In layman terms, the Internet of Things abbreviated as IoT is a network of interconnected devices which can be accessed at any time with the help of an internet connection. There are ranges of devices in today’s modern world that are interconnected in the IoT network with the help of Internet. Starting from a heart to the fitness tracker on a person’s wrist and your microwave oven to the geyser in your bathroom, the list of devices continues to expand every day.

Every object in the IoT network is pre-assigned an IP address and is tasked with the collection and transmission of data through the network. No manual intervention is needed and depending on the external and internal conditions, the devices or the central server controlling them autonomously takes decisions.

Real world application of IoT

Smart Home
Nowadays when people think about IoT, the first application that pops up in their mind is Smart Home. In brief, any home can be categorised as being a smart home, if a number of devices across the home are connected and controlled across a single network.

The range of devices starts from the geyser you use to heat your water every morning to the home security system guarding your premises.

Smart Homes are designed to save time, energy and money of the host. With companies like Nest, Ring and Ecobee becoming household names, the day is not far when we will see Smart Homes at every street corner.

Wearables
Since its inception, the industry of wearables has seen a tremendous change and development due to the high demand from consumers around the world.

Wearables are made using multiple sensors like a heartbeat monitor and pedometer among others. These sensors collect data about the user, and later this data is processed in order to extract actionable insights about the user. Most of these do not operate independently and need to be connected to a smartphone with an accompanying app. That is how it transmits the data back and forth from the server, thus making it an IoT device.

Connected Car
The use of IoT in the automotive industry is used for optimising the vehicles internal functions. However, with time, the focus has shifted towards enhancing the in-car experience of the user. A connected car is a vehicle, which has the ability to optimise its own operations, can maintain its internal functions and uses the on board sensors to collect and generate actionable insights. A typical connected car comes with a host of features like automatic braking, self-parking, and automatic theft protection among others.

With the latest advancements in the IoT industry, the day is not far when we will live in a world where everything is connected with each other. In a survey conducted by the IT and Software firm HP in 2013, the number of IoT devices were 9 billion, and by 2025 it is expected to be more than 1 trillion.