4.
You Will Care More About the Little Things.
Even if you know you should brush your teeth twice a day for two-minutes you probably don’t closely monitor this activity. When your toothbrush is smart enough to do this for you, the result may be different and you may more closely adhere to the proper regimen. Something similar could happen when your smart home thermostat informs you that you keep the temperature in your apartment three degrees high than your neighbors—and this behavior is costing you an extra $58 a month during the winter. And when your fork and spoon become smarter? Well, let’s just say smaller and healthier portions may be in your future.
5.
As ever more sensors are embedded in mundane products such as carpets, shoes and jewelry, one of the more practical implications is that seniors will be able to live independently in their homes and apartments for longer periods of time. Instead of fearing no one will come to their aid if they fall, they will grow increasingly confident that their environment will be smart enough to know when a problem has arisen and contact the appropriate people for assistance. The IoT may even detect signs of a future problem. (A “smart” shoe may, for example, detect a change in the wearer’s gait and discern this as a strong indication of a worsening hip condition and a potential fall). Moreover, as prescription medications, house keys, and ovens are connected to the IoT the number of “senior moments”—e.g. forgetting to take one’s daily medication, losing keys or not remember to turn off the stove—will dissipate.
6.
85 Will Become the New 65 as Boomers Stave Off Aging.
In 2012, the Food Drug Administration approved the first “smart pill”—a tiny digestible device capable of monitoring and reporting on activity taking place inside the human body. In 2013, Qualcomm and Intel both announced major health care initiatives to take advantage of their computer chip processor technology for the purpose of detecting diseases earlier; and, in 2014, Google unveiled a smart contact lens capable of monitoring a diabetic’s glucose levels. All three developments point toward a future where people can monitor their health in such a way as to proactively prevent problems from ever occurring and, thus, stay healthier for longer periods of time. One company, in fact, is already exploring how the IoT could use sensors deployed in the body of a patient with a weak heart to send a “heart attack ringtone” to the user’s smartphone to warn him of an impending heart attack.
7.
Seeing Water and Carbon Everywhere.
California and portions of Brazil are in the throes of severe droughts, and water restrictions and rationing are becoming commonplace. The droughts could be a harbinger of what may soon occur around the world as populations, economic development and climate change converge to place increased stress on the world’s already limited freshwater supply. One of the benefits of the IoT is that farmers, manufacturers, citizens and lawmakers alike will be able to more accurately monitor and measure things such as water usage and carbon dioxide output. Consider, for example, that it has been estimated that 1,800 gallons of water are necessary to produce a single pound of beef. With exports of meat from the U.S to China growing rapidly this implies the U.S. is “shipping” massive amounts of water to China—albeit disguised in the form of meat. As a result of the IoT’s ability to more precisely calculate this water usage (many experts think the figure is much higher than 1800 gallons), policy makers may begin rethinking the wisdom of subsidizing meat exports. Alternatively, the true cost of water may more effectively be incorporated into the price of beef. On the home front, citizens may soon connect sensors on their sprinklers to sensors embedded in the soil of their lawns in order to tell them the most opportune time to water their lawn. They may even have those sensors access the latest local weather information to determine whether it is even necessary to water because they’ll know if rain is coming soon. (Similar insights and actions will likely occur when sensors can detect the precise amount of carbon dioxide that power plants, agri-businesses, commercial buildings and automobile owners are contributing to the atmosphere.)
Continued from p 59
Perreault Magazine - 60 -