CLOUDY podcast | #4 Smart devices are all around us, don't be afraid of them.

What is IoT (Internet of things)?

It's basically connecting things to the internet, using that internet connection and the cloud to collect information from the things that are connected to it and further analyze it, use it, control it and basically work with that data.

So what all belongs here?

It's a really large number of devices that we deal with every day. Since when do we get up in the morning, we pick up a smart watch and put it on our wrist, nowadays household appliances are connected to the Internet... We can set up everything from the washing machine to the dryer, the refrigerator is often already connected to the Internet nowadays, right up to the smart car.

In the city, we have smart traffic lights, we have camera systems, our ramp rises based on the fact that the camera detects some license plate that it reads. All of these basically work interconnected by the fact that these things are connected to the Internet.

Well, when we say smart devices, everyone imagines something different. Someone just a phone, someone a watch, someone a tablet, what are all smart devices?

Almost everything that is somehow digitized, that is somehow controlled, monitored and similar is considered smart. I don't really like the label smart on everything, because for me a button that turns on the button and the light comes on, it's not smart because I'm still the one who has to press the button or open the phone, click. Those are "dumb" devices to me.

The intelligence of the device is when they evaluate each other's information obtained from other devices and learn to behave what they should do. For example, you get up from work and go home, the phone records the location, sends the location to the household, and it knows that you are half an hour away from home and sets the heating so that it gradually heats up and you come to the heated household.

And now to privacy, how to explain to a person that smoking a cigarette at home is not really supposed to be abused?

I often answer this humorously, even if we shared that information everywhere, what does John in America, who wakes up in the morning, wonder what the temperature of Rudo's house is in Slovakia?

But seriously now. I can basically set which data I share. I know how to disconnect and not use social networks. I don't have to use cloud services or a smart phone, but I'm getting poorer because of that.

What about the energy it takes? How demanding are such devices in terms of energy? Is it a "guzzler" of energy, so even if I have a smart home, I have to expect that my costs will go up?

We've just been doing research on this and we're really talking about a few cents because the devices, as I mentioned, by being put to sleep, they wake up, announce and then go back to sleep. When the refrigerator works, it would also work if it were non-smart like if it is smart and the smart function does not consume extra energy.

If I have a lot of smart devices at home, can it harm me in any way? They say that radiation is harmful.

These devices, such as a mobile phone and the like, which are connected all the time, there is definitely some small radiation there.But there is no need to worry about that. In any case, unless the communication is taking place right then, it is really minimized.

The point of the IoT device and the sensors we have at home is that the sensors are asleep and do not communicate. Only when they record some data that they need to communicate or are prompted to do so do they wake up, send the information and go back to sleep.

What are the disadvantages of smart devices?

It has several disadvantages, there is always a limit. That device fulfilled only what it was intended for. We often expect it to do something extra and then we are disappointed, but it's about the fact that we basically chose the right device, the right variant.

It also happens that we don't use the device correctly, we don't know how to set it up correctly, or we mess something up.

Smart devices not only improve our lives, but they can actually save lives. How?

They are mainly GPS trackers used by skiers, for example we also use them. We ourselves have a product where we help save seniors who live independently in this way. It happens that the family moves away, a spouse dies and the senior lives alone.

We often do not know about him, what can happen to him. And it is precisely these rescuers and families that we can help. Instead of finding a senior lying limp after a few days, it helps to see as soon as possible what could happen to him.

Today's sensors can detect possible problems, report them, and we can solve problems as soon as possible, really through the reaction time. In the same way, when someone is overwhelmed by wine, we know about him, we know where he is approximately, so help can come much sooner.

To these seniors, that's a great service, tell us a little more.

There are two levels, the basic one, where a person wears a bracelet and a watch, a button, anything, with which he can call for help or press a button on the wall. Alternatively, it has some basic sensors to report that it's out of order somewhere and the like.

Then there is the smart site that we use. We have sensors in the home, we have motion sensors in the rooms, we have door sensors, we have our own buttons, and the point here is that the senior can feel safe, because we evaluate what is happening to him right now, what his lifestyle is, how on the contrary, his daily routine changes. Senior is a passive user, they don't have to do anything.

We monitor deviations from standard behavior and bring them to the attention of the responsible/supervisor. For example, we see that he does not often go to the kitchen, ie. he does not have a regular diet. We see that he did not go for a walk for two days, he was not in church on Sunday and he goes there every Sunday, we see that the walks are getting shorter, he is walking less. We notify the responsible person and this is an incentive for them to call the senior and find out if everything is okay.

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