Darwin’s Theory of…. The Internet of Things

In real terms, it wasn’t that long since the online world became available. In the early 1990s, all of the components were put in place which enabled what we now know as the Internet – hypertext based internets of web pages, links and web browsers. This enabled people to interconnect with each other in a way previously unimaginable, and gave widespread access to a wealth of information.

Internet technology has been consistently maturing since then, and you may now hear mention of “The Internet of Things”. At Landmark, we’re interested in technology that allows our customers to interact more effectively and gain better business value with technology, so I’ll share some fundamental details about IoT (Internet of Things).

The IoT enables communication between physical objects attached to the same network – currently estimated at six billion devices online – and creates completely new opportunities. It allows groups of interconnected systems to share information and insight so that each device in the connected system can do its job more intelligently. There has long been talk of your fridge being able to sense if you’re low on milk and order more for home delivery, and this is becoming a reality. I personally like the idea, although have a slight concern that my white goods may end up with a better social life than I do.

Landmark is proud to be ISO14001 accredited, which is the standard for environmental management. We like to see technology being used to this objective. Take the company Enlighted, for example (http://enlightedinc.com/)- they make very intelligent lighting that saves energy through only providing light where it is needed. This is nothing new, and many has been the early morning where I walk into the Landmark office to recreate Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” video as the lights switch on while I walk to my desk. Enlighted is extending this technology to connect with room booking systems so that the lighting can sense which rooms are not in use, regardless of their booked status.

I talked in my last Blog post about Virtual Reality (VR) and how augmented reality can be used to layer useful information over your real world view. Once this technology is extended and your VR device connects to other systems of devices, the insight and quality of information becomes exponentially more useful. For example, your futuristic car has VR built into its windscreen and you’re driving to one of Landmark’s excellent CPD Events. A few miles ahead, another car has sensed that it has stopped while on a road and, as that car is IoT connected, has automatically updated a central traffic monitor of the problem.

The traffic monitor has received similar reports from a number of cars in that specific area and uses that knowledge to deduce that there is a congestion problem. This central monitoring device, in turn, sends a message to all traffic heading in that direction, and advises of alternate routes and how busy those routes are. All displayed on your windscreen. All in real time and without any intervention from you.

Let’s think that through for a minute: less energy is wasted as a result and therefore less pollution from energy usage and production. Less time is wasted so we can be more productive. Risks of further issues from high volumes of congested traffic are greatly reduced. It’s a very effective use of technology.

Venture Capital funding into this area has been significant, so you can expect the range of IoT devices to grow in the coming months. I’ll look forward to helping our customers exploit and benefit from those new and exciting opportunities in the near future.

Darwin Lee

Head of Development
Landmark Information Group