Role of IOT in our Daily Lives

The prospect of a much more comfortable daily life, a more efficient economy and administration, greater road safety, an ecological energy supply and a healthier life are undoubtedly driving the development of an Internet of Things that facilitates all areas of our lives: automatic coffee machines, industrial production that reacts quickly to demand, autonomous cars and watches capable of detecting and immediately communicating any deterioration in health. With the information collected by the different interconnected objects, activities can be planned much better and, in connection with AI systems, IoT devices work faster and more efficiently than people.

In the healthcare sector, the Internet of Things would increase the information collected from each patient, allowing accurate diagnoses to be made and the health status of each individual to be monitored continuously, ruling out unnecessary visits to the doctor's office.

IoT devices, self-learning and immersed in a continuous exchange of information, are also capable of foreseeing risks, channeling them and optimizing processes without the need for human intervention. Machines that maintain themselves or plan production processes in a factory in real time not only reduce costs but also time. Heating systems or self-regulating sensors responsible for detecting the need for water and fertilizers in agricultural practices also guarantee responsible and efficient use of resources.

The development of a digital infrastructure would in the future allow the creation of a sophisticated and extensive system, capable of self-regulation and covering all areas of daily life.

Smart cities and objects: how does the IoT affect our daily lives?

The revolution in our daily lives thanks to the Internet of Things is yet to come and, therefore, we can only make hypotheses about how this software development services will affect our lives, even more so if we take into account that few people live in a smart home or use wearable objects (objects equipped with this technology that can be worn). On the other hand, there are other innovations that are gradually being incorporated, such as automated teller machines, intelligent surveillance cameras and factories with autonomous operation. However, these advances remain in the background, as they do not visibly affect our routine. The absolute integration of the IoT would mean being continually surrounded by computer systems that collect and exchange data on the Internet. If these objects are used within one's own home, they completely slip into the private sphere.

Living in a smart home brings with it numerous advantages: thanks to the data collected about the different residents and their activities, you can react in advance and facilitate certain daily activities. Household appliances regulate themselves and thus guarantee greater safety: kitchen stoves that turn off automatically or home doors that lock themselves.

Many of the devices connected to the Internet respond to a behavioral pattern : a smart wristwatch responsible for stimulating a healthy lifestyle notifies the user every time it detects an increase in sedentary lifestyle. However, human needs are only predictable to a certain extent, without forgetting a key question that often accompanies the use of this custom software development services: what if technology increasingly controlled our lifestyle? Let's imagine that insurers begin to emerge that charge one rate or another taking into account the information collected about the physical activity carried out by a client. Would it be ethical? Not only experts in this field are trying to find an answer, but IT professionals are also discussing the disadvantages that the application of IoT can bring.

One thing is certainly clear: the devices for home use already available are quite practical. An example of this is the smart thermostat from Nest, a company acquired by Google, capable of detecting the usual heating temperature in a place, and later regulating it autonomously. A motion detector registers whether the inhabitants are home and turns off the heating in their absence. This reduces heating costs, saves energy resources and increases comfort. If residents decide to return home earlier than usual, they can turn it on before arriving.

Some innovations tested in certain cities are a sample of what the IoT will allow to be carried out in the public sector in the future. On a global scale, the Internet of Things could make transportation, traffic, garbage collection, etc. much more efficient, although this would require creating a complete infrastructure of streetlights, containers, traffic lights and interconnected building facades that They will capture the information through sensors.

Santander is an example of a smart city. The narrow streets of the center have thousands of sensors to measure the volume of traffic and through an app drivers are notified of the busiest routes as well as available parking spaces. Amsterdam, for its part, has smart streetlights that regulate the intensity of the projected light, so that when there are no pedestrians or cars nearby they turn off, which reduces light pollution and saves energy.

The basis of a fourth industrial revolution

The IoT can be considered the engine of a fourth industrial revolution. There is no doubt that smart factories, in whose facilities production processes are organized autonomously, belong to a new era. In them, production is accelerated, efficiency is increased and costs are reduced thanks, for example, to the fact that the materials are provided with RFID chips that indicate which machine is responsible for the next process and sensors that help the machines to notify critical situations., in addition to other systems to communicate repair or material needs.

Opportunities and dangers of industry 4.0 and digital marketing

The Internet of Things serves to optimize the different stages in a production process as well as all the services involved: from product development, through marketing, to its delivery and subsequent recycling. Furthermore, with a set of interconnected and completely autonomous machines it is easier to adapt to the individual wishes of each client. In this way, the manufacturing of customized products does not always require the supervision of a person or the reconditioning of facilities, even if it involves a small number of pieces. In fact, this is the way used by Adidas to create custom shoes.

The IoT also offers great potential in the world of marketing. Retail, for example, targets a specific consumer in a specific area. Therefore, with what are known as iBeacons you can improve your advertising strategy by sending signals to customers' smartphones with a specific offer. Another interesting example is smart beverage vending machines. These are capable of communicating lack of inventory and possible failures, if they occur, as well as detecting summer temperatures to adapt prices to the greater expected demand.

But far from being just an invention, there are real applications of IoT in marketing. The Johnnie Walker whiskey brand has created smart bottles that communicate with the buyer's mobile phone thanks to NFC technology. The sensors attached to the bottle label send information to the company about the supply chain and the entire customer journey: the sensors record whether the bottle has been opened or remains closed and, depending on this information, the buyer receives information or advice for a more pleasant consumption. For the customer, all of this provides a purchase incentive and improves the product experience and, at the same time, the custom software development company obtains information about the product's life cycle and can send personalized advertising to the user.

Furthermore, if industrial processes are delegated to machines, they will end up replacing human labor not only in monotonous or dangerous activities, but also in many other areas that generate jobs.

Experts do not agree on determining in which areas and to what extent the IoT will affect professional occupation. On the one hand, digitalization has created new work environments and in many areas smart devices would be limited to assisting employees. On the other hand, some economists predict that Industry 4.0 will be accompanied by a rationalization of jobs. Researcher Andrew McAfee, from the prestigious Institute of Technology (MIT) in Massachusetts, assumes that by the middle of the 21st century, half of the jobs that currently exist will be available. A study from the University of Oxford reaches a very similar conclusion.