The Internet of Things (IoT) is everywhere. From your mobile phones to cars, these devices connect to the internet for it to send and receive information. To make it simpler, any device that has a data sensor and links to the internet is eligible to be part of the IoT ecosystem.
What are the devices in the IoT ecosystem?
Here are a few examples:
- A smart thermostat lets you easily control the temperature of air conditioners in different rooms separately or simultaneously
- Lightbulbs that changes color or turns on or off with a single tap on a mobile app
- Smartwatches that sends data of your heart rate, stress rate, and even sleep patterns straight to your mobile app
Definitely, IoT adds convenience to our daily lives. If you look closely at today’s society, people are used to the existence of IoT. They heavily rely on its real-time data sharing and more.
On a larger scale, businesses are also benefitting from this. More and more companies are investing in the internet of things to remove unnecessary costs and enable faster transmission of valuable data to one point to another. Imagine receiving real-time updates of shipping details straight from the logistics team’s couriers and distributors. No more back-and-forth communication since everything is displayed on the connected devices in real-time.
IoT Security
Aside from bringing convenience to our everyday lives, it also implements safety for different enterprises in a wide variety of industries. From factories and healthcare to travel and even the comfort of the users’ home, IoT is making the places we are in safer.
Factories
Efficiency is vital in running smooth operations within a factory. No matter what kind of industry the factory is in, a seamless approach promotes productivity and flawless endorsement from one department to another.
Some things that IoT can bring to the table for factories are:
- Sensors that alert systems when a machine or equipment is not working correctly or unsafe to use
- Alerts that quickly notify workers of air contamination
- Systems that report the current status of production—when items requested by companies are finished or not
Buildings
Despite being covered by a roof, accidents can still happen. All thanks to IoT, here are some safety precautions that can be applied to both private and public buildings, and even homes:
- Cameras that monitor and recognize the faces of people and objects that come and go from the premises and quickly alert the security personnel to review the clips
- Smoke detectors that send alerts to fire centers for agile fire response
Healthcare
Patients’ safety and health are of the utmost importance in the healthcare sector. As IoT emerged, it transformed how key players in the healthcare sector handled patients, records, procedures, and medical supplies.
- Fridges that shows real-time vaccine information as well as stores medicine within stable temperatures, avoiding quick spoilage
- Wearables that collect biometric data from the patients wearing them; therefore, allowing medical staff to have an in-depth understanding of their patient’s condition
- Sensors in inhalers that detect triggers of a patient’s symptoms, track medicine intake, and provides allergen forecasts
Travel
Relying on people to be a lookout 24 hours a day and 7 days a week for traffic monitoring and detection of potential threats is too much to ask.
With IoT, here are some devices the travel sector can leverage:
- Through surveillance cameras and unified systems, employees can easily track suspicious activities in real-time
- Smart cameras that can provide high-resolution images of scanned identity documents and detect suspicious tampering and authenticity
- Luggage-tracking devices that help owners trace their lost pieces of baggage
Solutions for Everyone’s Safety in the Future
Yes, the internet of things brought convenience and ways to promote cost-effectiveness and seamless solutions to productivity. Aside from these advantages, it also helps in ensuring the safety of the people using it.
But, always be reminded that technology helps in prevention. There are still instances when we can’t anticipate every bad thing that may happen. Nevertheless, technology will continue to improve and come up with solutions for everyone’s safety in the future.