As a child, watching films like ‘Back to the Future’, ‘Total Recall’, ‘The Stepford Wives’ and many others, I dreamed of the day when technologies such as augmented reality glasses, touch technologies, home automation and artificial intelligence would fascinate me, imagining how technology could change our lives.
Today, all these technologies are at our fingertips and, without realising it, they are part of our daily lives and, little by little, they have transformed our day-to-day existence in an almost imperceptible way.
This is how we arrived at the Internet of Things (IoT), and the way in which everyday objects are connected to the Internet, like an invisible network that makes everything more practical and efficient.
What is the Internet of Things?
It is not a new concept. In the 1950s, people were already dreaming of a world in which their fridge would ‘talk’ to their supermarket to restock the products they were running out of, the whole concept of ‘home automation’, but today we have gone far beyond the imagination. Imagine today that your car notifies your favourite garage of the need for maintenance even before you realise there is a problem.
In essence, this is the IoT: an interconnected network of all kinds of physical devices, from cars to household appliances, including sensors, from a simple temperature sensor to industrial sensors, which communicate and exchange information with each other and with other systems. And each of these objects has its own sensors, software and the ability to connect to the Internet and make our lives easier.
How does the IoT work?
For this magic to happen, certain elements are essential: Smart devices. These are everyday objects equipped with sensors, software and an Internet connection.
Connectivity. This is the ‘glue’ that holds everything together. It can be Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile networks (such as 5G) or other technologies.
IoT platform. This is the ‘brain’ of the operation. It manages the connection between all these devices, monitors their information and allows them to be controlled.
Data analysis. This is where the ‘magic’ happens! All the information collected by the connected devices is processed and even transformed by artificial intelligence to offer not only programmed information, but also precision and automation based on learning, user behaviour or even the prediction of maintenance even before a breakdown occurs.
User interface. These are the applications and control panels that we use to interact with the IoT system.
IoT in practice: Where is it already present?
IoT is already transforming the way we live, produce and work in several areas:
- Health: today we already have smart watches that monitor heart rate, sleep, oxygen and glucose levels, but now imagine if they sent these alerts to your doctor if any pattern was different and they could anticipate what you might need in an emergency. Another example is a hospital that uses sensors to control the temperature to which medicines are exposed and ensure that they are stored correctly.
- Industry: use of intelligent temperature and humidity sensors in fridges and cold rooms to store perishable products and manage product stock. Also in predictive maintenance, to anticipate failures before they occur in a machine that will need maintenance, avoiding unexpected downtime and increasing efficiency and saving resources. IoT also helps optimise energy use, energy efficiency and water efficiency, detecting losses that would only be noticed on the next electricity or water bill.
- Smart homes: total control of any device, programmed sequences, lights that turn on when you enter a room, thermostats that automatically adjust the temperature of the air conditioning, swimming pool, underfloor heating, access control and security systems that watch over your home 24 hours a day. All this is already a reality.
The future of IoT: What can we expect?
The IoT has only just begun, and the future holds many new developments:
- Edge Computing. For the IoT, data is processed at the edge of the network, where it is generated, or as close as possible to the device.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI). The concept of AIoT, Artificial Intelligence of Things, will help analyse IoT data more intelligently, interacting and allowing devices and systems to make faster and smarter decisions autonomously, increasingly adapting to our needs.
- Greater security. It is increasingly necessary to protect data and devices so that their systems can identify and respond to any threat in real time.
IoT and Big Data: a powerful partnership
The IoT generates an enormous amount of data. To process this volume and extract valuable information, we use Big Data. Think of Big Data as a ‘private detective’ that analyses all the data obtained by the IoT platform to find patterns, predict problems and personalise the user experience.
My experience with IoT in the banking sector
In my experience in the field of IoT working as a solutions architect at Vivo Telefônica Brasil, and focusing on innovation solutions for the financial market, I had the opportunity to participate in the development of large-scale IoT projects, specifically in one of the largest financial institutions in Brazil.
We have developed solutions that use energy efficiency, with sensors to monitor energy consumption and control consumption according to the time pattern and the number of employees, saving more than 30% in the first 90 days in the branches, as well as water efficiency, and we have implemented environmental control in technical rooms and ATMs, helping the bank to save money and be more sustainable and, at the same time, saving millions in unproductive layoffs, now being able to control environments intelligently and remotely.
We have also developed security and access control systems with smart cameras and facial recognition to protect customers and employees and save the bank millions in labour lawsuits.
IoT and 5G: A perfect combination
With the arrival of 5G, IoT applications have become increasingly viable, driving and enabling the development of new solutions, due to the speed of traffic, increasing the capacity to connect numerous devices at the same time, which is allowing IoT to be used in new applications, such as in industry, in autonomous cars and in healthcare in remote surgeries.
Essential characteristics of IoT
- Connectivity. Network or system of devices capable of connecting to the Internet.
- Intelligence: Platforms capable of collecting, processing and analysing data to make decisions and control environments.
- Scalability. It is important to emphasise that the IoT has a great capacity to grow and adapt to new scenarios.
- Security. Protection of data and devices against cyber-attacks through data encryption, device authentication and constant monitoring.
