There has been talk for a long time about smart homes with all kinds of objects with remote control. Even devices with “autonomy” that know what they have to do without a human telling them to do so. But the Internet of Things (IoT) goes further. Imagine that your window panes are capable of telling you the weather forecast, or that your microwave is capable of counting the calories of the dish you put in it. They look like actions from a futuristic movie, but all this is not as far away in time as it seems.
The truth is that this technology has been applied for several years, but its commercial use has not yet fully spread, so it is strange to imagine how it can be part of our daily lives beyond our smartphone connected to the network. In sectors such as medicine, the Internet of Things is more advanced and relies on systems that monitor patients through which data is obtained in real time. They also help improve patient comfort with assistance applications, such as smart beds, which automatically adjust to the pressure and support that the patient needs.
It is also common to find devices connected to the network in mass production factories and to control urban infrastructure and the environment. In fact, according to a study conducted by the specialized company Aruba Networks, from now on 2019 el 85% of companies plan to adopt the IoT in their respective activities.
But… What exactly is the IoT?
The Internet of Things can be defined as a network that connects objects through the network. That is, the object is capable of connecting to the Internet and also performs a series of remotely programmed tasks, such as downloading specific data in real time or automatically performing actions after receiving a specific stimulus.
All this becomes a reality thanks to the RFID system (Radio Frequency Identification, in Spanish Identificación or Radiofrecuencia). It consists of installing a chip of almost invisible size in any type of object so that it is able to process and share information from it continuously.
We can say that we are in the midst of a revolution in the relationship between things and people, and also a change in the interactivity of things with each other. The digitalization of everything physical is getting much closer. And little by little, the world is becoming more like futuristic movies.
Why is it still not in everyday use?
The main handicap that arises with the IoT is the lack of security. According to the same study cited in the third paragraph, 84% of the companies surveyed have suffered a cybersecurity breach through objects that connect to the network. For this reason, more than half of the responses point to the ease of receiving external attacks as a “key barrier.”
Another, somewhat minor problem is the power consumption of wireless objects. Research is still being done to find the key to a technology that uses the minimum possible battery when connecting to the Internet. To solve this problem, it has been thought to incorporate NFC or Bluetooth 4.0, but in this way the devices need to be close to each other, so the essence of the Internet of Things would be lost.
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