The IdIoT in the smart home

Internet of Things (IoT) technology, as defined as a system in which everyday objects are digitally identifiable, programmable, and connected to the Internet, emerged in the nineties in the context of industrial applications. These connected objects are able to send (and often, but not always, receive) data, pair with other devices, and respond to the algorithms that command them. Based on developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), these algorithmic processes particularly draw on Big Data and Machine Learning. The term ‘Internet of Things’ was coined in 1999 by MIT researcher Kevin Ashton. According to Ashton, it was first used in the title of his presentation made at US consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble in 1999, where he described how wireless (RFID) tags could link products in P&G’s supply chain to the Internet.