Internet of Things- Pecha Kucha
During the first week of 325 we were given a list of different "technologies" to research and present to the class- Pecha Kucha style. I chose to research the Internet of Things since it is something that has always seemed really vague to me. It turns out that the Internet of Things (IOT), though complex as a whole, is actually very simple when broken down to its basic components. The IOT is the interconnectivity and communication between "things" (Products, microchipped organisms, etc) and devices, both automated and manually controlled. This "connection" can be achieved through several platforms but I focused on RFID chips. These are microscopic to dime sized chips that can be placed in/on almost any product or thing. They send little radio frequency "pings" back to their main computer and can be programed to collect a wide variety of data. A common use for this is tracking devices. For example, if you lose your phone its location is pinged back to your tracking software from the RFID chip embedded inside it. A more bizarre example is how modern day ranchers track the health of their cattle. Cows can have a RFID chip injected under their skin. Once implanted the chip can detect body temperature and several other factors that help the rancher determine if the cow is sick, pregnant, etc. To summarized, the Internet of Things is the communication and interconnectivity of devices- "things"- through several facets, such as RFID chips.
