IoT + Machine Learning: Changing the Paradigm of Technology
With every passing day, there is constantly something new coming in the field of technology. Innovation has given birth to Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT). Many big companies have invested heavily in these technologies, and it is growing at a fast pace. We can see how much IoT and AI help us in everyday life as well as businesses.
Today companies are using AI, powered by machine learning to understand their customers better and leverage personalization. Virtual assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, Cortana, Alexa, etc., are making this technology easy to adopt. Companies like Netflix, Spotify, Amazon Prime, etc., are making their algorithms stronger by using machine learning. With the help of these algorithms, they study users and further recommend music or shows, which gave birth to personalization and, as a result, an increase in usage.
According to research by Statista, connected IoT devices are estimated to be 30.9 billion units by 2025. This shows the amount of demand and applications IoT has in the market. In this article, we are going to see how machine learning and IoT is changing the world.
Let's have a quick overview of machine learning and the Internet of Things.
What is Machine Learning?
Machine learning is one of the critical components of AI, where the algorithms are developed to improve the performance of the software. It uses big data to understand and provides users with personalized experiences. Any eCommerce platform, streaming service, music streaming platform, etc., uses it to understand users and provide them with a better experience. Slowly it is becoming more popular and almost used in all industries.
What is IoT?
IoT stands for the Internet of Things; it is used to connect various devices with the internet and pass data. It is used in the healthcare sector, automobiles, retail, and more. But, going one step further, with the integration of machine learning, IoT devices get a brain. Thus, giving rise to the Artificial Internet of Things. Today it is one of the most powerful technologies to use products in the best way possible.
Let's see how Machine Learning and IoT are changing the world around us:
Retail Commerce:
eCommerce companies like Amazon, Wish, Myntra, etc., are using machine learning to understand their users better and provide personalization. With the help of big data, these companies can study their customers' purchase history, market trends, customers' spending patterns, habits, and preferences. A company studies this data, aggregates it, and uses it to make decisions.
With the help of machine learning algorithms, businesses can understand the purchase patterns and further make the customers' experience better. Amazon was the first company to recommend personalized products depending on customers' previous purchases. Not only this, today they have come with "Amazon Go" in which its "Just Walk Out" technology is changing the face of brick-and-mortar stores. It is helping shoppers to checkout without the need to wait in line, the kiosks, which are enabled with Alexa there helps them in searching products in the store, recommending dinner recipes, and more. It uses some advanced technology like computer vision, deep learning, machine learning, and sensor fusion to understand their customers.
Another example is Rebecca Minkoff, a fashion brand company using IoT, RFID, and other leading-edge technologies in their retail store.
They have a huge digital wall using which customers can order their drinks or if they need an employee to help them with an in-store purchase. Going further, in the trial rooms, they have smart mirrors using which customers order different clothes, change sizes, and more. When the customers use these smart mirrors, the employee is notified and comes with the required clothes. During checkout, customers have to use the store's iPad and RFID tags to track the clothes. Customers can scan the tags, and using the iPad, they can make the payment. Once done, customers can themselves remove the tags using the machines.
Other companies like Nike, Google, and more are making their retail stores smarter and trying to provide better customer experiences.
Smart Homes:
Smart homes have become real now; it is no more luxury or limited only to few people. With the help of AI and IoT, many homes today are getting converted to smart homes. It uses devices like sensors, meters, and lights to collect and analyze data. Using this, they can define the home infrastructure, utilities and provide more ease to daily tasks.
Companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple have their own home automation solution. You need to pick the solution you prefer and automate your home independently or reach out to integrators. They already have smart devices in the home category and provide compatibility with third party devices as well.
Talking about Google, their Nest home solution makes your home smarter, and everything connected with your Google Home App. You can connect smart speakers, cars, TV, headphones, watches, and more.
With the help of Nest Thermostat, you can adjust the temperature of your home. Its sensors sense your presence in the home, if there is anyone, they can set the temperature accordingly. Other way around, if there is no one in the home, it changes the temperature, saving you energy.
With the Nest Hub, you can watch videos while cooking, send voice commands to Google Assistant to play music, podcasts, and audiobooks. You can efficiently control your smart home by knowing things like who is at the door, which lights are on, dim the lights, know the weather, control your thermostats, configure security cameras, watch live feed, and more. Everything easily at your fingertips.
While Google’s devices are great, it is not the only company that makes them. Amazon and Apple are also in the same business. Several other companies like Ikea, Phillips, etc. make smart versions of their products, making the connected home a possibility for everyone’s financial range and stylistic taste.
Smart Cities:
With the increasing number of population and rapid urbanization, making cities smart has become important. Today companies and governments are investing heavily in this. Experts claim smart cities will be the future and play a major role in increasing economic growth. Governments have introduced smart streetlights to make smart cities, enabling CCTV surveillance cameras with facial recognition software that helps during theft, smart parking management, and more. Let's see some of the verticals of smart cities in brief:
- Smart Lights:
Smart lights turn on only when the person or a vehicle passes by. They help a lot in saving energy and run on solar panels. These devices use a motion sensor to know when an object passes by, and it also dims in the area where there is low occupancy.
- Smart Parking:
Parking areas use In-Ground Vehicle Detection Sensors, that help drivers find vacant parking spaces. It uses the central parking management system and transmits the data via sensors. This helps in reducing parking congestion, vehicle emissions, and less trouble to find the parking space.
- Smart Roads:
Smart roads use sensors and IoT technology to make driving vehicles easy and safe. Various sensors are attached to the various sides of the road and send users real-time notifications about weather and traffic conditions. It also helps in preventing accidents when vehicles or passengers are near the car. This is just the beginning of what AI and IoT can do to make cities smarter and safer.
Self Driving Cars:
Self-driving cars are the future of cars and are safe, clean, and more efficient for future transportation. Software developers use machine learning and deep learning algorithms to enable computer vision. It helps vehicles to make decisions the same as humans while driving. Self-driving cars use sensors to know if there are any objects nearby. Other advanced control information can help to find navigation routes.
Conclusion:
The current application of machine learning and IoT is just the tip of the iceberg, there is still more to explore in both fields. With the constant growth of technology, we can assure it will make our lives easier and lead in the way of innovation. Today we can say that almost every industry is covered using machine learning and IoT. There is no limit to thinking about how this technology and its uses can change the world. There are more applications of AI and IoT than we can ever imagine. We can truly say automating things around us helps in making our lives easier, and hopefully safer.
