The Augmented Age


Our CTO, Nimish Shrivastava is a new contributor to the IoT Agenda, a TechTarget publication that talks about The Internet of Things.  Check out his first column on the Augmented Age:

We are living in the Augmented Age. We, as individuals, are becoming more and more reliant on devices that augment our lives. As a result, connections between people and the spaces they live in and/or visit are changing rapidly.

What does this mean? Within smart spaces – like smart cities, venues, campuses and districts – IoT devices are gathering data that can improve experiences. We’ve seen a host of applications already gathering steam and as a result, smart entertainment districts and cities are becoming synonymous with IoT.

Smart streetlights and smart meters are improving energy efficiency. According to Accenture, more than 74 million smart meters were installed in the US alone through 2016. We’re also seeing IP cameras, drones and other devices improving security as well as interconnected sensor networks minimizing traffic and improving productivity.

At the same time, we are seeing smart technologies that are augmenting our bodies and our lives – including sensors on wearables, smart contact lenses, and audio interfaces like Alexa. Today, we are on the cusp of bridging these two developments: marrying the data delivered by IoT devices with the augmented consumer experience that is also producing a great deal of data, and delivering the power of that data via new interfaces.

All of this is leading to new ways of thinking about how we experience and engage with smart spaces, and to big opportunities for the people who manage these spaces.

Read the whole thing at IoT Agenda