Connected devices. Sprawling networks. Massive amounts of data. In a nutshell, that’s the Internet of Things. And there’ve never been more things in the ever-expanding IoT ecosystem. From smart cities and cars to smart stethoscopes and dog collars, the world is becoming more interconnected every day.
“What the Internet of Things is really about is information technology that can gather its own information,” British tech pioneer Kevin Ashton said a few years ago. “Often what it does with that information is not tell a human being something, it [just] does something.”
Top Internet-of-Things (IoT) Examples to Know
- Connected appliances
- Smart home security systems
- Autonomous farming equipment
- Wearable health monitors
- Smart factory equipment
- Shipping container and logistics tracking
Former Google and Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt made this bold IoT prediction during a panel at the World Economic Forum back in 2015: “[T]he Internet will disappear. There will be so many IP addresses, so many devices, sensors, things that you are wearing, things that you are interacting with, that you won’t even sense it. It will be part of your presence all the time.”
We’re not there yet, but we could be soon — or soon-ish. In the meantime, check out these real-life Internet of Things examples and the companies behind them.
Connected Cars and IoT
Location: Seattle, Washington
Airbiquity is a software and engineering company that provides over-the-air (OTA) updates and data management services for connected cars. Airbiquity users can choose to have family or friends automatically and immediately notified in the event of a crash.
Location: Bloomington, Minnesota
Zubie offers real-time GPS fleet tracking while monitoring vehicle health and driver performance. If a driver is in the habit of braking hard or accelerating rapidly, that information can be used to have them avoid potential accidents and increase fuel efficiency.
Location: Palo Alto, California
While Tesla is known for making strides in the electric vehicle market, connectivity plays a big part in Tesla’s cars too. All cars come with connectivity features that provide access to features through Wi-Fi only, in addition to basic maps, navigation and music streaming. Users can purchase Tesla’s Premium Connectivity to access all connectivity features through cellular-data as well as Wi-Fi.
Tesla also gives drivers the option to connect to their vehicle through the Tesla app, which can access the vehicle’s charging history and climate controls and be used to schedule service and roadside assistance.
Smart Home Appliances and IoT
Location: Santa Clara, California
LG Electronics offers home appliances, consumer electronics and B2B solutions, as well as products ranging from digital signage and air conditioning to solar and vehicle components. LG’s ThinQ line of appliances incorporate machine learning and can easily connect to Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa.
LG’s ThinQ app can also be used to connect to devices — and devices will notify you when maintenance is needed. Users can choose from smart appliances like refrigerators, washers and dryers and ovens
Location: San Francisco, California
While Samsung may be a recognizable name for its mobile devices, the electronics company also offers smart home appliances and TVs. Samsung products use seamless integration to allow users to connect phones, tablets and computers easily to one another. Samsung’s connected appliances can also be accessed through a mobile device where users can schedule cleanings with the Jet Cordless Stick Vaccum or get notifications when the fridge door is left open.
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Electrolux is a home appliance company offering fridges, ovens, washers, dryers and more. Founded in 1919, Electrolux products are designed to be sustainable by using sensor technology that prevents excessive energy use in dryers and fridges.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Tovala pairs its smart oven with a meal-kit delivery subscription service with the goal of providing users an effortless, mess-free way to cook food.
Tovala’s smart oven works by scanning QR or bar codes and connecting to Wi-Fi, which it then uses to determine the best temperature and time to cook the food to avoid undercooking or burning. The Tovala smart oven is also capable of cooking user-prepared meals, making it a helpful option for those with varying degrees of patience in the kitchen.
Connected Security and IoT
Location: Kirkland, Washington
Wyze produces a wide-range of IoT controlled devices and appliances designed to allow users to control the products they interact with more seamlessly.
From connected home products like light strips, cordless vacuums and color-changing bulbs to smartwatches, cameras, headphones and more, Wyze strives to make high-quality, accessible smart products.
Location: Denver, Colorado
JOSH.AI provides voice-controlled home automation that can connect to a variety of devices. The voice-based Josh OS can connect to smart devices like phones, watches, TVs and tablets. The company’s aim is to be able to allow users to connect devices from different vendors and make the smart home more accessible.
Location: New York, New York
Using a single app, Wink users can monitor and control nearly everything in their homes. The Wink app allows users to control multiple products from various providers, For examples, Wink can connect with the Dropcam Wireless Video Monitoring Camera and you can remotely monitor your property to check for damage or intruders.
Location: San Mateo, California
Verkada operates a connected, around-the-clock security system that keeps buildings — and more importantly, the people within them — safe.
The company offers a variety of security cameras available in different sizes and configurations, as well as environmental sensors, integrated alarm panels and access control devices like door controllers and door readers. Each Verkada device is controllable through the company’s Command platform, which delivers actionable insights in real-time and delivers automatic updates to all cloud connected devices.
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
SimpliSafe makes wireless and cellular home security systems that are disaster-ready, protected against power outages, operate on extra-secure networks and employ deep encryption.
The company’s Glassbreak Sensors can differentiate between types of shattering — say, a broken bottle versus a broken window pane.
Location: New York, New York
Eyelock creates iris-based identity authentication technology. Its suite of IoT products serves the automotive, financial, mobile and healthcare sectors. Eyelock recently integrated its embedded iris recognition technology into ViaTouch Media‘s vending solution VICKI.
Location: Oswego, Illinois
AI Home employs IoT tech to provide home security, smart lighting and climate control products. While you’re away, AI’s technology enables you to see who has entered and exited your home based on user-specific codes.
Smart Agriculture and IoT
Location: Moline, Illinois
John Deere acquired Silicon Valley-based Blue River Technology in 2017 to further the company’s goal of applying IoT, machine learning and other technology to agriculture. Deere’s equipment monitors important agricultural factors like moisture levels, air and soil temperature and wind speed and relays the collected data to farmers.
The company’s tractors and other types of equipment are outfitted with satellite-connected guidance and tracking systems that cull data allowing for what’s called “precision farming,” which greatly increases the efficiency of fertilizers and pesticides.
Location: Ashland, Oregon
HerdDogg makes lightweight sensors that are attached to the ears of herd animals to collect herd data and transmit it to the cloud, where it can then be accessed via the company’s app.
HerdDogg recently partnered with a drone company to test its technology on free range cattle in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
Connected Retail and IoT
Location: Davis, California
Engage3 provides actionable intelligence using data science, deep domain expertise and innovative technology. Its MissionControl SaaS platform enables companies to increase visibility and maximize ROI by employing predictive analytics and an historical pricing and product database containing millions of UPCs and billions of annual price updates.
C&S Wholesale Grocers partnered with Engage3 to find even greater success with more competitive retail pricing using the company’s data and analytics.
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Enevo uses IoT-enabled container sensors to manage waste and recycling services for a variety of sectors, including retail. The company’s sensors collect dumpster data that can then be compared with collection schedules so waste haulers can’t bill you for collections that weren’t made.
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Spectralink employs IoT-linked mobile technology to improve customer care, operational efficiency, omni-channel sales and sales associate knowledge. The London-based flagship hotel of the Langham Hotels and Resorts chain recently installed the company’s Pivot enterprise smartphones so staff could communicate more efficiently.
Connected Healthcare and IoT
Location: Lisle, Illinois
Endotronix’s Cordella Heart Failure System connects patients and doctors via proactive monitoring whose end goals are early detection of heart failure, better informed medical interventions, more efficient patient management and much more.
For patients with heart issues, doctors can implant a tiny Endotronix sensor to monitor pulmonary arterial pressure instead of doing a much more invasive heart catheterization.
Location: Los Angeles, California
Nexleaf provides data analytics tools and lightweight sensor services to those in the global public health and climate change sectors. A nonprofit company, its team of computer scientists, software engineers, public health experts and many others works extensively in low-and middle-income countries.
NexLeaf’s StoveTrace project facilitates loans for Indian women in the state of Odisha to buy clean-burning (and therefore less harmful), more energy-efficient stoves that register usage via thermal sensors and send data to a wall-mounted monitor, from which it is later downloaded via bluetooth.
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
By attaching Propeller’s sensor to an inhaler, users can learn more about what triggers asthma attacks while staying connected to friends, family and healthcare providers.
Using digital data to assess asthma control has been shown to more accurately determine how many inhaler puffs were needed to control an attack which in turn could influence usage guidelines and improve patient health.
Connected Manufacturing and IoT
Location: Somerville, Massachusetts
Tulip’s platform is designed to help frontline operations teams build functional and user-friendly apps that integrate with hardware throughout the factory.
Its I/O Gateway and Edge MC facilitates easy connection to devices, sensors and machines in any factory, allowing them to provide real-time production insights and visualizations of shop floor data. The platform allows users to create and customize reports, dashboards and visualizations to best fit their needs with the self-service analytics tool, allowing production managers to stay consistently on top of their operation.
Location: New York, New York
StrongArm Technologies produces a line of IoT connected safety wearables that utilize a massive industrial data set to provide workers with athlete-level attention and keep them safe while on the job.
The company’s wearables collect gigabytes of data per day from each worker, calculating metrics on motion, time at work, machine data, CCTV activity and more to form a safety score that can uncover safety weaknesses or blind spots, leading to a 60 percent reduction in ergonomic injuries in the first year since StrongArm Technologies launched.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Amper employs its Factory OS system to make efficient use of Web-connected sensors and data science to enhance the manufacturing process.
Sensors register a variety of important facets, including energy use and downtime, so factory owners and supervisors can plan better, cut costs and pinpoint areas of growth.
Location: San Francisco, California
PalleTech makes cloud-connected pallets for manufacturing. Pallet providers can keep track of their products and recycling opportunities while users can receive important data such as temperature and shock reading via their smartphones.
Location: Austin, Texas
Axzon sensors provide crucial real-time data during the automotive manufacturing process, and its predictive maintenance technology monitors the condition of factory equipment to help prevent breakdowns and time-consuming repairs.
Keeping constant tabs on equipment temperature can prevent overheating, which could melt motor windings or cause bearings to break and ultimate cause failure.
Connected Cities and IoT
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Superpedestrian develops human-powered mobility for cities. The company offers e-scooters, bikes as well as wheelchair-compatible bikes. The company strives to be sustainable as its vehicles charge less often with a 61 mile range and are recycled after their lifecycle.
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Everywhere Wireless’s Gigabit Internet Network provides ultra-high-speed wireless to Chicago communities. Speeds are as high as 1 Gbps — that’s mega-fast. While EW’s wireless services can co-exist with other providers’ Internet services, it also enables customers to cut the cord and stream instead.
Location: Berkeley, California
UrbanFootprint’s urban planning software is used to design sustainable cities. The city of Madison, Wisconsin enlisted the company to model the impacts and benefits (on things like transit accessibility, public health and emissions) of enhancing its bus rapid transit system as part of a 2040 Comprehensive Plan update.
Related: What is IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things)? 24 Examples to Know.
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