You can’t avoid the ‘Internet of things’ hype, so you might as well understand it

For pretty much anyone in the Western world, the Internet is not only ubiquitous, its practicallyinescapable.Between phones, tablets, PCs, game consoles, televisions and set-top boxes, the Internet exists in every corner of our lives. Almost. In the wake of this years CES, were hearing louder than ever that the future is The Internet of Things,everyday devices equipped with sensors and connectivity to work together, understand what were doing, and operate automatically to make our lives easier. And, of course, well be able to control and configure it all, likely with our tablets and smartphones, or by speaking. After all, Siri and Google Now have taken voice recognition mainstream.

But beyond a well-meaning concept that promises to deliver us all to an even higher state of connectivity, what does the Internet of Things mean? When will it finally arrive? How will it change our daily lives? What happens when it goes wrong?

The phrase Internet of Things is widely credited to Kevin Ashton; hes indicated he coined the term in 1999 while at Proctor & Gamble, but it didnt take off until 2009 with an article in RFID Journal. At a very basic level, Internet of Things means devices that can sense aspects of the real world like temperature, lighting, the presence or absence of people or objects, etc. and report that real-world data, or act on it. Instead of most data on the Internet being produced and consumed by people (text, audio, video), more and more information would be produced and consumed by machines, communicating between themselves to(hopefully) improve the quality of our lives.

A bathroom cabinet that lets you know when its running low on toilet paper could be worth its weight in gold.

Smart devices use Internet technologies like Wi-Fi to communicate with each other, your laptop, and sometimes directly with the cloud. Some also talk to a central hub that serves as control point for many different devices, like theRevolv. Ideally, owners can use that central access point from their smartphones and tablets, either at home or when theyre out and about.

Thats all pretty abstract, so lets bring it down to Earth. The classic example is a smart refrigerator that can read RFID tags on grocery items as theyre put inside, then look up those tags via the Internet to identify milk, eggs, butter, and those four frozen pizzas you just bought. The fridge tracks usage, then cue trumpets! alerts owners when theyre running out of groceries, or need more food since people are coming over to watch the game this weekend. (The fridge can tap into your calendar, of course). The refrigerator could even place a grocery order automatically (perhaps delivered via Amazon Fresh). Similarly, that smart fridge could warn about products nearing (or past) their expiration dates.

In theory, extending these ideas to things like pantries, closets, medicine cabinets is simple. Seniors and others could benefit from smart medicine cabinets that track meds, order refills, and even alert physicians if somethings amiss. And just think: A bathroom cabinet that lets you know when its running low on toilet paper could be worth its weight in gold. Smart closets could help you manage your clothes with reminders you really ought to do laundry (youve got two pairs of clean socks left!), take things to the dry cleaners, or even say goodbye to some items you never wear.

Cant remember whether you need to buy toothpaste? Ask your house. Or maybe your house can save you the effort by recognizing that youre at a drugstore and automatically sending a list of things you need. Stuck out of town on a business trip? Tell your house to stay on vacation mode, turning lights on and off to make the place look lived-in, but not running up heating and cooling bills.

Device-to-device communication creates other possibilities. Simple motion sensors can detect people moving around the house, turning lights on and off, opening or closing blinds or drapes, or even adjusting temperature. This functionality is already so refined, many sensors are reasonably pet immune, so dogs and cats dont trigger automated functions. Got an important phone call and left the TV on? The house could turn the TV off (to save power) but leave the DVR running. Sensors in a bed (or an alarm clock) could notify other devices youre awake; in turn, they could open drapes, start the coffeemaker, and discretely turn on the TV in the breakfast nook for news, weather, and traffic. When the clothes dryer finishes, maybe an alert appears on your TV so you can grab items before they wrinkle. If its dark outside, a sensor in your front door lock could turn on inside lights before you step inside after all, cars have been doing stuff like that for decades.

If these smart home ideas seem familiar, its because many are on the market theyre just not commonplace. One well-known example is the Nest thermostat (now owned by Google). It adjusts heating and cooling based on usage patterns and even billing rates, and can be controlled from a mobile app. Nest has just branched out into smart smoke detectors, and has competition from the likes of Netatmo and many other smart-home solutions.

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You can’t avoid the ‘Internet of things’ hype, so you might as well understand it