Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) down in Las Vegas. I was amazed at all of the different technologies showcased at CES. Beautiful 8K televisions, cool looking drones, VR gear, self-driving cars and gadgets of every kind were peppered throughout the show floor. My eyes were truly feasting on the cool products and ideas that CES had to offer.
One of the more powerful themes that kept coming forward at CES was the emerging Internet of Things, otherwise known as IoT. The basic idea with IoT is that devices of all sorts are connected to other devices. Events and actions throughout the device chain produce some form of utility for the consumer. It seemed like every CES exhibit was trying to show how their device could talk with other devices in some way.
Home automation companies are embracing this concept with the promise of making lives easier for consumers. Companies have developed sensors that send events to other devices or run a set of rules within engines like IFTTT. IoT is about bridging things together in any way possible, and creative people have been finding a way to make connections that wouldn’t have been thought of in the past. The limit is one’s imagination.
I’m curious to see where IoT takes us in the future. It promises to be a fun ride wherever it goes.
