Unless you've been living under the rock for the past couple of years, the one thing you definitely would have heard of coming from the world of technology is this ubiquitous word- IoT

IoT, which is an abbreviation for Internet of Things, is the holy grail that everyone from the tech industry has been chasing after. It has been talked much about in news articles, tech journals, blogs and what-not. Every hot-shot in the corporate world has been considering it prudent to head or initiate a IoT-related product. 

But what does it mean to an average Joe who leads an average work-a-day life sitting in front of the desktop in an office and working on an overseas project that was outsourced here. Does IoT mean anything or affect such people in anyway? If so, what can these people do about it?

Ok, for the uninitiated, IoT or the Internet of Things is the interconnection of physical devices, vehicles, appliances, buildings and other items to the Internet. The architecture of IoT uses an array of sensors, software, actuators and network connectivity to connect the aforementioned devices to each other and to the Internet. Connecting these together lets the devices communicate with each other to achieve situational awareness. 

IoT allows objects to be sensed and/or controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit. 

All of this directly translates into improved lifestyle.

How? 

Let's consider the case of a guy who lives alone in an apartment. 

His story without IoT

He wakes up at 7am. Prepares breakfast. Reads the newspaper. Gets ready for work. Wonders if he needs to take an umbrella along. Leaves for work in a rush and isn't sure of the traffic scenario in his driving route. Depending on his luck he is either early to the office and has to wait until everyone arrives or is stuck in traffic for half an hour and is now running late to an important meeting. Complicating things for him, his apartment is in a mess after the water in his overhead storage tank floods the floor because he wasn't aware of the water release time of his apartment. 

His story with IoT

He sets his alarm for 7am, but the alarm rings at 7:10, because the IoT enabled alarm has checked in for traffic updates and seen that there is no traffic in the coming few hours. It predicts that he will reach the office early. He wakes up happily with a few minutes of extra sleep. He prepares breakfast. The alarm clock has already turned on the toaster, and timed the oven. He leaves for the office, but the door which is linked to his medicine cabinet via embedded sensors detects that he hasn't taken his regular medicine and notifies him of the same.

He also has an interconnected home automation system which keeps tabs on every appliance of his home. He can remotely turn on/off every gadget in his apartment. Half hour after he leaves his office, the AC detects that he could be home soon and pre cools the living room bringing it to a pleasant temperature.

This is one among the multifarious benefits of a IoT enabled home. Imagine what kind of benefits this offers to a society that is always on the move.

We're at a stage in engineering where each branch or department cannot function independently. Internet of Things, Machine Learning, Robotics all are inter-disciplinary. They function and are designed on multiple avenues.

As a networked society whose social fabric is woven around with the threads of the internet, the field of IoT offers some important benefits and creature comforts for us.

This is probably what makes it the technology of the future.