TECHNOLOGY
EVERY DAY , MORE and more connected devices are coming to market , from phones and home appliances , to cars and buildings . Indeed , Cisco predicts that by 2020 , there will be 50 billion connected devices in use around the world , and according to British Airways Highlife Magazine , one in four of us will be wearing connected clothing by 2025 ! These products have the potential to make consumers ’ everyday lives more efficient , convenient , and easier — but they also present new challenges to the designers , engineers , manufacturers and entrepreneurs who are building them .
With its rich heritage of creating powerful design solutions , the technology industry is well positioned to share the experience and knowledge that will help today ’ s makers tackle those challenges , and shift the way we think about designing consumer devices for the new connected future .
So what are some of the trends at work in the ‘ Era of Connection ’?
First and foremost , the lines between hardware and software — and between the physical and digital worlds — continue to blur as the devices that make up the Internet of Things ( IoT ) become more common . The Nest thermostat might have been the first IoT device to capture the public imagination , but more and more devices will combine a functional purpose with the ability to gather data , analyse it , and act upon it .
Businesses across every industry are starting to take advantage of the Connected Era – from public transport right through to agriculture . Floatility , for instance , has designed a connected electric scooter for use in urban areas . Floatility ’ s scooters can be tracked by GPS so users can see where their nearest available ones are . Elsewhere , Agrilution has developed a connected ‘ growing ’ device to encourage consumers to grow food in their own homes . The device provides users with vital stats on its temperature via an app to help them assess whether their crops are progressing in optimal conditions .
An internet-connected device can do more than feed data to the cloud and other devices , of course : it can also receive software updates from the manufacturer . The result ? Products can actually improve over time rather than becoming increasingly obsolete .
14 January 2016