By David Fernandez, CEO at Netclearance
The world of technology is, at its most basic level, a human-driven phenomenon. As such, it’s subject to all the psychological foibles of our species.
One of these is known colloquially as the ‘wow factor’. It refers to how those who first hear of a new advancement become excited at its sheer ingenuity and novelty. Their initial reaction is, “Wow; that’s cool!” It’s only after the excitement fades that someone says, “Hey, what good is this thing anyway?”
Wow factor
The ‘wow factor’ has played a major role in the public’s perception of the soon-coming Internet of Things or IoT. There’s something about the idea of a world made up of objects all linked together that resonates with people on a primal level.
Perhaps the concept appeals to our innate sense of oneness with all creation, or perhaps not. Either way, the prospect of an interconnected society has some people saying, “Great! Now what do we do with it?” That’s where the Location of Things (LoT) comes into the picture. It is another less popular buzzword, but one that is essential for understanding how IoT adds value to an organisation.
LoT technology spans the area of identifying where IoT devices are located in relation to their origins, destinations or other adjacent devices [Ed: See pictured, a great example, Vodafone’s connected seals]. What is the value of sensors capturing identity, environmental data, and status among other things if the consumer of this data doesn’t have the contextual location information to give this data some meaning?
Immense advantages
LoT refers to the ability to locate and monitor all types of things in real time. The advantages of this capability are immense. Take for example networks. Whether they’re used to transfer information, energy, goods, or human beings, networks are essential to modern life. When they break down, the consequences can range from minor inconvenience to life-threatening emergencies.
This is where LoT proves so useful. It enables personnel to monitor all types of networks of things for signs of trouble. In the event something goes wrong, it guides them to the exact point of failure. It can even give them vital information about the nature of the breakdown, speeding repairs and minimising problems.
By adding context to the billions of location-aware sensors and devices that will be part of the IoT ecosystem, it will open up unlimited opportunities to enhance customers’ experience, improve service quality, margins and reduce operational expenses across a wide range of industry verticals and the public sector.
So get ready for a much wider usage of the term LoT. In the near future, LoT will help bring context to the ‘who’ and ‘what’ provided by the billions of IoT nodes and sensors that will populate our planet over the next decades to come.
Netclearance Systems is a provider of cloud-based in-venue mobile proximity marketing, engagement and analytics solutions, and offers wireless proximity beacon technology and software to drive real time customer and workplace insight for optimised decisions and increased margins.
