The internet of things

What is theInternet of Things?Directors Briefing March 2012WWW.DIGITALTOMORROWTODAY.COM

What is the Internet of ThingsYou may have heard of ‘The The Internet of Things in actionInternet of Things’ - a hot If you stand at the bus stop and text a number fornew trend that could impact a timetable update. Your bus will be sending out location messages which are then copied to yourour digital l landscape. In this phone.briefing we take a layman’s The bus network for Cambridge, UK is oneview to explain what it is, why example of using this technology to communicateit is relevant and how it could with passengers via live status boards at bus stops and on demand through SMS.impact us.What is the Internet of Things?It is a connected network of objects that have theability to share data from the device to anotherobject. This can be as simple as the heat of aroom measured by a thermometer, the flow of apipe or the status of traffic lights. The connectionbetween these elements using the Internet tocommunicate and collaborate.When we state ‘the Internet’ we mean theoriginal TCP/IP connections to transmit data, notnecessarily communicating through web or emailbased systems.So, if the Internet, and primarily the web, ispopulated by human beings sharing and creatingactions, so the Internet of Things is a network ofobjects sharing data between themselves.The Internet of Things becomes important whenwe consider that the number of connecteddevices will soon outnumber the number ofconnected humans. An estimate publishedin March 2011 estimated there was 50 millionconnected devices and growing.Increasingly the Internet of Things will bepowered through mobile communications, not‘landline’ based data which opens up many moreopportunities for connecting both ‘mobile devices(cars, buses, trains etc.) but also opens up morerural connections and offers growth potential indeveloping countries.02 / WHAT IS THE INTERNET OF THINGS

What is the Internet of ThingsHow brands are using FitBitThe Internet of Things FitBit is a relatively new digital pedometer. Set it up, attach it to your clothes and it will sit thereThe concept of Internet of Things, whilst not monitoring activity (or lack of), steps, stairsnew has yet to be really harnessed by brands. climbed and distance walked. This data is thenNew companies like Fitbit lead the way for new transmitted via computer connected base stationopportunities with apps like Foursquare working to Fiitbit servers that collate this information andto connect with Fitbit data. translate it into insight.In time we will see additional brand usage as theywork to translate object data into human dataand content.Nike+In essence the Nike+ app is powered by TheInternet of Things. The special sensor tracksspeed, distance, pace and calories burnt. Awireless transmitter sends this data to an iPodand the associated app translates that from datato insight and Wisdom. The more times this used,the more data can be created from which insightand further wisdom can be created.The Nike Fuel Band will also be a good example,further connecting an object to a social network(Path.) The data created from the fuel band istranslated by software and shared directly on thesocial network, creating content from data.03 / WHAT IS THE INTERNET OF THINGS

What is the Internet of ThingsMicrosoft The Future ofThe insight gained from data will play an The Internet of Thingsimportant part in future online services. Mapping, The Internet of Things has been growing since thefor example is a hotly contested arena with Internet was launched. The concept, and how itGoogle Maps, Bing Maps and Open Maps all relates to consumers has been around for at leasttrying to improve the insight available from using 2 years with IBM’s Smarter Planet spearheadingtheir maps. the drive to relevance and commercialism.In order to provide more effective route guidance, Yet for all this history, it has yet to really impactMicrosoft tagged 33,000 taxi cabs in Beijing, on our daily lives or to be harnessed by brands.China. Their aim was to monitor the routes to As more ‘phones become data collectors andidentify the most effective routes at different more apps connect with this data, we willtimes of day, day or week. This data could then see more opportunities arise to harness thisbe collated with other object data like weather technology.and city traffic information to build up a moreinsightful picture. In time this will be shared with Like ‘Web 2.0’ The Internet of Things may losemap users to provide a more compelling map the moniker as it becomes part of our daily,experience. connected lives.04 / WHAT IS THE INTERNET OF THINGS

The internet of things

by Jamie Riddell on Jun 11, 2012

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