The Global Brain

The “Internet of Things” is a revolution that is already happening. It refers to the imminent network of connected appliances and objects that in the future will function as a global brain, or “smart grid”.

- Martin Oliver

A revolution is underway, one that is on track to radically change the way citizens of affluent countries live, and it involves becoming “smart” — in a radio frequency (RF) energy-emitting sense. The nexus between the internet and the smartphone is fertile ground for a growing number of smart home devices, and over the next couple of years these are expected to undergo an explosion in quantity. Predictions of the number of connected things in use worldwide by 2020 range from 20–50 billion.

An internet of things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a vision of appliances and objects communicating with one another in a structure that increasingly resembles a global brain. Another frequently used term for it is the “smart grid”.

For users, there’s a range of anticipated benefits. These include convenience, information feedback, the ability to control at a distance, increased productivity and energy efficiency. The location of an item can be pinpointed, enabling IoT to be used in industrial automation and inventory management. Amazon, an early adopter of IoT technology, in early 2018 took out a patent on an IoT wristband to be worn by employees, one that would detect motion to monitor performance.

Products already on the market include GPS dogcollars, one-touch payment rings and wristbands, smart fridges, wireless baby monitors, robotic vacuum cleaners and even sex aids such as the We-Vibe vibrator device, which was at the centre of a class action due to the collection of very sensitive intimate data. Also available are children’s smart toys that record conversations with the child, communicate back and learn his or her preferences, and whose manufacturers may allow this information to be on-sold to marketers.