"All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again," said Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of the greatest German writers. If he were alive today in this 21st century, he would recant what he had said. Even the insightful quote from one of the rare giants of world literature rings hollow in the 21st century.
At a time when autonomous cars and drone-based delivery services are nearing commercialization, our imagination is becoming a reality. The Internet of things (IoT) is evolving every day, so few could predict what kind of ‘intelligent thoughts’ will be thought tomorrow.
The IoT market is expanding day by day. As advances in IoT technology are being made, the term Internet of Everything (IoE) has been newly coined.
Though the IoT is most heavily exploited in seven industrial sectors -- automobile, mobile, robotics, security, medicine, the environment and ubiquitous sensor networks, it is fiar to say that the IoT has become relevant across all industries. In particular, sensor technology, the key to the IoT, is spearheading the convergence of heterogeneous industries by enabling smart cars, smart homes and wearable devices.
The IoT technology that is most relevant to our daily lives is smart home services. Last year, South Korea mobile operator LG U+ kicked off a home IoT service called ‘@Home,’ which lets users to turn off the gas valve, adjust indoor temperatures or control door locks via their smartphones. LG U+ is scheduled to launch ‘Door Cam,’ a CCTV camera service which detects people coming up to your front door, lets you check via your smartphone and stores the footage in the cloud to allow you to watch at any time.
Samsung Electronics has recently unveiled the Family Hub™ refrigerator with a Wifi enabled touchscreen that lets you manage your groceries, connect with your family and entertain like never before. The fridge comes equipped with Internet-connected cameras that can let you view what's inside without opening the doors. The Family Hub also comes with two apps that let you order food directly from the screen.
Bicycle manufacturer Alton Sports and software developer HandySoft are planning to launch a GPS-enabled bicycle with Bluetooth sensors attached.
The IoT project between Alton Sports and HandySoft has drawn great attention as it is carried out in a partnership between SMEs, not between a conglomerate and one of the nation’s three major telecom operators. The GPS-enabled bicycle will enable systemic management of production and sales records and allow the rider to find the nearest Alton Sports for a repair and find and recover your bike after it has been stolen or lost.
The 4th Industrial revolution driven by smart home services, smart home appliances and wearables
At the “Lucky Chouette” outlet in COEX mall, southern Seoul, there’s a smart mirror that interacts with every smart hanger to provide a shopper with information on a piece of clothing, from the price and material to photos of a model wearing the clothing. The mirror also doubles as a video camera, capturing a 360 degree view of what an outfit looks like.
On the accommodation front, there is motel booking app Yanolja which is based on an IoT-based keyless check-in system. Customers of Kotels (Yanolja’s franchise motels) can bypass the front desk when they get to their motel, taking control of everything through the app. Customers will soon be able to do more through the app, such as booking a taxi, requesting free amenities, paying for overstaying check-out and controlling the TV, air conditioner and lights.
Also underway is an IoT-based urban project designed to address various urban problems. The South Korean government plans to build a test bed for IoT services in Bukchon Hanok Village, a popular tourist attraction where residents frequently file complaints about traffic congestions, garbage and noise problems. The government plans to exploit IoT technology in addressing illegal parking and garbage problems and to install fire detection sensors and public WiFi networks. On top of that, beacons (which detect the presence of smartphones within their range, and can deliver content to those devices, with the permission of the user) will be installed to offer tourist guides and useful traveler information via smartphone when tourists pass through certain sections.
