Internet of Things!

The Internet of Things is a scenario in which objects, animals or people are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. Internet of Things has evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems and the Internet. The Internet of Things is a computing concept that describes a future where everyday physical objects will be connected to the Internet and is able to identify themselves to other devices. The term is closely identified with RFID as the method of communication, although it also may include other sensor technologies, wireless technologies or QR codes.

The ‘Internet of Things’ is significant because an object that can represent itself digitally becomes something greater than the object by itself. No longer does the object relate just to you, but is now connected to surrounding objects and database data. When many objects act in unison, they are known as having "ambient intelligence."

A thing, in the Internet of Things, can be a person with a heart monitor implant, a farm animal with a biochip transponder, an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tire pressure is low or any other natural or man-made object that can be assigned an IP address and provided with the ability to transfer data over a network. So far, the Internet of Things has been most closely associated with machine-to-machine communication in manufacturing and power, oil and gas utilities. Products built with M2M communication capabilities are often referred to as being smart.

For example, you’re walking down the supermarket aisle, and you get to the milk fridge. Your shopping trolley vibrates, and the screen mounted on the trolley handles displays a message: “There is no milk in your fridge. Would you like to purchase some?” Your fridge has identified that the teenager residing in your house has drunk the 2L milk bottle you bought 2 days ago. The fridge has sent a message to your phone. Your phone knows that you’re in the supermarket and has told your trolley. Your trolley knows you’re next to the milk fridge and has told you that you’re out of milk. So, you buy milk, and 50 other groceries. This is going to take a while to check out, right? Wrong, you simply wheel your trolley out through the smart gates, instantly scanning all the products in your trolley and charging your credit card. You receive an email with the itemized receipt.