Developing And Deploying IoT Solutions To Create Smart Environments

Ever since IoT started becoming mainstream a couple of years ago, experts, technologists and even governments of countries around the world have been keen on using the technology for social and environmental welfare.

Large-scale ambitions with IoT such as the development of smart cities, smart power grids, smart agricultural lands and more have always been on the cards. However, recent disruptions in the IoT hardware and software space and the sudden surgency of a global pandemic have fast-tracked the development of IoT solutions for the creation of IoT-based smart environments.

In this post, we will explore how IoT is key in the development of smart environments, the benefits it offers to people and the challenges we need to collectively overcome to make way for seamless solutions.

What Is a Smart Environment?

Here’s an example for quick understanding.

If your home is powered by a home automation solution or any form of smart home technology such as smart illumination or smart surveillance system, it is a smart environment.

Though it may not be as massive in scale or ambition as smart cities, the fact that it has systems, gadgets and devices connected to the internet, offering you insights on how you could execute tasks, save energy and ultimately expenses make it a smart environment.

Now, imagine this concept on a grander scale, across geographies and purposes — what you get is a smart environment.

In simple terms, a smart environment is any premise that is powered by IoT solutions such as sensors, applications, beacons and more to allow stakeholders to make data-driven decisions with respect to the environment they operate or live in.

A smart environment could be an office space, a large-scale warehouse, a college or university campus, an apartment building, a shopping mall, or anything. According to statistics, one-third of all publicly announced IoT projects is the concept of smart cities.

The Role of Companies in Setting Up Smart Environments

When the idea of smart environments spread in markets, a lot of companies joined the bandwagon just to explore what the buzz was all about and just set themselves apart from competitors. Only when the benefits were actually experienced that several companies took further steps and proactive initiatives to incorporate IoT-based smart environments into their premises.

Today, companies and businesses are keen on making decisions that are backed by numbers. They don’t want to trust their gut instincts or assumptions anymore to make crucial decisions. Instead, they want to analyze charts and visualized insights from data generated across touch points. So, they go ahead and replace conventional appliances and devices with their smart counterparts, where reliable data is available perpetually.

If you notice today, you will find more involvement and participation from companies in setting up smart lights, automation systems, IoT sensor technology in taps and restrooms to conserve the use of water, applications to analyze data, automated inventory management devices in warehouses, IoT-powered fleet management systems and more.

Applications Of IoT Technology In Environment

If the entire concept of smart environments sounds futuristic and new to you, understand that there are tons of applications in development already. Or better, there are hundreds of devices and smart solutions that are deployed in companies and organizations. To give you a quick idea of what they are, here are some real-world examples of smart environments.

1. IoT technology is used in agriculture as part of smart farming projects. In this, farmers are given adequate information about their soil and its nutrient values through IoT sensors and systems. With the help of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and predictive analytics, they can get ideas on temperature changes, rainfall, and more to choose the most ideal crop variety for the season.
2. In the hospitality industry, smart environments are inevitable. With massive properties and facilities, deploying manual labor to take care of energy conservation is impossible. That’s where IoT systems come in and help in saving water and energy and assist in maintaining ideal room temperatures, illumination levels and even premises and room security.
3. IoT is also deployed in workspaces to automate a lot of tasks in environments. For instance, attendance can be managed easily, from the insights of which decisions on their salary and payroll could be made every month. Lights and air conditioners can be automated to turn off when there’s nobody in a conference room and more.
4. Efficient traffic management is also possible with IoT technology, where instances of congestion during peak hours could be prevented by predicting and prescribing alternate routes to commuters based on their daily activity.
5. Smart Maintenance is one of the biggest applications of IoT in the creation of smart environments. In this, factories and industries could be fitted with IoT solutions to automate service requests of devices and machines. Besides, probable malfunctions in machines could also be predicted by IoT sensors in advance and schedule timely maintenance requests.

Building IoT Solutions For Smart Environments

Building Unification Systems

A structure as straightforward as a building could be turned into an asset with the help of smart environments concept. Consider a shopping mall for instance. It’s a gigantic structure that has several shops, outlets, kiosks, and facilities. At the outset, it might seem they are all standalone modules but only when you approach them technically will you understand they can all be integrated together through IoT technology.

This vision was achieved in a real sense at the District Center, Washington DC. Conventional devices were replaced with specialized digital amenities such as light fixtures with sensors, IR-powered devices to detect structure capacity, Bluetooth-enabled beacons to help visitors navigate through the building, app-based conference room booking facilities, smart room temperature maintenance and more. With careful planning and a well-defined goal, standalone structures that have shops or rooms operating in silos could be turned into unified smart buildings.

Safety And Security

One of the biggest advantages of implementing IoT technologies in developing smart environments lies in making spaces safe and secured. With IoT, safety and security issues could be addressed instantly, and response measures could be initiated quickly to curb consequences or damages caused due to breaches or threats.

One real-world example of this idea is ShotSpotter, where IoT technology and gunshot detection technology come together to immediately dispatch police and security by precisely locating gunfire locations. The technology and concept behind ShotSpotter have already helped reduce crime rates in one of the neighborhoods in Cincinnati by 50%.

With more refinement, this technology could be deployed across premises like cinema halls, shopping complexes, schools, hospitals and more to limit damages and threats.

Apart from solving concerns after they happen, IoT also helps in predicting crimes and preventing them even before they occur.

Space Saving or Optimization

Workspaces are often cluttered with too many desks, chairs, and perpetually busy colleagues.

Of late, companies have been ditching cubicles and reserved spaces for hot desks that seamlessly facilitate coordination among colleagues and eliminate all forms of hierarchies.

With the incorporation of IoT, modern workplaces could be made more efficient. In premises like coworking spaces, hot desks or open desks are concepts, where people are free to sit in a spot or desk they like unless it’s not occupied previously. The incorporation of IoT will let visitors and users get an idea on their apps of the desks available and pre book their preferred spaces before leaving for optimal convenience.

Tracking Of Critical Assets

Regardless of whether it’s a shop or a workplace, every operating premise has tons of critical assets it is compelled to take care of. That’s where IoT-powered indoor tracking modules come in. Assets such as flash drives and hard drives are easily forgettable as to who possesses it. Even laptops and tablets are required to be mobile inside organizations when colleagues move from one team to another for interactions.

In such instances, asset-tracking systems precisely track and notify the location of objects in environments. So, in case a complaint or issue is raised on misplaced objects, they could be immediately tracked. This is highly beneficial in appliance showrooms, where there are higher chances of theft and misplacement.

Contact Tracing with IoT

As humans, we witnessed one of the most horrifying viral outbreaks of our times. While we continue to grapple with the consequences of the first wave, we are at the verge of the third with continuous viral mutations.

At this point, we are also beyond the phase of imposing strict lockdowns again considering the economy and the livelihood of people associated with shut business. So, the best way to tackle the situation is by implementing safe and airtight contact tracing facilities in organizations.

With IoT, this is possible through wearable tags, smartphone applications and Bluetooth technology. As a business or an organization, you can easily maintain a log of your staff and their interactions with others. This way, when a person is infected, all his interactions receive a message on probable contagion and lets them get tested on time.

Benefits Of IoT in Environment

While the benefits of implementing IoT in environments have been evident so far, let’s do a quick roundup of them, shall we?

• It empowers users, visitors, or residents of an environment with the insights they need to take charge of energy and water consumption. This is done through visualizations, charts and even gamification.
• Automated IoT systems can help in the conservation of water and energy in premises and make way for optimized illumination, room temperature and even air quality.
• Businesses can save significantly by implementing a smart environment.
• In-premises security can be optimized through the use of IoT technology.

Wrapping Up

We are at the dawn of a new era with systems and devices letting us tackle larger enemies such as climate change and rising temperatures by helping us make lifestyle changes.

With the right insight and data, we could uncover loopholes in the way we operate and live, debunk assumptions and myths and make our surroundings more enriching, safe, and resourceful. As the number of use cases of IoT in the development of smart environments grows, we will make way for a more rewarding lifestyle wherever we go.