The interface matters
Throughout the history of the creation of artificial objects, people have had to invent various ways of interacting with the material surrounding world. Whatever hand tool you take (for example, a stone ax), there is always a pen that allows our human hands to use this tool. From the point of view of the modern high-tech culture, a pen is an interface for communicating with a stone ax. The same applies to any other artificially created material object - we always need some kind of communication interface in order to be able to work with things. The combination of key and door lock has ensured us the safe use of doors for centuries. Key lock compatibility is an interface for interacting with doors. What features are inherent in any interface?
- Correlation of human anatomy with a material object or, at least, with its part. The size of the handle of a stone ax always corresponds to the size of a human hand, unless, of course, the ax belongs to the cave troll;
- Intuitive, allowing us to process an object without complex user guides. From early childhood, we can understand the shape of the key and the corresponding keyhole;
- Responsiveness to our natural abilities. The pedal effort required to ride a bicycle always matches the average physical abilities of a person. Bicycles are different, but this is more about the user experience than about the user interface;
- Scalability when an interface can be multiplied or used for many different objects. A certain model of a door lock can be used for similar doors from different manufacturers. All members of the football team have the same keys to the same door of their locker room.
Can people use an object without an appropriate interface? When the SWAT Soldier kicks the door, it does not use the key lock interface. When he explodes the door with plastid, he uses the wrong interface.
Game changer
Computers have changed the very formula of communication between people and material objects. Automation has forced things around us to perform complex tasks without human intervention. Interfaces have evolved, however, facilitating only human-machine interaction. Everything changed when people invented the Internet - an environment where machines became able to communicate with each other. The next logical step, corresponding to the evolution of the interface, was the Internet of things. When a programmer from Indeema Software clicks on his smartphone to open the door to the Indeema office, there is no physical contact between him and the door. The two processors came to a consensus on how smart locking should behave in accordance with a programmer’s command. In the smart world, another important feature has appeared - communication.
Total "smartie"
Since the advent of the term “smartphone”, various other “smart” devices have not kept themselves waiting long. The present civilization, obsessed with comfort, of course, began with the “lubrication” of our homes. The range of smart home appliances is growing, and their prices are falling. Is there any "dumb" home device that does not have a "smart" analogue? By the way, even smart blinds from IKEA are now available for less than 100 euros. IoT manufacturers are doing everything possible to save us from having to be distracted by anything other than really reasonable activities (for example, laying out sofas). Smart home devices provide us with additional comfort, but have virtually no commercial performance. Where IoT brings tangible dividends is the industry.
IIoT and the struggle for efficiency
In the current era of hyperindustrialization (the bizarre term “postindustrial” is simply a utopian bias of modern philosophers), namely, people turned out to be the weakest link. Since we can never be as pragmatic as cold-blooded as machines, the pursuit of efficiency resonates with what IoT can offer industries very well. Nothing but higher process efficiency is the only competitive advantage these days of global access to technology. Error-free communication between machines is apparently the very task of many industrial Internet solutions, which these days are beginning to occupy more and more industrial sectors. Although the scope of IIoT applications can hardly be limited, we can indicate the following popular implementations:
- Smart cities
- Smart environment
- Smart security
- Smart retail and logistics
- Smart Agriculture and Agriculture
- Smart industrial monitoring and diagnostics
Smart cities
Metropolitan infrastructures can greatly benefit from industrial IoT devices that can manage activities such as traffic, when weather and traffic jams are controlled by smart cameras that transmit real-time data to drivers via the Internet. Various intelligent alarm systems installed on the objects of critical urban infrastructure (water distribution, gas supply, waste management, etc.) can reduce the risk of accidents associated with neglect of people. A huge variety of IoT applications relates to the so-called hygiene of urban life: noise level monitoring, electromagnetic field detection, air quality control, etc. Can turn the areas and streets of our cities into a responsive environment convenient for citizens.
Smart environment
Sensors, detectors, and other monitoring and control devices connected via the Internet to analytical software based on artificial intelligence are one of the most promising applications for industrial IoT in these days of new climate change. The early detection of earthquakes, the propagation of fire signals, the monitoring and forecasting of floods, air quality control, as well as many other activities related to the environment - all this should be the focus of IIoT developers. Multifaceted networks of intelligent devices can saturate both natural and artificial habitats, creating a means of communication with Nature. Namely, IoT can help us receive and correctly interpret various signals from Earth to cope with the effects of climate change.
Smart security
Social threats, economic uncertainty and unprecedented violations of personal data have made security one of the most pressing topics in modern society. Because we cannot imagine our daily lives without the Internet, IoT devices supported by an Internet connection can help us deal with the security challenges inherent in vulnerable aspects of our lives. Smart city cameras with face recognition features can automatically detect and track terrorists and criminals in the crowd. However, they can also provide governments with a well-developed monitoring system to monitor community activists and Protestants. Whether it will be for better or for worse depends on the given society - the Chinese and Americans have opposite opinions on this subject, no doubt. But what can be accepted, regardless of any socio-political diversity, such intelligent industrial IoT systems as detecting explosive gases, measuring radiation levels, controlling access to areas that require special permission, etc.
Smart retail and logistics
Despite numerous forecasts of a general shift to online e-commerce stores, conventional stores still continue to run a large business. Moreover, cashless pioneers such as Amazon are introducing a hybrid retail solution that cannot be imagined without deep IoT systems. In addition, we are all familiar with purchases that are hardly possible outside the IoT paradigm - NFC payments. Intelligent product management, supply chain control, shipping conditions monitoring and fleet tracking can all be assigned to advanced IIoT systems designed specifically for retail and logistics.
Smart Agriculture and Agriculture
Toxic gas levels in hydroponic greenhouses are unlikely to be effective without a degree of automation. Modern agriculture assumes the industrial scale of measures and work, while the number of people involved in this activity is steadily declining. Isn't this an encouraging factor for IoT developers? GPS-driven tractors and combines that process millions of hectares have long been nothing special. But the industry continues to evolve, and autonomous drones begin to facilitate field monitoring in 21st century agriculture. Interactive networks cover both agriculture and agriculture through automatic weather stations and continuously operating animal tracking systems. However, there is still enough room for IoT innovation in agriculture.
Smart industrial monitoring and diagnostics
Automatic diagnostics of cars and vehicles is what my uncle Nicholas could have dreamed about in the 1980s, asking his car what happened. For example, industrial vibration diagnostics should be used in every industrial application where rotations occur. And the rotation is literally everywhere in the industry, in fact. Even one type of movement - rotation - can be an infinite field of IoT implementation. The wider the variety of machines, the more industrial IoT applications can be applied to equipment. IIoT is an integral part of the robotics and digitization of industries. Calling IIoT the very essence of the fourth industrial revolution is absolutely legal.