Interaction of the IoT with Other Technologies

When we say the Internet of Things can help us protect the planet and make life more livable for humanity as a whole, we’re not really talking about a future technology at all. Instead, we are talking about the parallel coexistence of several future technologies, which can be combined and complement each other. If we look at them in isolation from one another, it doesn’t quite do justice to reality: Where does all the data for big data strategies come from? What good are VR goggles if they don’t have a network connection? How smart can an AI system get if it can’t access the data sets of devices that can share analyzable camera images or computable sensor data with the world in a language that algorithms can understand? Or take augmented reality as an example: visualizations using this technology can help engineers plan or workers on a company’s shop floor assemble components, but it requires an adequate IT infrastructure with digitized and interconnected devices. To truly realize the full potential of a 3D printer, you can’t look at the physical world and the virtual world as two parallel worlds that have nothing to do with each other. Rather, you have to bring them together. That is a central aspect of the IoT.