Internet of Things

Relationship Between theInternet of Things andConsumer Electronics

By Yu Yuan

ew things can be more exciting than introducing a new column to a large group of respected professionals, especially when it is in the flagship IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine of a renowned Society. Here, I am thrilled to introduce to you the new columnInternet of Things. Internet of things, usually abbreviated as IoT, is a popular term that has been widely spread and adopted in the past years since it was first used [1]. Wikipedia gives its definition as uniquely identifiable objects and their virtual representations in an Internet-like structure [2]. The European IoT Hub [3] proposes a more aggressive definition as an integrated part of the future Internet and a dynamic global network infrastructure where physical and virtual things are seamlessly integrated into the information network. Actually, in the rapidly growing and expanding practices spread across Asia, Europe, and other continents, IoT refers to any systems of interconnected people, physical objects, and IT platforms, as well as any technology to better build, operate, and manage the physical world via pervasive data collection, smart networking, predictive analytics, and deep optimization. As you can see, the concept of IoT is very relevant to, if not known as, machine-tomachine and cyberphysical systems, which are popular terms. You will

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MCE.2011.2181900 Date of publication: 21 March 2012

notice more and more IoT applications in areas including, but not limited to, smart grid, connected vehicles, smart buildings, remote and community health care, food safety and logistics, city operation and management, and so on. On the whole, IoT is a technical approach that might be one of the most practical and promising approaches to make many industries and sectors, along with the whole planet, smarter and better. Without doubt, most of the IoT technology and applications will directly or indirectly influence consumers or, more specifically, consumer electronics (CE). The mission of this column is to serve as a bridge or intersection between IoT and CE, to bring you the hottest news on the CE-related aspects of IoT, and to share with you the latest IoT trends and insights from the CE perspective. In every issue, we will present to you an article with the above scope. In addition, starting with the next issue, you will also be treated to IoT spotlight news just as appetizers before the main course. The debut of this column features an article about the smart grid. To what extent the smart grid is relevant to consumers? Should consumers play a more critical role in the smart grid revolution? In addition to the smart meters, is there any other CE-related technology that is instrumental in the success of smart grid? This article provides a comprehensive analysis for you. Because of length, we have to split the article into two parts. In this

IoT is a technical approach that might be one of the most practical and promising approaches to make many industries and sectors, along with the whole planet, smarter andbetter.
issue, you will read Selling the Smart Grid that studies consumers buy-in factors for the smart grid. Dont forget to check out Part 2 in the upcoming summer issue that will discuss consumers interactions with the smart grid through several hot technologies (electric vehicles, home energy management system, microgrids, among others). Last but not least, if you are interested in contributing an article or a couple of news items, please contact me at y. yuan@ieee.org for feedback and to discuss the suitability of your ideas. Enjoy.

REFERENCES
[1] K. Ashton. (2009, June). That Internet of Things thing. RFID J. [Online]. Available: http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/4986 [2] Wikipedia. (2012, Feb.). Internet of things. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_Things [3] European IoT Hub. (2009). IoT definition. [Online]. Available: http://www.internetof-things.eu/
23

APRIL 2012

IEEE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE