Why we’re starting with the Internet of People

The Internet of Things (IoT) is somewhat a hot keyword right now. With Softbank’s purchase of ARM and startups, and corporations all speaking the same thing about sensors changing the world, I cannot help but take a step back before I end up puking on my shoes from all this technological advancement.

Here’s a definition of IoT provided by trusty Google itself, “A proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data.” What that means, in even simpler terms, is that your toaster will be able to tell your fridge to pop out some butter fast before all you have got left is a piece of cold, crunchy dry bread.

Every single device, somewhere in the future will have sensors, and will constantly be communicating with relevant devices.

Your alarm clock could set off your coffee machine, which could then start your car, which could then set off your garage door opener. Essentially we could connect devices indefinitely for whatever purpose we can dream of.

But the really cool thing that IoT brings is the endless possibilities of optimization. Sensors are now able to tell us when garbage bins are full, adjust street lighting when citizens or cars are not present to conserve energy, or sense when parking lots are vacant and communicate that to drivers. You have to really dive into each and every one of these things to understand the true meaning of optimization.

Let’s talk smart parking.

Smart parking is something I cannot wait for the world to adopt. Not only can users see how many empty lots there are, but it optimizes traffic. How, you ask.

The average commuter spends 10-15 minutes searching for a parking lot. That is terrible news. Some have even concluded that 20 percent of traffic is people looking for parking space! This is a huge problem. A huge congestion-causing, stress-inducing, CO2-spewing problem that needs to be addressed immediately.

IoT will be able to do just that. Our app, mapgea, is currently using the solution. Our app is working with 300+ smart parking lots around Taipei. What that means is that these parking lots can show our users how many spaces are available for rent, updated every two minutes. Soon we will even be able to allow our users to reserve parking spots with a fingerprint via Apple Pay.

Now let’s talk some garbage.

Taipei currently has 1,800 garbage bins. Let’s say we theoretically place a sensor in each of these garbage bins and as of right now, we know the current status of these garbage bins. It’s our job to keep the city clean, so as soon as we receive notice that a garbage bin is full, we rush to it and clear it.

Big, smart, actionable data.

But this reality may not be so apparent just yet.