As the Internet of Things promises to revolutionize every industry, companies need to be prepared for the changes to come. However, current advances in IoT technology are already making an impact in some industries — here are three of the most promising verticals and some of the issues already facing companies in these areas.
Health and Fitness
Small, data-collecting devices like Fitbit and Apple Watch have already taken the fitness market by storm, but there are still plenty of opportunities for companies to make their mark. New wearables and IoT devices may monitor more sensitive medical data and communicate directly with doctors, giving individuals insight into more detailed, long-term health and fitness patterns. Companies in this industry are also thinking about how IoT devices can improve the health and quality of life of older or disabled individuals: devices that send alerts to healthcare professionals automatically — for example, if blood pressure or glucose levels are too low — may even end up saving lives.
Medical
An extension of Health and Fitness IoT is the Medical field. IoT in hospitals can help with dosage of medicine, aggregated monitoring of patient data, provide for remote monitoring by specialised professionals and more. Taking the aggregation of medical data to its logical conclusion, we can gain precise knowledge of how varying conditions, such as age, medical history, location, current diagnoses, together with multiple inputs in the way of administered medicine, continuous monitoring of all patient data such as heart arrhythmias, blood oxygen, pressure and sugar levels and so much more, interact with one another. The sheer volume of data to become available over time will help scientists learn how all these different data points affect health, how to treat more quickly, find cures to previously unsolvable medical mysteries and extend life as well as improve the quality of life.
IoT companies in this industry need to be aware of varying regulatory environments. In the USA, HIPAA regulates the collection and transmission of medical information. Noncompliance with regulations and standards could land companies in hot water, and carelessness with sensitive health data may undermine public trust in IoT devices.
Automotive
Cars, trucks, and other vehicles were some of the first IoT devices, in part because it’s easy, convenient, and appealing to build internet connectivity into vehicles in ways that benefit drivers. IoT-enabled remote control brings minor conveniences, like pre-heating car interiors or defrosting windshields before heading out on a cold day.
But the benefits don’t end there. Driver experience can be further improved with fully integrated access to information, such as the availability of nearby parking and fuel prices at area gas stations. Thinking bigger, more internet-connected cars could translate to crowdsourced data: the day may come when drivers receive different route suggestions so that traffic is distributed more evenly, reducing transit time for all drivers in a particular area. And while the bulk of IoT innovation in the automotive space has revolved around driver convenience, there are also opportunities for car and truck manufacturers to improve driver safety as well.
Utilities
When it comes to power and water companies, internet connectivity benefits consumers on multiple levels. Live and historic data about usage patterns can automatically alter the behavior of these utilities, saving energy and reducing costs. This data benefits suppliers, too, potentially allowing more efficient management of power grids as well as faster responses to outages and unexpected surges in demand. Suppliers may even be able to offer different prices at different times in order to encourage consumers to change consumption patterns and even out demand for a more efficient grid.
Fluffy Spider has extensive experience in Medical, Telehealth and IoT. Please get in touch and ask how we can help.
