Tag Archives: Internet of things

Are Biometrics Related To The Internet Of Things?

With the Internet of Things or IoT, users and developers can easily augment its functionality, since the IoT is designed to be extensible. Therefore, it is not a far-fetched expectation that the IoT is going to be all over the place and users will get all types of data from it. According to a recent study by the Biometrics Research Group, biometric sensors are being projected as the next big step in providing the necessary security for accessing that data. That is good news for the biometrics industry – by the year 2018, IoT users alone will need nearly 500 million biometric sensors.

As against the normal practice of identification via a username and a password (which can easily be stolen), a biometric sensor identifies a person using unique physiological or behavioral traits, such as his or her fingerprints or his voice. Not only does this save time, the identification method is inherently more secure, making it more valuable. There is nothing like a password or a key to be misplaced, lost or forgotten. The best example of a biometric sensor in use is on Apple devices, with their Touch ID sensor for unlocking the device. In general, such sensors are typically used in security applications and in high-end access controls.

However, the consumer world is slowly making increasing use of biometric sensors, especially after the Fast Identity Online Alliance lent their support for these devices. The Alliance is a conglomeration of some of the biggest names in the technical and financial industry, and their aim is to create a roadmap for using different types of biometric sensors, policies and systems. Most of the use will be similar to the traditional systems, but the sensors will be linked to the Internet.

The Alliance is promoting the use of biometric sensors because of the real security benefits that consumers will get when they use them; the foremost benefit being the inability of losing your access capability. Although you could lose your key, forget your password or misplace your codes, there is only a very slim chance that you will lose your biometric access capability. And, the method is fast and convenient; you will never be locked out of your home or office.

The biometrics method of identification is also more secure than other methods. Even though attackers could cut off the thumb to use its fingerprint, it may not be of much use to them as biometrics can differentiate between living tissue and dead ones. In the same way, it is impossible to completely duplicate the retina pattern of the user’s eye or mimic the voice to fool the biometrics sensor.

With the IoT focus being strong on biometric sensors, the quality and reliability of the sensors is steadily improving. As consumers become increasingly more educated, affiliated technologies are becoming more popular, and that includes wearable devices with biometric sensors. As the popularity grows, so does the response speed of these biometric sensors. Coupled with falling prices, expect the use of biometrics sensors to go up in more and more devices.

How Are Brilliant Machines Created?

The IoT or the Internet of Things has one more feather in its cap. It has now conquered the industrial machine. With GE spearheading the initiative, the new type of industrial machines is aptly named Brilliant Machines.

Although GE is pouring nearly $1.5 billion into the amalgamation of industrial internet and big data, their plan is rather simple. The industrial internet is actually the business version of the Internet of Things. Instead of people being interconnected, here machines talk to each other. GE plans to mix that connectivity with analytics and software so that the entire arrangement becomes very efficient.

GE has started their foray with a battery factory. Covering a work area of nearly 180,000 square feet, the factory is packed with more than 10,000 sensors. Whatever happens within the factory, the sensors keep a track. This includes, for instance, the type of powders that are used to create the ceramics for use in the batteries and the temperatures of the ovens baking these ceramics. They also monitor the air pressure, the time each battery spends inside a particular oven or in a part of the manufacturing line. With smartphones connected via Wi-Fi, employees are able to keep track of all what is going on.

How does all this help GE? Gathering all this data, GE was surprised to find the cause of failure of some of the parts within a battery. The parts failed when they were left in the oven for longer time. Armed with this revelation, GE is able to cut wastage by monitoring how long specific parts stay in the oven.

GE makes investments in several areas. They make gas and steam turbines where over 52 million man-hours per year translate into $7 billion worth of labor cost and all this goes to service over 55,000 turbines. GE manufactures commercial jet aircrafts that take up 205 million man-hours every year. In the world there are over 120,000 diesel electric rail engines made by GE alone that require over 50 million man-hours for annual maintenance – roughly equal to $3 billion in labor cost.

By incorporating sensors within these machines and monitoring them, GE intends to lessen the time and cost of maintaining the various machines they use for power, healthcare, aviation and rail industries. Engineers collect the machine data on their smartphones, run it through visualization software and analytics, making it easier to interpret. The best part is that no engineer has to be near a machine or even onsite to monitor the machines. They can be anywhere on the globe and yet be able to relay accurate instructions to those on the site. The amount of time and costs reduced with the wealth of information available and its analysis is really helping GE.

Brilliant Machines help GE in asset optimization and problem solving, data collection and insights, generating situational awareness and improved collaboration. For instance, for the year 2013, GE earned segmented profits such as $1.2 billion for transportation, $3.0 billion for healthcare, $4.3 billion for aviation, $2.2 billion for oil and gas, and nearly $5 billion for power and water – that is, a total profit of $15.7 billion.

Managing wearable smart devices

Unless you are confined to an ICU without a choice, no one likes to have a bunch of wires and cables trailing from their body to a machine. What people rather prefer is a user-friendly aiding system capable of remotely monitoring the health. Whether you are in a gymnasium or in an outdoor environment, practicing some sport or doing single exercises, remote monitoring of health parameters is a safe and efficient routine to practice. This is also true for monitoring the health of the elderly and people suffering from chronic diseases. IoT or the Internet of Things is able to bring effective solutions in this regard to improve a person’s level of fitness and health.

Wireless sensor networks or WSNs are very effective for building the IoT paradigm. This is the leading technology to acquire and manage data. For improving the user experience in the IoT, it should also be possible to connect to a WSN some other smart elements such as tablets, watches and smartphones. In fact, these could trigger the use of technology in this field. With smart devices now coming in wearable forms, it is easy to break down the first barrier for the technology-access – allowing the user simply to start wearing the technology as a daily-life garment.

Any WSN node has a differential value. Independent of the network management, data may be sensed with any external sensor connected to the WSN. For example, appropriate external sensors connected to the node can send feedback about the breathing rate, heart rate, blood pressure, etc., should the application require biometric or human physiological parameters.

Bluetooth, a wireless communication protocol, could be considered as an easy and fast solution. However, that scenario presents a new challenge, as there is no standardization in these types of sensors despite different type of devices or platforms being in existence. Therefore, it may be desirable to abstract the protocols and hardware features from high-level layers – an intermediate level of middleware can do this easily.

For integrating several wearable devices in the Internet of Things, a dual-protocol WSN/Bluetooth node is of immense help. In reality, two of these nodes are used. One connects to the wearable health-data monitoring device, while the other connects to the smartphone or the smartwatch. In this way, all data between the wearable device and the WSN node is managed in the same way as is done with information from other WSN nodes. As long as a new wearable device is Bluetooth compliant, its services can be discovered and used as well.

To model the services provided by the WSN, one can develop ontology, which again can be included within the service-oriented semantic middleware. This will enable the user to compose new services based on the existing single services. These semantically annotated services will be able to widen the platform for future applications.

It is also possible to integrate the enterprise service bus or ESB within WSN for IoT-based applications. That enables third party applications to be used for services of wearable devices to be made available with the ESB and published by the WSN nodes. These may include body temperature and heart rate monitors.