From voice assistants to smart home devices, the Internet of Things is rapidly changing both how we live and how we work. With a projected 83 billion IoT connections by 2024, this trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.
As the IoT continues to grow and add new functionalities, it’s important to understand what’s currently available and how these devices can transform life for consumers and businesses. Below, 15 tech experts from Forbes Technology Council discuss the best IoT devices and applications on the market right now and why each is so valuable.
1. Touchless Transaction Devices
The best IoT devices include those that enable touchless transactions, such as contactless payment and data collection and tracking devices. From a standpoint of cleanliness, these include any devices that reduce the transmission of germs and help to end the pandemic. Additionally, in the work-from-home era, home automation has become extremely popular, which also reduces contact transmission in the home. – Kevin Beasley, VAI
2. Personal Fitness Devices
The best IoT devices are those that support personal fitness, which has become a leading issue in our current time. The ability to go to health clubs has been diminished by regulations, and many individuals choose to avoid it for health reasons. What has kept me and others sane through this period is the Peloton bike. – Thomas McElroy, Level-1 Global Solutions, LLC
3. Ingestible Diagnostic Devices
Myriad ingestible medical devices are coming to market with multiple different use cases. The ability to ingest a “pill” that then pulls data from inside your body and delivers that information back to deep learning frameworks is huge. Forget wearable tech—ingestible tech is something that can replace that market. – Damian Ehrlicher, Protected IT
4. Health Monitors
As an avid fitness geek and cyclist (and overall geek), I like to monitor everything I can about how I am feeling and recovering—both more important than ever in the era of Covid-19. Devices such as WHOOP and the Oura Ring see patterns, understand our health and compare data with millions of users and athletes around the world. I have been impressed by how they’re able to detect Covid-19 early and improve recovery. – Jason Carolan, Flexential
5. CGM Devices
As a Type 1 diabetic, seeing continuous glucose monitoring devices moving to support the IoT is a huge advance. The benefits of delivering seamless remote monitoring of blood glucose for parents when their children are out or sending alerts directly to medical professionals are huge. Given the potential size of the market and the effect these devices can have on well-being, they top my list. – Al Kingsley, NetSupport Limited
6. Infrastructure IoT
The best IoT devices on the market are the ones we don’t ever see. The critical infrastructure all around us that keeps the cars moving through your city and the water pumping to your house are performing invaluable tasks for us every day, and most of us are totally unaware. Consumer IoT development is exciting, but infrastructure IoT is where the real magic happens. – Dick Wilkinson, New Mexico Supreme Court
6. Fleet Management Software
The most interesting innovation happening in IoT right now is not with the devices themselves—which are mostly sensors and processors—but instead with fleet management and monitoring software. Being able to maintain the health and security of multiple generations of both hardware and software via a set of low-cost devices that are sent out into the field is huge. – Joaquin Lippincott, Metal Toad
7. Sensor Hubs
The best IoT devices incorporate the intelligence required to both sense key parameters of the real world that surrounds them and convey vital telemetry upstream for analytics that maximizes situational awareness. For example, sensor hubs on trucks can provide fleet dispatchers with information about the engine, cargo and even the driver—all essential to ensuring on-time deliveries. – William Bain, ScaleOut Software, Inc.
8. Click Boards
There are a lot of innovative IoT devices on the market today, and the possibilities are endless. However, particularly beneficial is the vast click board portfolio from MikroElektronika, which includes over 1,000 devices. These click boards have become the critical starting point for every IoT project and are a key component of the IoT ecosystem. – Wolfgang Thieme, BehrTech
9. Firewalls
By far, the most important IoT device for businesses is the network firewall you implement to protect, track and control your IoT devices and your network. Put all your IoT devices on a common, separate Wi-Fi network. Most “next-gen” firewalls have threat detection and intrusion prevention. Monitor those reports and talk to your IT department to interpret them. IoT devices attempt to discover the rest of your network and routinely send data back to the manufacturer. – Jim Nekos, Edge Technology Group
10. Climate Control Devices
Climate change is probably the most critical challenge facing humanity today. States and countries have been experiencing more frequent and longer power outages due to harsher weather conditions and record-setting temperatures. The IoT can help to tackle climate change through connected devices such as the Nest thermostat, which can play a pivotal role in managing peak demand and grid stability. – Ahmad (Al) Fares, Celitech – Cellular Data Platform
11. Voice Assistants
The best IoT devices out there are voice assistants. In the future, there will be no keyboards, no buttons, no touch screens and so on for anything from TVs to cars and more—it will all be voice-driven. Even though it is taking a long time to get there, we are closer than ever to that being a reality. Imagine walking around the world with no devices on you and being able to ask for what you need. – Mercedes Soria, Knightscope
12. iPhone 12
The iPhone 12, with built-in LiDAR capabilities, is the best device on the market right now. This device takes us one step closer to creating a digital copy of our world. The inbuilt LiDAR technology allows limitless possibilities for mass augmented reality integration, which will allow us to overlay and enhance the real world with digital capabilities. – Alex Dzyuba, Lucid Reality Labs
13. Smartwatches
For an IoT device to demonstrate its value, it must promise convenience while having the ability to make decisions when its owner can’t. A smartwatch not only provides conveniences such as communication but can also act if the user is unable to—for example, detecting a fall, heart arrhythmia and other issues. As the safety, security and insurance ecosystem grows, this IoT device will become even more instrumental. The next step is the connected car. – Spiros Liolis, Micro Focus
14. Tile Trackers And SmartTags
Tracking devices such as Tile Trackers and SmartTags are amazing. With the introduction of the sticker versions, their usability has greatly increased, and I believe the size will go down even further in the future. Add to that global, low-cost satellite connectivity from companies such as Swarm, and we are looking at never losing anything again. – Vikram Joshi, pulsd
15. The Combination Of Personalized IoT Devices Working Together
In recent decades, we have experienced a transition from mass production to mass personalization. How do we personalize products and services at scale? The answer is with real-time information coming from a secure yet diverse set of IoT devices—cars, TVs, refrigerators, thermostats, medical devices and so on. The IoT of the future is not a single device but a highly personalized platform. – Augusto Perazzo, Me in Te
Source: Forbes.es
