10 Practical Applications That Use IoT And You Did Not Know
By: Nicolás Illanes
Tags: Internet of Things, Connected Home, IoT, Smart Cities, Smart Home

10 Practical Applications That Use IoT And You Did Not Know Nicolás Illanes Aug 10·5 min read

Photo By Entel

As you will see, the Internet of Things is no longer a technology of the future, already sneaking into a large number of day-to-day activities. And so it will be more and more.

1) Air quality in Santiago de Chile

There are many meteorological stations distributed in Santiago in charge of monitoring air quality in real time.

These stations allow Chileans to access to all the information on their cell phone and thus be able to take precautions according to the forecast.

2) App “Waze” — Traffic Alerts

The popular social traffic app used by millions of drivers around the world, Waze, accesses the location and accelerometer of the cell phone while driving.

With the real-time information from many interconnected cell phones, the app provides a variety of data, such as the average speed of a street, the precise location of traffic jams and accidents.

This gives the opportunity to avoid those streets and reach your destination in less time.

3) Smartwatches and Health Apps

These devices and applications monitor parameters of the human body, such as heart rate and number of steps.

Often used while playing sports, smartwatches can notify you every time your heart rate exceeds a certain preset value and issue another series of alerts to take care of your health.

Smartwatches and health apps also allow you to track how much you have walked during the day in real time. This makes it easier to set daily minimum goals.

When you are about to reach your goals, alarms go off that motivate you to keep walking to reach your daily goal.

It is a very convenient function, especially in these moments of remote work, when many people began to walk less.

4) Soccer Players Vests — Performance Monitoring

You may have noticed that in soccer practice or even at the end of a game, almost every player has a vest.

These devices are used to monitor in real time a variety of data associated with the performance of each player, such as:

Total traveled distance

Speed

Accelerations

Slowdowns

Fatigue index

Heart rate

With this information in hand, transmitted in real time and monitored instantly by doctors, the possibility of making decisions based on the data of each player is offered.

5) Pretend that there are people at home when it is empty

With the use of motors in blinds and the “Alexa Echo” device (a speaker with microphones to which commands can be given through the use of the voice), it is possible to simulate the presence of people in the home during times of absence.

As an example, to simulate that there are people at home, the blinds are raised automatically at 8 in the morning.

During the afternoon, they come down using the cell phone.

In the evenings, a music playlist can be activated remotely, also using the “Alexa Echo” device.

6) Cars with internet Access

Today, some newer vehicle models already come with a built-in monitoring system.

This class of systems add a lot of value, for example to generate an alarm if the airbags are activated, or to cut off the fuel supply automatically in case of theft.

Although it is already incorporated in the newer models, it is also possible to install remote control and monitoring systems in cars that do not come with this functionality from the factory.

7) Earthquake alerts

In some countries where earthquakes are common, there are vibration detectors in the ground which indicate the probability of these natural events occurring.

People who live in these areas can see this information in real time from their cell phone and avoid transfers when there is a high probability of an incident occurring.

8) Household Appliances

It is becoming more and more common to see household appliances that are already connected to the internet with remote monitoring and control possibilities, such as:

Electric jug: Allows you to set the temperature and turn it on remotely with notification of when the desired temperature is reached

Robot vacuum cleaner: Vacuums the entire house in automatic mode, in addition to monitoring the route in real time. In case it does not have a battery, it goes alone to its base to recharge.

Refrigerator: It is possible to set the temperature to activate ventilation and rapid cooling functions. It also sends notifications to the cell phone if you left the door open.

9) Pet GPS locator

An extremely useful solution, which I think very few people know about. There are collars that come with GPS to monitor your dog or cat at all times.

If he runs away from home while you are working or during a walk through the square, he can be located very easily and run to look for him.

In addition, they usually come with an app to set the location of your home. If a certain amount of meters moves away from it, the app sends you a notification to your cell phone to warn you.

10) Humidity in home garden and automatic irrigation

In recent years, the incorporation of gardens in our homes has become popular to cook with our own vegetables or seasonings.

Fortunately, there are applications that allow you to monitor the humidity level of the soil, either in the soil or in the pot. If it falls below a certain value, the irrigation of the land is automatically activated.

This allows you not to have to remember to water the garden during your free time and, above all, prevent your plants from drying out. An ideal solution for those who are away from home most of the time.

Quick Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about IoT

What exactly is the Internet of Things?

Without weird jargon, the Internet of Things could be defined as a network of devices connected to the Internet, exchanging data and interacting with each other.

With the adoption of IoT, it is possible to move a variety of physical devices to the digital plane, which opens a whole universe of possibilities in multiple fields of the everyday world.

What is the implementation of IoT in the real world for?

The use of IoT serves, among other things, to collect data and share it with each other.

One of its main use cases is automating a myriad of day-to-day tasks, while monitoring connected devices.

Among other advantages, the implementation of the Internet of Things can help to obtain a competitive advantage and a remarkable efficiency, allowing the management of data in real time, the automation of processes, the prediction of improvements and risks, the analysis of information and the remote control of devices.

This allows maintaining an optimized balance between energy use and conservation, as well as saving time and even money.

Today, the IoT is widely used in agriculture, home automation, the automotive sector, retail, the appliance industry, medicine and many other fields.

Which and when was the first use of IoT?

Its antecedents go back to the 1980s, when in 1982 computer science graduate students from Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, connected a Coca Cola vending machine to the internet to check the availability and temperature of the drink.

At the end of the 1980s, during the annual exhibition organized by UBM, John Romkey presented an internet-connected toaster, considered one of the first IoT devices.