In a new whitepaper, “Living, Learning and Working in 2020 with the Internet of Things,” San Francisco-based product development and design studio, Yeti LLC, takes a look at how the Internet of Things (IoT) is already impacting five key arenas of everyday life, and how in-development products will continue our march towards a new standard of technology-based living.
“Experimenting with and learning from emerging trends is a big priority at Yeti because we know our clients rely on us to be as innovative as possible,” said Yeti CEO Tony Scherba. “We wrote this whitepaper because we noticed that a lot of companies we encountered were looking at IoT as a feature for their products when instead they could use it as a service, which is limiting. We believe that the right IoT strategy can enhance and improve not only the experience of the user, but a product’s value and marketability as well.”
The whitepaper also makes three key predictions for 2020: (1) The IoT will blur the line between products and services, (2) Hardware and software engineering will become one, and (3) We will stop calling it IoT because it will be the new standard. It also takes a deeper look at how the IoT is currently playing out and will continue to evolve in five key areas.
- In the Home - Smart meters and thermostats help homeowners and utility companies alike by monitoring energy usage, plus the whitepaper takes a look at what smart appliances are already on the market and how they can help save energy.
- In the Classroom - Educators are already exploring technologies to help them securely distribute lessons, grades and other important documents, as well as devices like WriteBoard which allows remote students to follow a lesson being given a la whiteboard, and smart pens, which are already revolutionizing the learning dynamic by recording the lesson while allowing students to jot down key phrases as they pay closer attention to the lesson at-hand.
- On the Farm - Perhaps surprisingly, technology is already in full-swing on some farms with farmers employing crop and soil sensors and weather sensors to help them manage their crops, tighten efficiency, and ensure the health of what they grow in sustainable ways. They’re also moving from location chips, which track an animal’s location, to biochips, which also monitor the animal’s health.
- Around Town - As cities grow, city officials face challenges on the street and in the air. Trash lid sensors are in development to help manage garbage around the city, and a group of students at University of Southern California is working on a device that helps monitor local air quality which then create real-time global maps of air quality. Emergency network solutions are already being used by some cities to alert citizens to critical events and disasters.
- On the Road - Drive time ease and safety isn’t just about self-driving cars. There are real, immediate practical uses for IoT such as sensors to monitor bridge integrity, ultra high frequency (UHF) tags for tolling, and connecting buses and other public transit vehicles to let riders know when their ride will arrive, as well as alerting dispatchers when a vehicle needs repair or assistance.
Click here to download “Living, Learning and Working in 2020 with the Internet of Things.” You can also visit Yeti’s Resource Center to learn more about how the company thinks and works.
Tony Scherba is a CEO + Founding Partner at Yeti. Tony has been developing software since high school and has worked on digital products for global brands such as Google, MIT, Qualcomm, Hershey’s, Britney Spears and Harmon/Kardon. Tony’s writing about innovation and technology has been featured in Forbes, Huffington Post and Inc. At Yeti, Tony works on strategy, product design and day to day operations, hopping in and working with the development teams when needed.
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