What is the Necessity of Spatial Internet of Things?

Developing small sensors that provide a variety of real-time spatial data starts pioneering how people live and conduct business.

FREMONT, CA: For IoT, location data is critical as space-time tracking of information. Spatial data is the standard data thread, and space and time-based information is keyed or tagged. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) created the SensorThings Standard as an open standard for IoT devices enabling interoperability between devices and data sharing.  Machines can take disparate data, such as a clustered sensor network, and aggregate information in a standard format while tagging information such as coordinates and timestamp information with the root or focused observation for given devices using this standard. The standard enables different analyzes to be applied in various domains, including public safety, transportation, household consumer goods, military, and other areas. Multiple organizations can also share devices and data using this standard, facilitating data integration.

Effective mapping

With space and time data tracking, real-time maps are created that apply various evaluations, including artificial intelligence (AI) and spatial operations, to facilitate decisions in different areas. Sensor-derived data are second-order metrics that can assist a workflow engine that builds rules or uses AI in programmed responses. For example, sensors collected in buildings and individuals enable real-time events and coordination with first responders in public safety situations. In other cases, body sensors could be connected to a smart-hub and used in simple android phones to track police, fire, and others during an event. For individuals or buildings, such data can be integrated and coordinated in real-time for the best response. Automated steps are also built into workflow software that processes and detects sensor data conditions. Such data are used to track waste or inefficiencies, including network bottlenecks and re-root traffic. Historical data collected from sensors and real-time data are used to optimize decision-making and decision-making functions. Location information is improved by combining multiple sensors like GPS and location tracking systems, including phones, to provide weighted real-time location data.

Developments in the future

In the future, great opportunities are evident in various areas, including industrial applications where IoT could bring a new industrial revolution. People are starting to see this happen with smart-speaker devices like Alexa. Such devices can track information over time, and consumers can decide on such devices. There are security concerns with these devices, especially if they are hacked, or data are stolen, but the benefits may outweigh worries as they can help in safety areas and help us make decisions. The population are at the beginning of a more mature phase in the IoT Gartner Hype Cycle, where broader adoption is beginning to occur as companies and researchers take advantage of the SensorThings standard. This could mean that such sensors will be ubiquitous in a few years, and IoT device adoption and application and optimization using sensor data could be standard practice.

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