Smart cities have been implemented in Singapore, Dubai, and Barcelona. Smart cities typically collect data from the Internet of Things sensors. The city can then analyze the data and utilize it for Artificial Intelligence. For example, the data can be used for predictive analytics or machine learning. IoT sensors can enhance connectivity and increase productivity growth.

Where you can find the applications and how they will improve efficiency

According to McKinsey’s 2017 study, the Internet of Things can generate $4-$11 trillion in economic value by 2025. The key is to enhance the connectivity to improve efficiency. Technology advances will reduce power requirements and decrease costs. McKinsey noted how the price of lidar sensors (laser-based sensors that scan surroundings and are used on autonomous vehicles) had declined more than 10-fold for 8 years.

Many sensors produce data, namely motion sensors, temperature sensors, light sensors, wind sensors, air quality sensors, heat sensors, and more. You can imagine how useful they are for our gadgets and equipment. They exist in mobile phones, smart homes, wind turbines, CCTV for face recognition, from a Tesla car to a medicine storage room, and from earthquake radar to agricultural machinery.

Learn more- Predictive Analytics How Data Insights Improve User Experience

IoT and the Future of Artificial Intelligence

In its article, Ericsson mentioned the many industries that need implementation of IoT: mining, manufacturing, goods transportation, Virtual Reality, and more. Furthermore, Ericsson also talked about security and privacy issues that must be addressed. For further reading, you can click here.

With the help of Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things could become smarter and more efficient. “While IoT focuses on networks of sensors that generate data… artificial intelligence enables the generation of knowledge and predictability using the valuable data that has been gained,” said the head of Huawei, Wael William Diab.
Read more about Edge AI in our previous blog.

Learn more-  Reasons to Leverage Edge AI Applications to Improve Customer Experience

Big companies and what they’ve done so far

Tech companies have invested in the Internet of Things. For example, Apple has created iPhones with proximity, motion, ambient light, and moisture sensors. Microsoft created HoloLens for Mixed Reality with an initial measurement unit (IMU), four environment understanding sensors, an energy-efficient depth camera, a 2.4-megapixel photographic video camera, a four-microphone array, and an ambient light sensor. Companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and ARM have IoT products to offer. In horticulture lighting, Mouser develops Smart LEDs with IoT sensors.

In the healthcare field, Deloitte also offers Internet of Medical Things products. We also see how Apple produced Apple Watch, and Google acquired Fitbit. Both systems will have electronic health record systems. Instead of one-time data from a health check-up visit, patients and doctors can monitor health from continuous daily statistics from Apple Watch and Fitbit.

Learn more- Everything You Need to Know about Artificial Intelligence

Customer-facing and employee-facing apps

Generating data from IoT sensors is crucial for both customer and employee-facing apps. Let’s look at the healthcare industry. With wearables’ help, a patient can know how many calories they burn, how many steps they have walked, their heart rate, etc. The IoT sensors picked up all the data necessary for the customer to evaluate. Meanwhile, from an employee-facing perspective, this data collection will be useful for prescribing medications and alerting people when they are sick.

Another example would be in the airline industry. A customer-facing app could tell passengers the boarding time and any changes of gates, the airplane’s real-time position, duty-free shop options, etc. Meanwhile, an employee-facing app could show the customers’ inputs (if they request a seat change if they purchase products), fuel efficiency, and other process improvement data to increase revenue.

Learn more- The Future of AI and User Experience Design

Well-thought UX-Design for product growth

The key to UX Design is usability, or how to make a design that ‘makes sense’ to people. As an illustration, a watch with many buttons and functions may look sophisticated. However, users wouldn’t know the buttons’ abilities without reading the instructions. In contrast, a SmartWatch with a good UX design would be easy to control and navigate.

A good design for IoT would be simple and seamless. Imagine a person steps into a bright house. He or she can instruct the house to adjust the light to his liking, turn on the TV with a voice command, choose a movie based on the recommended list, and so on. All this experience should be offered through the same ‘feel.’

Another important part is the process of mining feedback. Sometimes, customer experience is bad, and you need to evaluate what happened. There should be a clear direction for processing this kind of feedback.

Learn more- Why You Need Neural Networks to Advance Product Customer Experience

Downturn Effect on IoT platforms and sensors

We always hope for economic growth, but there will be times when it is stagnant or declining. At this time, technology is always a good investment for businesses. For one thing, technology will always advance: it will be faster, cheaper, and more advanced. Another thing is that technology increases business efficiency. Check out the industries we have expertise in.

You can invest in technology during a downturn by renting equipment and software. You can also look into Cloud computing from Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and IBM.

Conclusion

Internet of Things is the platform of sensors that generates data. Together with Artificial Intelligence algorithms, IoT data can be utilized for predictive analytics, machine learning, NLP, and more.

Start building apps with Designial to improve your company’s technology. With the right digital transformation strategy, including customer-friendly UX design, you can cater to your customers’ needs research. Contact us for further information.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in October 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.