Yesterday was the 29th of February. Did it feel like we gained an extra day, a bit of breathing space, some more time?
We thought we’d take the opportunity to explore how the Internet of Things may be able to grant us all some extra time in our lives now and in the future. Read on to find out how IoT can help give you some of your day back – and it won’t be just for leap years!
Car trouble?
Waiting at the side of the road for a recovery vehicle to come to your rescue can be stressful and time-consuming. In the future, connected cars will be able to anticipate any mechanical faults before they happen, and in the event of a breakdown, a connected vehicle such as the Fujitsu van will make sure that the right engineer – with the right tools and access to diagnostic data – gets you back on the road in the shortest time.
Looking after you and yours
It isn’t just about helping our cars to stay healthy, however. IoT can help us to keep track of our own health and activity. Child Angel, the world’s first globally connected wearable device for children, enables parents to access their children’s health and location data directly from their smartphones. Devices are also in development for older people to help them keep in touch with family and to allow them to live more independently, with any unusual movements or breaks in routine triggering alerts directly to family members’ smartphones.
Never lose your keys again
Or your dog for that matter. With keys, mobiles and wallets all connected to the Internet of Things, spending half an hour running around looking for them in the morning may (thankfully) become a thing of the past. IoT will make it easier to keep tabs on your pets too, providing you with information on their whereabouts and stress levels if they go missing.
Stress-free travel
Contactless payments are on the rise, and travel is soon set to become paper-free. With over a million contactless journeys paid for every day on the London Underground, queues to top up Oyster cards are already fading away. Connected signage in train stations and airports and interactive information kiosks on platforms are set to save travellers time, keep commuters connected, and update passengers on changes or delays to their journeys, effectively revolutionising public transport for all of us.
One of the advantages of taking the train over the car currently is that it can give commuters an extra hour to catch up on emails. With connected cars however drivers will be able to respond to emails using voice commands, and of course, once we’re being driven around by autonomous cars, time spent on the motorway will no longer be wasted.
The Smart Cities of the future are set to take away many of the time-related stresses of today’s urban living. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology providers such as Vysionics are already working alongside local authorities to help impose congestion charges and speed limits to help with traffic flow, and in the not-so-distant future, IoT could take the stress out of city parking and save us all time and fuel.
One of the great things about IoT is its capacity to increase efficiency across so many sectors, and of course a direct consequence of this is saving time. Connectivity is the key enabler in building these IoT services and applications. For more info about how Arkessa makes it easy to connect to the IoT have a look at our Experience page.