I’m not exactly old, but I can’t help but think, whilst sat on a flight to Edinburgh, how far technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) has come in my lifetime.

I am sat on a flight which I booked on my iPad, and my car is parked in a car park booked from my mobile phone, and tonight I will be staying in a hotel booked on my laptop. Each of them booked, paid for and organised without necessarily having to leave my chair. I haven’t printed a boarding pass, I haven’t got any paperwork confirming my rental car booking at the other end, it’s all done through my mobile device. Above all of this, I am also currently listening to the latest Foo Fighters album on that very same device which I downloaded through my Apple Music Subscription whilst boarding the plane. Actually, come to think about it, I even had my breakfast and coffee this morning without even taking my wallet out of my pocket!

So nothing ne where, actually this is pretty much the norm today, even for my father in law in his 70’s… well, apart from perhaps the Foo Fighters! A very good album so far by the way. But actually, whilst this is the norm, how the hell did we get here?!

I remember a good day in the summer holidays as a kid would be getting £5 from my mum, and heading out on my bike to trek several miles across town to Blockbuster Video, eager to get the latest Nintendo game or Video to watch. On arrival, and upon making your selection from the hundreds of glossy plastic retail boxes, you had to hope that those glossy retail boxes had a plain labelled box behind them, or you were out of luck! The disappointment of not being able to take home the latest film or game because they were already out on rental was real, prompting questions to the cashier about said release and when it was due back. And let’s not even get into what would happen should you return your selection late!

Where are Blockbuster Video now? To rent a film today, it just takes a couple of clicks or a few taps on a screen. You have instant access to, within reason, a full library of old and brand new releases that can be yours to rent, buy and watch instantly on any device. If you choose to rent something, it is automatically “returned” once it has been watched eliminating late fees. Thinking about it, it is actually quite sad to think that the experience, the excitement even, of going to Blockbuster Video is gone today. But realistically, would I revert back if I could wind reverse the technology clock? Not a chance!

In the manufacturing world, we are already leveraging this technology to allow consumers to customise and configure products to suit there personality and requirements. Using the internet of things you actually have the ability to take an image of your ear and order a pair of custom, made to measure and mm perfect headphones which turn up on your doorstep, and fit you perfectly.

In the construction industry, we are constructing buildings filled with fibre and live sensors, giving us the ability to report on building performance, and intelligently control our assets and manage our facility in ways that we have never imagined before. If we look at a very far fetched BIM (Building Information Modelling) example that I have heard several times not from various sources, it really does drive home huge advances.

You walk into a building, and are automatically “checked in” through your smart device. You are there for a meeting, and upon arrival into the meeting room the building has tracked your entry through every door, and into the board room. Now, inside that room and throughout the building there are fire detection sensors which, as well as connecting to the main fire panel, are linked via the IoT. Should that sensor be triggered, the fire services would be informed and make their way to the building. On route, their systems would not only identify the building, but show and map the source of the problem, and any other sensors that had been triggered (or not) giving them clear indication of dangerous areas, and clear routes into the building. Above all of this upon evacuation, all of those originally inside the building would have been traced through the building, and eventually checked out of their chosen exit and into the designated safe area. Anyone left inside the building would be visible to their last “checked in” location. That means on arrival, the services have a plan of action, entry point and priority areas already identified.

Yes it is far fetched, or is it? Technology for this is here, now. Buildings are being constructed today, ready to perform in this way. Clearly the real working and real uses need to be identified and worked out, and unfortunately it cannot stop tragedies from happening. But, the IoT is drastically improving the way that we do things and the way that we will live for good.

So we are living in a connected world. And on the whole, we are embracing it. Where are we going to be in the next 30 odd years? Who knows. Certainly some of our infrastructure will need to be addressed if we want to really reap the benefits the IoT can bring long term. But either way, bring it on!

At this rate, we may need to avoid a Skynet situation or find John Connor, but that’s a different story altogether!