IoT – Web Design & Development Company in San Diego

Connected Cars Becoming a Reality !!

Raj Sanghvi — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 08:16:42 +0000

It’s pretty common that when we are on a long drive or on a bus that takes us cross borders the driver tends to feel distracted or sleepy or both! This century long-existing scenario opens up the race towards connected, electrified, and self-driving cars among the automobile giants. Why now, this was the case since cars have been invented? With the advent of the Internet and the Internet of Things, the connected cars can cater to automatic notification of crashes, notification of speeding, and safety alerts.
In 1997, Toyota introduced a service that enabled people to check their emails from their cars, which virtually opened up possibilities to access headlines, weather reports through satellite radio providers. With that in mind, what new features can the connected cars offer? The In-Car Internet.

In-car Internet

Applications are the tiny minions that basically runs our technology chores. Companies like BMW and General Motors have come up with customized applications that one installs on their smartphone and establishes a Bluetooth connection to the car’s interface. So what happens when that connection is established? The connected car typically will contain a dashboard-mounted monitor which will display a predefined set of applications on the car’s infotainment system. Some of the basic features one can access with this car are making a reservation in a local restaurant, receiving or sending emails, or make a Google Search. Typically a driver can make use of these features by controlling knobs on a central console or by simply touching the screen for operation.

This raises a lot of concerns as to what level of distraction are the drivers prone to while driving a connected car. Of course, a lot of accidents happen when texting while driving! Critics have raised this concern justifying that these new features in a car will only add to the level of driver’s distraction. Besides Distraction, the growing number of hackers also pave the way for data security concerns. So how well can the connected cars defend us against this driver distraction issue?

Traffic condition & Pedestrian position

Cars with sensors and connectivity to the internet can assess the traffic conditions and Pedestrian position very well. The data captured by the in-car sensors can be transmitted to the users to their cell phone apps which in turn is interfaced with your car. This not only means that the driver will get real-time updates on traffic conditions but also about vehicle maintenance and repair diagnostics.

The connected cars will be replacing the main source of data input (humans) with computers, machines, and sensors. Such a development ensures the physical world is intimately interfaced to the Internet without the need for human intervention. This means that even when the driver is not aware of the upcoming road condition, he will have real-time data that may have an impact on their driving.

Environmental Assessment

A connected car will be able to monitor the route it travels and adjust their position on the highway, alerting drivers if they are drifting out of their lane, and slowing down if they get too close to the car in front of them. Besides this, the in-car internet feature allows the driver to find the optimal route to their destination and helps manage the journey. Besides congestion alerts and re-routing advice, the connected cars can track your car remotely in case of theft, notify the driver of the upcoming toll, provide lateral collision warning, approaching car breakdown warning.

Vehicle Management

Imagine your battery needs to be replaced or your car insurance is running out that you are not aware of- connected cars will be able to track these details. In short, it takes care of logistics and spare parts management; Vehicle lifecycle management. This feature is indispensable because, even if your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, your in-car internet feature will automatically contact the nearest repair shop for assistance and call your emergency contact in case of an accident.

Considering the only idea of distraction while driving, the pros outweigh the con when it comes to the in-car internet feature. The advent of connected cars in the upcoming decade will, of course, be a disruptive period in conventional car history.

Internet of Things Applications Development Company

Raj Sanghvi — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 12:10:34 +0000

If your Alarm had often failed you at your neediest, then you would be probably open to the idea of this product called “Wake up Light” from Philips. What makes this product more compelling is the ability to simulate sunrise like environment by gradually increasing its brightness which- by the time your alarm goes off, would have brought you out of your REM sleep mode. It is almost like telling your brain that it is time for you to wake up but in a more classy way, that you can’t cheat by snoozing it.

Now imagine if, immediately after this light had woke you up, it tells your electronic kettle to heat up for your morning drink and probably tell your toaster to make you breakfast. How can these machines talk to each other and get these things done? If it is possible to make a lamp, a kettle and a toaster to talk to each other, to make your mornings more mindful then why restrict the scope to just household activities? With Kettles and toasters crossed off the list, the potential of smart cars and smart cities comes into play. What if our cars could talk to each other avoiding any possibility of traffics and accidents? Your smart car would basically assess your start time and your office time to pick the fastest route and therefore inform your “level above” that you might be late. So what exactly is all this called? This, my millennials, is the Internet of Things (IoT).

Internet Of Things Applications Trends:

What seemed like science fiction back then is now starting to look like a possibility, especially with the advent of IoT. Towards the close of 2015, technology witnessed IoT opportunities becoming reality.

Cisco systems predict that by 2020, more than 5 billion people and about 50 billion things would be connected. With an increasing number of smart metering equipment and increasingly digitized automobiles, there will be a vast amount of data providing information on user’s personal use of devices that will give rise to privacy breach if not secured. Gartner acknowledges that this will be a challenge as the information generated by IoT is the key to bringing better services and device management.
Blockchain sets the precedent for a digital economy as the information architecture inherent to Bitcoin provides a powerful precedent for the decentralization, contextualization, exchange, and security of data needed for IoT. Blockchain technology is the missing link to settle scalability, privacy, and reliability concerns in the Internet of Things.

From our perspective, 2016 is ripe for continued evolution around the application of sensors on ‘things’ and is the new era of Consumer technology.

Let’s take a quick peek at some of the coolest products in the world of the IoT.

Amazon Echo

Amazon Echo is a virtual assistant by definition, but much cooler than Siri or Cortana. It is actually a “smart speaker” which helps you out with your everyday routine. What distinguishes Alexa (as they call it) from the rest of digital assistants is that ‘she’ is a good listener with seven noise-canceling microphones that uses far-field voice recognition technology. This simply means that even when you are several feet away from this likable smart speaker, Alexa would still be able to listen to your voice commands, even if you have got your television on.

So what exactly can Alexa do when it hears your command. As a part of your routine, you may choose to control your treadmill’s speed or inclination; play your favorite podcast during a workout; setting up timer while heating food; adjust your aircon temperature; switch off the light in your bathroom and so on.

How lengthy is the process of “Waking up Alexa” going to take? Fairly a couple of minutes! Once you plug in the speaker, you’ll hear a sound indicating that she is awake. You’ll connect to the speaker’s Wi-Fi network on your phone or tablet, then sync things back up with your home network in the Alexa app. Within a minute, you’ll be up and running.

Kevo Smart Lock

Almost 1 out of 5 times we are used to doubling checking if we had really locked up our home or not while leaving for office or practically anywhere. Kevo Smart Lock is one of the trending IoT products in 2016. What it basically does is to turn your smartphone into a portable electronic key for your homes. Kevo Smart Lock connects to a companion mobile app from which users can set up or delete their eKeys! These eKeys are encrypted electronic keys residing on smartphones that unlock Kevo. For scenarios when your friends visit your home or a technician or a carpenter tends to your appliances, this smart lock can also be functioned in such a way that users can send their eKeys to other users temporarily.

So the biggest concern for this amazing idea is security itself. But no worries- Kevo tracks user activity in its system which means basically your master device will receive a notification every time the eKeys have been locked/unlocked or sent out or accepted.

Lively Medical Alert Watch

As the name describes, this alert watch helps you track your kids’ or elderly relatives’ (who may or not live far away from you) health. It is a smartwatch that allows remote health monitoring of your beloved. What exactly does it track? The parameters vary and are sure to evolve in due course of time, but for now, this tracks different kinds of daily activities and provides an emergency assist button that alerts Lively to call in and check that everything is alright with them.

Digitsole Smart Shoe

For all you fitness freaks out there, we introduce you to the world’s first intelligent footwear. If you are looking for a shoe that tightens automatically around your foot, laces itself up and even warms your foot, the Digitsole Smart shoe is the perfect match. The designs of these shoes include heaters and sensors in the sole that is controlled by a companion app and come with a self-fastening mechanism, so users won’t have to bend down to lace up their own shoes. In addition to self-lacing features, the Smart shoe can be controlled by the app to heat feet up to 100 degrees.

Eventually for the IoT to invade its way into all of our lives it requires a certain level of disruption which will continue to define how the IoT is adopted in the subsequent future.