implants worn by hearing impaired users. They can
also be equipped with additional safety features. These features can
include sensors that monitor for medical emergencies such as falls or
seizures. Smart
home technology applied in this way can provide users
with more freedom and a higher quality of life.
Commercial applications
Medical and healthcare
The Internet of Medical Things (also called the
internet of health things) is an application of the IoT for medical and
health related purposes, data collection and analysis for research, and
monitoring. This ‘Smart Healthcare’, as it can also be called, led to
the creation of a digitized healthcare system, connecting available
medical resources and healthcare services.
IoT devices can be used to
enable remote health monitoring and emergency notification systems.
These health monitoring devices can range from blood pressure and heart
rate monitors to advanced devices capable of monitoring specialized
implants, such as pacemakers, Fitbit electronic wristbands, or advanced
hearing aids. Some hospitals have begun implementing “smart beds” that
can detect when they are occupied and when a patient is attempting to
get up. It can also adjust itself to ensure appropriate pressure and
support is applied to the patient without the manual interaction of
nurses. A 2015 Goldman Sachs report indicated that healthcare IoT
devices “can save the United States more than $300 billion in annual
healthcare expenditures by increasing revenue and decreasing cost.”
Moreover, the use of mobile devices to support medical follow-up led to
the creation of ‘m-health’, used “to analyze, capture, transmit and
store health statistics from multiple resources, including sensors and
other biomedical acquisition systems”.
Specialized sensors can also be
equipped within living spaces to monitor the health and general
well-being of senior citizens, while also ensuring that proper treatment
is being administered and assisting people regain lost mobility via
therapy as well. These sensors create a network of intelligent sensors
that are able to collect, process, transfer and analyse valuable
information in different environments, such as connecting in-home
monitoring devices to hospital-based systems. Other consumer devices to
encourage healthy living, such as connected scales or wearable heart
monitors, are also a possibility with the IoT. End-to-end health
monitoring IoT platforms are also available for antenatal and chronic
patients, helping one manage health vitals and recurring medication
requirements.
As of 2018 IoMT was not only being applied in the clinical
laboratory industry, but also in the healthcare and health insurance
industries. IoMT in the healthcare industry is now permitting doctors,
patients and others involved (i.e. guardians of patients, nurses,
families, etc.) to be part of a system, where patient records are saved
in a database, allowing doctors and the rest of the medical staff to
have access to the patient’s information. Moreover, IoT-based systems
are patient-centered, which involves being flexible to the patient’s
medical conditions. IoMT in the insurance industry provides access to
better and new types of dynamic information. This includes sensor-based
solutions such as biosensors, wearables, connected health devices and
mobile apps to track customer behaviour. This can lead to more accurate
underwriting and new pricing models.
Transportation
The IoT can assist
in the integration of communications, control, and information
processing across various transportation systems. Application of the IoT
extends to all aspects of transportation systems (i.e. the vehicle, the
infrastructure, and the driver or user). Dynamic interaction between
these components of a transport system enables inter and intra vehicular
communication, smart traffic control, smart parking, electronic toll
collection systems, logistic and fleet management, vehicle control, and
safety and road assistance. In Logistics and Fleet Management for
example, The IoT platform can continuously monitor the location and
conditions of cargo and assets via wireless sensors and send specific
alerts when management exceptions occur (delays, damages, thefts, etc.).
If combined with Machine Learning then it also helps in reducing traffic
accidents by introducing drowsiness alerts to drivers and providing self
driven cars too.
Building and home automation
IoT devices can be used to
monitor and control the mechanical, electrical and electronic systems
used in various types of buildings (e.g., public and private,
industrial, institutions, or residential) in home automation and
building automation systems. In this context, three main areas are being
covered in literature:
The integration of the Internet with building
energy management systems in order to create energy efficient and IOT
driven “smart buildings”.
The possible means of real-time monitoring
for reducing energy consumption and monitoring occupant behaviors.
The
integration of smart devices in the built environment and how they might
to know who to be used in future applications.
Industrial applications
Manufacturing
The IoT can realize the seamless integration of various
manufacturing devices equipped with sensing, identification, processing,
communication, actuation, and networking capabilities. Based on such a
highly integrated smart cyberphysical space, it opens the door to create
whole new business and market opportunities for manufacturing. Network
control and management of manufacturing equipment, asset and situation
management, or manufacturing process control bring the IoT within the
realm of industrial applications and smart manufacturing as well. The
IoT intelligent systems enable rapid manufacturing of new products,
dynamic response
to product demands, and real-time optimization of
manufacturing production and supply chain networks, by networking
machinery, sensors and control systems together.
Digital control systems
to automate process controls, operator tools and service information
systems to optimize plant safety and security are within the purview of
the IoT. But it also extends itself to asset management via predictive
maintenance, statistical evaluation, and measurements to maximize
reliability. Smart industrial management systems can also be integrated
with the Smart Grid, thereby enabling real-time energy optimization.
Measurements, automated controls, plant optimization, health and safety
management, and other functions are provided by a large number of
networked sensors.
The term industrial Internet of things (IIoT) is
often encountered in the manufacturing industries, referring to the
industrial subset of the IoT. IIoT in manufacturing could generate so
much business value that it will eventually lead to the fourth
industrial revolution, so the so-called Industry 4.0. It is estimated
that in the future, successful companies will be able to increase their
revenue through Internet of things by creating new business models and
improve productivity, exploit analytics for innovation, and transform
workforce. The potential of growth by implementing IIoT may generate
$12 trillion of global GDP by 2030.
Agriculture
There are numerous IoT
applications in farming such as collecting data on temperature,
rainfall, humidity, wind speed, pest infestation, and soil content. This
data can be used to automate farming techniques, take informed decisions
to improve quality and quantity, minimize risk and waste, and reduce
effort required to manage crops. For example, farmers can now monitor
soil temperature and moisture from afar, and even apply IoT-acquired
data to precision fertilization programs.
In August 2018, Toyota Tsusho
began a partnership with Microsoft to create fish farming tools using
the Microsoft Azure application suite for IoT technologies related to
water management. Developed in part by researchers from Kindai
University, the water pump mechanisms use artificial intelligence to
count the number of fish on a conveyor belt, analyze the number of fish,
and deduce the effectiveness of water flow from the data the fish
provide. The specific computer programs used in the process fall under
the Azure Machine Learning and the Azure IoT Hub platforms.
Infrastructure application
Monitoring and controlling operations of
sustainable urban and rural infrastructures like bridges, railway tracks
and on- and offshore wind-farms is a key application of the IoT. The IoT
infrastructure can be used for monitoring any events or changes in
structural conditions that can compromise safety and increase risk. IoT
can benefit the construction industry by cost saving, time reduction,
better quality workday, paperless workflow and increase in productivity.
It can help in taking faster decisions and save money with Real-Time
Data Analytics. It can also be used for scheduling repair and
maintenance activities in an efficient manner, by coordinating tasks
between different service providers and users of these facilities. IoT
devices can also be used to control critical infrastructure like bridges
to provide access to ships. Usage of IoT devices for monitoring and
operating infrastructure is likely to improve incident management and
emergency response coordination, and quality of service, up-times and
reduce costs of operation in all infrastructure related areas. Even
areas such as waste management can benefit from automation and
optimization that could be brought in by the IoT.
Metropolitan scale
deployments
There are several planned or ongoing large-scale deployments
of the IoT, to enable better management of cities and systems. For
example, Songdo, South Korea, the first of its kind fully equipped and
wired smart city, is gradually being built, with approximately 70
percent of the business district completed as of June 2018. Much of the
city is planned to be wired and automated, with little or no human
intervention.
Another application is a currently undergoing project in
Santander, Spain. For this deployment, two approaches have been adopted.
This city of 180,000 inhabitants has already seen 18,000 downloads of
its city
smartphone app. The app is connected to 10,000 sensors that
enable services like parking search, environmental monitoring, digital
city agenda, and more. City context information is used in this
deployment so as to benefit merchants through a spark deals mechanism
based on city behavior that aims at maximizing the impact of each
notification.
Other examples of large-scale deployments underway include
the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City; work on improving air and
water quality, reducing noise pollution, and increasing transportation
efficiency in San Jose, California; and smart traffic management in
western Singapore. French company, Sigfox, commenced building an
ultra-narrowband wireless data network in the San Francisco Bay Area in
2014, the first business to achieve such a deployment in the U.S. It
subsequently announced it would set up a total of 4000 base stations to
cover a total of 30 cities in the U.S. by the end of 2016, making it the
largest IoT network coverage provider in the country thus far.
Another
example of a large deployment is the one completed by New York Waterways
in New York City to connect all the city’s vessels and be able to
monitor them live 24/7. The network was designed and engineered by
Fluidmesh Networks, a Chicago-based company developing wireless networks
for critical applications. The NYWW network is currently providing
coverage on the Hudson River, East River, and Upper New York Bay. With
the wireless network in place, NY Waterway is able to take control of
its fleet and passengers in a way that was not previously possible. New
applications can include security, energy and fleet management, digital
signage, public Wi-Fi, paperless ticketing and others.
Energy management
Significant numbers of energy-consuming devices (e.g. switches, power
outlets, bulbs, televisions, etc.) already integrate Internet
connectivity, which can allow them to communicate with utilities to
balance power generation and energy usage and optimize energy
consumption as a whole. These devices allow for remote control by users,
or central management via a cloud-based interface, and enable functions
like scheduling (e.g., remotely powering on or off heating systems,
controlling ovens, changing lighting conditions etc.). The smart grid is
a utility-side IoT application; systems gather and act on energy and
power-related information to improve the efficiency of the production
and distribution of electricity. Using advanced metering infrastructure
(AMI) Internet-connected devices, electric utilities not only collect
data from end-users, but also manage distribution automation devices
like transformers.
Environmental monitoring
Environmental monitoring
applications of the IoT typically use sensors to assist in environmental
protection by monitoring air or water quality, atmospheric or soil
conditions, and can even include areas like monitoring the movements of
wildlife and their habitats. Development of resource-constrained devices
connected to the Internet also means that other applications like
earthquake or tsunami early-warning systems can also be used by
emergency services to provide more effective aid. IoT devices in this
application typically span a large geographic area and can also be
mobile. It has been argued that the standardization IoT brings to
wireless sensing will revolutionize this area.
Trends and
characteristics
The IoT’s major significant trend in recent years is the
explosive growth of devices connected and controlled by the Internet.
The wide range of applications for IoT technology mean that the
specifics can be very different from one device to the next but there
are basic characteristics shared by most. IoT creates opportunities for
more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based
systems, resulting in efficiency improvements, economic benefits, and
reduced human exertions.
The number of IoT devices increased 31% year-over-year to 8.4 billion
in the year 2017 and it is estimated that there will be 30 billion
devices by 2020. The global market value of IoT is projected to reach
$7.1 trillion by 2020 (Fig. \ref{839566}).