We've got 99 problems but the IoT ain't one...
To show what the Internet of Things (IoT) can do in your life, our office has come up with a list of our 99 favorite IoT applications, and we’re still going! Some of these applications already exist, and some may not be around for a long time, but we hope you have as much fun with imagining the possibilities as we did. Check it out:
The IoT can…
- Send you an alert when your pet is on your furniture.
- Connect your bathing suit to monitor sun exposure.
- Turn off your lights after you are already tucked into bed.
- Alert you if your freezer full of food is defrosting when it is not supposed to be.
- Warn you when the gun cabinet is left unlocked for more than a designated amount of time.
- Sense any tampering to your boat trailer when you’re out on the water.
- Connect a toilet for real time analysis.
- Sense the quality of soil to work with a connected sprinkler system for efficient watering.
- Preheat your oven when you are on your way home from work.
- Connect a fridge to know what’s in it and what items you need to buy or replace.
- Automatically order replaceable products such as laundry detergent or disposable razors.
- Connect a washing machine/dryer to automate performance.
- Notify you of empty food boxes/ or when the food in those boxes has gone bad or stale.
- Connect your front door to tell you when someone is there and who they are.
- Connect a shopping cart to determine what your total will be at the cash register.
- Track your sleep so that your alarm knows the best time to wake you up in the morning.
- Connect a package safe to take deliveries and "sign" for you, keeping your packages secure.
- Connect residential cameras to monitor potential suspicious activities.
- Connect your shower to remember your ideal temperatures.
- Dispense pet food automatically to allow you to feed pets from anywhere and at any time.
- Alert you for when your washer, dryer, and dishwasher cycles are done.
- Connect your curtains/blinds/drapes to reduce furniture damage and conserve energy.
- Track livestock.
- Sense beverage temperature to make sure your drink is served at the optimal coldness.
- Connect a grocery list to recommend recipes based on food you have in your refrigerator and what other products you need to complete the meal, taking health concerns into consideration.
- Detect health issues of seniors in a retirement home.
- Start and warm your car on a cold day.
- Monitor how much water is being used by an individual hose or faucet.
- Connect a plate to tell you how many calories you have consumed based on your meal.
- Monitor how much electricity is being used by a specific device.
- Close your garage door after you have left home and forgotten.
- Monitor and control kids' TV and video game time.
- Control doors and windows to open or close.
- Control opening/closing windows (or an exhaust/intake fan) based on outside temp/weather vs inside temp.
- Monitor your spice rack to keep track of which spices you have and how much you have of each.
- Connect an HVAC system whose vents open and close automatically based on your ideal temperature.
- Connect a basketball court to accurately record players’ stats and determine travelling and out-of-bounds situations.
- Connect a kitchen scale and blender to recognize what's being measured and then runs blender accordingly.
- Connect shoes to adjust their insoles based on pressure points.
- Connect your snack bowl too alert you when you've eaten too much based on the amount you have set.
- Monitor air quality.
- Connect your fish tank to know when the water needs to be changed or the filter needs to be replaced/
- Notify you when furnace filter needs to be replaced.
- Wake you up earlier if morning traffic along your route to work is bad or it snowed overnight.
- Notify you when the gas for your grill needs replacing.
- Record dental hygiene via a connected toothbrush.
- Alert you when pet leaves or enters through the "doggie" door.
- Connect your coffee maker to learn when and how you like coffee and automatically brew it for you.
- Connect your plumbing systems to detect leaks before they cause water damage or mold.
- Connect cases for musical instruments to monitor temperature and humidity and whether the case is open or closed.
- Alert you when your liquor cabinet has been opened.
- Request a replacement for fire extinguishers when expired.
- Monitor where poisonous chemicals and cleansers are in the house and alert you when they have been opened or what other chemicals they should not be mixed with.
- Monitor a medicine cabinet for when it has been opened and when prescriptions need to be refilled.
- Monitor your septic system to warn about overflow and redirect waste to avoid a back up.
- Sense the sunlight for daylight harvesting on farms
- Monitor swimming pool chemicals and temperature. Avoid a time consuming/expensive algae cleaning.
- Alert you when no movement has been detected in a home where an elderly person lives alone.
- Monitor when people are entering or leaving the house to check in on a child’s curfew.
- Connect a water bottle to analyze how hydrated you are and whether you need to be drinking more water.
- A beer glass that monitors your alcohol intake to alert you before you’ve had too much to drink.
- Connect your keys to know where you put them.
- Connect your car to automatically slow down or stop if you are getting too close to the car in front of you.
- Connect your wallet to know how much money you have or when you spent it.
- Connect your Crock Pot so you can start or stop cooking while you are away.
- Track your pet to know when it leaves the property.
- Connect a diaper to know when your baby needs to be changed.
- Monitor your daily exercise.
- Connect a scale to monitor weight loss.
- Monitor the temperature in your wine cooler.
- Connect a pacifier to know when your baby has a fever but is not yet showing symptoms.
- Detect unexpected motion in your home and turn on a camera to monitor the situation.
- Alert you when and where your pipes freeze.
- Connect your coffee maker to your alarm clock so that you have hot, fresh coffee available first thing in the morning.
- Alert you when the temperature in your vacation home gets too hot or too cold so that you know there is a problem with the air conditioning or heater.
- Monitor the temperature of your boat engine to avoid overheating.
- Monitor the humidity in your cigar room.
- Connect a flower pot to analyze soil moisture.
- Turn on and off the lights in your home while you are on vacation.
- Turn off hot hairstyling tools after a certain amount of time or while you are away if you have forgotten.
- Connect athletic wear to monitor your workouts.
- Connect a plate to identify specific allergens of food items.
- Connect a food thermometer to alert you when your food is done.
- Recreate the fake party scene from Home Alone so that robbers don’t come in your house.
- Alert you when your roommate is stealing your leftovers.
- Alert your phone if you've left your child in the car
- Tell you where the items on your grocery list are in the store or if they are out of stock.
- Connect a shower curtain that will show the time and alert you if you are taking too long and running late for work or other appointment, party, or event on your calendar.
- Connect a musical instrument to track achievements and help learning.
- Connect a stuffed animal to respond to certain phrases or movements.
- Alert you to road conditions via colored sensors on the street.
- Help improve handwriting through a connected pen.
- Monitor the temperature of a frozen food aisle at the grocery store.
- Connect sensors in city parking lots.
- Alert the local police station when a gunshot is fired in a neighborhood.
- Connect a glass to communicate how much you have consumed.
- Connect a roadway to alert your car when there is traffic or hazards on the road ahead.
- Enhance the quality of wine and coffee by monitoring the nutrients in grapes/beans.
- Selectively water dry places in lawn or on a golf course.
Have any other ideas? Let us know in the comments below or tweet to us at @GridConnect.