What is the Internet of Things?

Since the beginning of the digital revolution in the 1950s, we have seen the development of a wide range of revolutionary technologies. Although initially limited to few people in its access, the industry evolved very quickly and most new technologies just as quickly became more and more widespread and accessible.

The convergence of different types of innovative devices (such as RFID chips, sensors and the Internet) and their increased accessibility ultimately gave rise to the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT technology marks a significant change in the computing era, which now allows many types of terminals other than “simple” computers to be connected via the Internet.

The history of IoT (IoT in French)

The first known use of IO took place at MIT, where university students used inexpensive sensors to monitor and restock their cola dispenser. The concept of IoT began to be popularized in 1994, in a journal article by Reza Raji who proposed transferring packets of data to automate homes and factories.

Around the 1990s, Microsoft and several other companies began experimenting with similar ideas, and starting in 2002, many media outlets also joined in discussions about IoT advances, such as the use of smart devices. smart devices connected to each other while being connected to a data control system. However, 2008 is considered by many to be the official year of the birth of the Internet of Things sector, when the shift took place and it was noted that from now on, more electronic devices were connected to the Internet than physical people .

How does IoT work?

IoT technology, in its basic definition, refers to the networking of multiple devices and physical objects. This typically consists of a network of sensors and non-computer devices that communicate with computers or other types of devices over the Internet. This may include the use of thermostats, heart rate monitors, automatic watering systems, home security systems, etc. Innovations in IoT technology enable remote monitoring, control, automation and status control of a wide range of devices and sensors that can be used on smart homes (e.g. in home automation) and autonomous cars.

Personal and domestic use of IoT

IoT technology can be deployed in many different ways for personal and home use. Common examples relate to the concept of home automation (the automation of a home), in which multiple devices can be used to monitor and control the use of lights, air conditioners, heaters and even security systems. These devices can also be connected to other personal items such as smart watches and smartphones, or also to dedicated smart hubs designed to connect different smart home products (such as smart TVs or refrigerators).

Automated homes can also significantly improve the quality of life of older people and people with disabilities by providing assistive technologies, especially for people with visual, hearing or mobility impairments. This may include the use of real-time sensors that alert family members when their loved ones' heart rhythm is abnormal, or if they have fallen. Another interesting example is the use of smart beds to detect whether a bed is occupied or not. Some hospitals are already testing these beds to determine when patients leave their beds.

Commercial and industrial use of IoT

Examples of industrial use include leveraging sensors to track environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and production quality. Farmers can also use IoT devices to track when their livestock are running out of water or food or manufacturers to know when an important raw material or product is about to run out. They could even set up automated machines to order more of that product when supply is below a certain threshold.

Limits

The Internet of Things brings many interesting innovations and is certainly part of the long term. However, regarding its limitations, the use of IoT systems for businesses and individuals poses a problem because it requires an increased number of devices that need to be monitored and connected (many of which may depend on a connection Internet). If implementation is insufficient, businesses and homeowners may be forced to use several different applications to monitor their multiple devices. This would make IoT more tedious and less attractive to potential customers due to the loss of usability.

For this reason, some companies like Apple and Lenovo have created applications to control devices in the iOS environment, even using voice commands. Other IoT platforms operate around hubs independent of Internet or WiFi access. Examples of this include Amazon's Echo and Samsung's SmartThings Hub. So, IoT works by connecting devices to a sensor, which is often connected either to the Internet itself or to another WiFi receiver, allowing centralized control, programming and monitoring.

IoT cryptocurrencies

Many IoT systems will likely rely on micro-financial transactions between digital objects, which will require IoT devices to be connected in a way that enables a so-called machine-to-machine (M2M) economy - which basically means the exchange of money between non-human devices. In such a context, there is a growing demand for IoT-enabled currencies, and cryptocurrencies are certainly a viable alternative.

At first, many believed that blockchain would form the basic framework for the M2M economy, as it is suitable for micropayments and is widely used with cryptocurrencies. However, many blockchain networks have performance limitations when it comes to the number of transactions per second they can handle. This means that most Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake blockchain implementations currently have limited scalability potential, making them unsuitable for large-scale processing of M2M microtransactions. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that many blockchain projects are working towards scalability solutions, such as the Bitcoin Lightning Network and Ethereum Plasma.

IOTA

IOTA (Internet of Things Application) is a project heavily focused on IoT solutions and aims to be the backbone of the emerging M2M economy. It is an open-source distributed ledger protocol that, unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, does not require miners to verify transactions. IOTA is not based on a blockchain network, but on a flow of interconnected transactions, called a tangle.

Tangle consists of a network in which transactions can be verified directly by the users who request them, provided that they have previously made two other transactions. The limit on the number of transactions per second that can be processed is directly related to the number of network users.

IOTA is a complex and highly experimental cryptocurrency, and the only one to use a tangle architecture. Many technical problems have been reported and the entanglement structure has yet to prove its effectiveness. Nonetheless, the project has brought forward some interesting and innovative concepts, and if developers can overcome potential limitations, it could adapt to the IoT and M2M economy.

Final Thoughts

The Internet of Things (IoT) will ultimately enable automation, monitoring and control of devices on a large scale, which will certainly improve our daily lives and increase the efficiency of various sectors. There is a good chance that cryptocurrencies will be part of the Internet of Things revolution, as a digital currency for micro-transactions and the M2M economy. Currently, the number of cryptocurrency projects targeting the Internet of Things industry is limited, but we will likely see many more created in the near future as the technology continues to advance rapidly .