering food for us and making shopping lists.
What happens when someone comes up with a completely new use of IoT?
Internet of Things (IoT) has given us some really special use cases and here is the list of the most interesting ones.
The Baby Monitor
Gone are the days when baby monitors transmit only sound from the room. Instead, the next generation of baby monitors offers a complete overview of the baby’s well-being. The device is actually a piece of clothing that tracks statistics about the baby and sends them directly to a smart device.
A person can be anywhere in the world and still be able to monitor their baby’s sleeping activity, breathing, the temperature of the skin, audio, and even the position of the body. Furthermore, users of smart infant monitors can track that in real-time.
Smart Parking
Smart parking is a really simple idea that could change one of the biggest problems worldwide. Drivers are often frustrated when they have to drive around in order to find an available spot to park.
Smart parking solves this problem by involving sensors on parking spaces, light poles, and even buildings. These sensors scan for empty spaces in the parking areas and send information to drivers’ smart devices.
Enhancement of Wine Quality
In order to improve the quality of the wine, it is necessary to improve the conditions in which the grapes are grown. Rias Baixas is a region in Galicia, in the north-west of Spain, where the famous Albariño grapes are located.
There, an experiment was conducted which included sensors measuring soil moisture, leaf wetness, humidity and temperature in the vineyard area. The results were sent to the smart device in real-time, resulting in the top-quality wine.
Early Detection of Children Pneumonia
IoT helps doctors a lot by giving them real-time information about their patients. One such application is the early detection of pneumonia, which is the major cause of the child death in the developing countries.
This type of measurement involves a device which is attached to the chest and picks up data about their breathing. The algorithm processes the data and sends results to a smart device. This allows the doctors to act quickly and to cause the illness at its early stage.
Smart Lightbulbs
Philips has introduced a very interesting way to control lighting in a room. It is possible to make the lights dim now with your fingertips with the help of smart device.
However, dimming lights is one of the possible features. Users can also program the intensity of lights and enjoy as they automatically change. For example, they can set dim lights during their sleep or they can be set to blink mode if an intruder breaks in.
IoT in Art
One of the interesting yet unexpected uses of IoT is in art installations. There are several installations worldwide that use sensors.
One of the most interesting installations is located in Seoul’s public park. At first, it seems just like a random shape, but the residents can instantly know that it is a shape of the city of Seoul and its districts.
The installation picks up data about the air quality from the sensors in each district and lights up those areas which have currently the healthiest air. The installation is created by Soo-in Yang and David Benjamin.
Efficient Use of Energy
Efficient energy means more reasonable consumption and a better supply of electricity. This can be managed by the Smart Grid implementation.
Smart Grids automatically collect data and analyze it to improve how electrical energy is being used and distributed. Furthermore, the threat of a black-out or any type of power outage will be minimal, as the Smart Grid can efficiently find the problem and even solve it by itself.
Water Management
Water management can be done on both level global as well as on a local. The first would include proper distribution of water worldwide. It is still a project which is deeply discussed, but there are indications that one day nobody on this Earth should remain thirsty.
On the other hand, local water management would involve solutions such as fast leakages location, monitoring of the quality of drinking water, monitoring irrigation systems, and even monitoring of water levels in the river banks and in the lakes.
Analytics for Sportspeople
There are several ways IoT can be used in sports and IBM seems to be pioneering in this type of IoT use.
The first use includes measuring the performance of the sportspeople. Now, managers can have a better insight on how their players are doing. They can see everything in numbers and act accordingly.
The second use is more fan-oriented. IoT provides a great experience by making them aware of their favorite sportspeople performances. This can increase the popularity of sports and even make sports betting much more interesting and fair.
Remote Control of House Appliances
The last one is already in use worldwide. People are often not sure whether they had turned their burners off. Just by having an app which is connected to the smart cooker, they will be able to check it anytime they like.
Moreover, a smart device can be used to remote control doors and windows, if they are a part of an IoT system, thus increasing the level of security of the house.
Conclusion: –
To sum up, IoT is still in its infancy and new use cases appear every day. Smart cities and smart farms are slowly being built and it is just a matter of time when all of the devices become connected to the internet. When this happens, people will certainly start living a better life and, hopefully, the core problems of our society such as lack of food and shelter will be solved.
