Internet of Life and Humans
How many times a day do you check your mobile? Have you ever thought about how do you stay in contact with your dear ones without the internet? Probably no one imagines a day without the internet. Such is the impact it created on our lives.
Since its inception, the internet has come a long way leaving all the complexities behind. It has become more user-friendly by adapting to the dynamics of society. Now the society is no more just a society it has transformed into a “network society.” Still we cannot say that this is the end product humans have desired for thousands of years. Our desire for connectivity has gone to such a great level that humankind is almost entirely connected, with the inequality we face in this internet era only being the inequality in connectivity, bandwidth, and the price.
What is IoE (Internet of Everything)?
The concept of IoE has been around for quite a time now, yet most people are not aware of it. Have you ever thought of connecting your internet supported physical devices like smart phones, smart watches, laptops to your non-internet support physical devices like fans, coffee makers, doorknobs, etc., which works on minimal manual interaction? Probably no! IoT has made this possible to make our lives easier by creating an ecosystem of devices and enabling them to connect, collect, and exchange data, either wired or wireless networks it is now made possible. Now you can turn the light off your kitchen from your bedroom or fan from your kitchen. In simple words, IoE is bringing together people, data, processes, and things.
Change is the only constant in life so is the case with technology. Technology is rapidly changing every day and is changing the social fabric around it.
IoT vs IoE:
You might ask, “If there is any difference between the Internet of Things and the Internet of Everything?” if your answer is No then you are probably mistaken. Now that the Internet of Things is becoming a significant feature of everyday lives it is important to understand the difference:
- Internet of Everything is relatively new as compared to the Internet of Things. Technology experts often state that IoE is the advanced stage of IoT.
- IoE is not merely a machine to machine communication (M2M) rather it is a machine to people (M2P), People to Machine(P2M), and people to people communication(P2P) through technology.
To make things simpler IoE is the world connected with sensors and detectors to monitor, assess, and measure their status.
Applications:
Saving lives by connecting roads and hospitals:
Nearly 857 bicyclists died in traffic crashes in 2018 in the US alone, according to the US Department of Transportation some analysts had suggested that these lives could have been saved by leveraging the Internet of Everything.
Connecting the helmet of a cyclist to ambulances, traffic light signals, hospitals, and nearby police stations through sensors, life-saving medical treatment can be provided without missing the crucial hours of his life. This way information about the patient’s criticality can be directly sent to the doctor by tracking the nearest hospital right away so that the ambulance reaches the spot on time, enabling the ambulance to communicate with the street lights to hit all the green lights to take the victim to the hospital as soon as possible, and allows the doctor to prepare everything by the time patient arrives.
Supply chain management:
Supply chain management has become a crucial sector after globalization and there has been immense competition in this sector. If there is a mechanism to alert the trucks about the early harvest, new delivery time can be arranged with the supermarkets, they can in turn to avoid the overstocking sale of the available stock. This way the markets can escape from financial losses and the consumers can avail fresh produce every time. Even the harvesters can directly connect with retailers through a common platform and sell their products with profit without having to incur losses bypassing the intermediaries. To further increase customer satisfaction customers can be connected with the stores through their smart phones and can receive notifications on the stock arrivals and the stores can even give early bird offers. It’s a win-win game for all the stakeholders involved.
Elderly care:
A significant amount of the population is now senior citizenry, and the needs of this section of people are completely different. There have been numerous attempts by various scientists and developers to fulfill these needs and to alleviate their day-to-day hardships. The role of IoE can serve as a solution to these everyday problems by helping the senior citizens stay active, and keeping them in touch with their loved ones. There are many robots in the market to nurse the elderly, take care of their health, give them timely medication and even by conversing with them these robots can alleviate their mental health issues, if any. From assisting them on how to use smart phones to interact with their loved ones to providing companionship to those who are struggling with loneliness these robots provide mental and emotional stimulation.
Connecting homes for comfort living:
By establishing connections between different devices and types of equipment to automating the life processes IoE has plenty of opportunities to explore. Imagine how you would feel waking up to serene music with hot coffee beside your bed, imagine a robot feeding your pets timely when you are not home, imagine a robot that knows your mood, taste, and health status, and cooks accordingly. Imagine a home that adjusts to the outside temperature automatically. Doesn’t it look like a wonderful and comfortable life? Just imagine your home and life becoming like that one from the science fiction you see, like and desire to have, No don’t imagine, it is possible with IoE now!
Agriculture is no more a hectic human task!
Demand for food supply is ever increasing with increasing population but the supply even though increasing has always remained far below the demand. Governments across the world are bringing in new policies, incentivizing farmers to equip new technologies, and increasing their spending in the R&D department to find ways to increase food production. Smart farming has always been in news but despite limited trials, it has never been employed on a full scale. To yield better results on investment for farmers, to eradicate hunger, and to reduce the demand-supply gaps smart farming is the way to go. From assisting the farmers in sensing the soil moisture, nutrient content and controlling the water usage to connecting the farmers directly to the markets IoE has the potential to become an enabling factor in transforming the agriculture sector.
Smart city technology as a solution to urban mobility:
According to an estimate by the UN, the population living in cities is expected to increase to 68% in 2050 from 55%. With increased growth comes increasing challenges. WHO in a report said that approximately a 1.35million people die every year in road accidents. Overcrowding and congestion are two of the major reasons at the heart of this issue.
Santa Clara, a city in California uses cloud-based data to optimize traffic. Highway cameras are centralized in the cloud-based operations center to analyze the videos. More dynamic traffic estimates are provided hence reducing the congestion on roads and providing the commuters the less congested routes thereby minimizing the traffic accidents.
San Jose, yet another city from northern California, has piloted a traffic optimization project to understand the peak hour traffics and reduce the accidents thereby caused.
These are some cases where IoE has been tried and tested but there is more to this transformational technology that can serve as examples in the history of technology evolution.
Pros:
- Information access: information accessibility will now become a hassle-free task despite your location. A network of devices makes it easy for you to access information from any corner of the earth.
- Communication: better communication with interconnected devices with reduced inefficiencies.
- Affordability: the same data that once took hours to transfer will now be done within no time hence negligibly reducing the delay and hence reducing the costs involved.
- Automation: automation has become the buzz word and has been intriguing humankind for quite a long time. This helps reduce human intervention and boosts the quality of services.
Cons:
- Privacy and security: leakage of data has always been a matter of concern. The privilege of technology comes at the cost of security. This is a major drawback but can be overcome with adequate measures and safety protocols.
- Dependability: technology has made us depend on it even for small tasks, making humans lazy and killing creativity in humans. The impact of technology is paramount in our everyday life processes
The Future?
The opportunities available for the future of IoE are endless. The capacity to automate, deploy and secure devices can change the face of industrial processes. The potential is not just in connecting devices and hence in simplifying the life processes but to leverage data which can diversify the business processes and to overcome these challenges, new service providers come up in the markets opening new streams of revenue.
A human-machine interacting ecosystem is going to provide new experiences to the technology-driven world, new opportunities within remote learning. Developments in wireless networking like LiFi, 5G provide further impetus to IoE
Signaling more connectivity from cars, electronic gadgets, and toys to traffic lights and home security systems IoE facilitates connectivity between a range of internet-supported physical devices and non-internet supportive devices.
Beyond just pure technological concepts for academicians, IoE is capable of transforming the socio-cultural fabric of the world and the country as well by connecting people, processes, data, and things.
The time is not yet ripe to predict. IoE is the next big thing. According to Market Research Engine predictions IoE market is expected to reach $39 trillion by 2024 and grow at 15% CAGR, and dependence on life on technology suggests so.
