即將被物聯(lián)網(wǎng)顛覆的三個(gè)行業(yè)

The IoT is a term developed to describe a wirelessnetwork of “things” containing embeddedtechnology that communicate without humaninteraction. For example, a “thing” can be a wirelessblood pressure monitor, a sensor on an assemblyline or an RFID tag on a piece of clothing in a store.

物聯(lián)網(wǎng)這個(gè)術(shù)語描述的是“事物”之間的無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)，這些事物都采用嵌入式技術(shù)，無需人為介入就可彼此通訊。這個(gè)“事物”可以是無線血壓監(jiān)測儀、傳感器、生產(chǎn)流水線，或是商店里衣服上的射頻識別標(biāo)簽。

According to Gartner, there will be nearly 26 billion wireless devices connected to the Internet by2020. Considering that in 2009 that number was less than 1 billion devices, it seems clear thatthe Internet is experiencing explosive growth of connected “things.”

據(jù)高德納研究公司(Gartner)預(yù)計(jì)，到2020年，全球?qū)⒂薪?60億臺無線設(shè)備聯(lián)網(wǎng)?？紤]到這個(gè)數(shù)字在2009年還不足10億，物聯(lián)網(wǎng)顯然正在經(jīng)歷爆炸式增長。

So far, IoT technology has been mostly adopted by the manufacturing industry using machine-to-machine (M2M) communication. However, with rapid innovation of IoT technology, moreand more industries are taking advantage of this new way of life.

迄今為止，物聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)主要是由制造業(yè)在機(jī)器對機(jī)器(M2M)通信上所采用。然而，隨著該項(xiàng)技術(shù)快速革新，越來越多的行業(yè)開始利用這種新的生活方式。

Here are three such examples of how businesses are becoming “smarter” by adopting IoT. Eachpresents new market opportunities for entrepreneurs innovating with technology to improveservices, connections and communication:

以下是通過物聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)讓行業(yè)變得“更智能”的三個(gè)例子。每個(gè)例子都向創(chuàng)業(yè)者展現(xiàn)了通過技術(shù)創(chuàng)新來改善服務(wù)、增強(qiáng)聯(lián)系、促進(jìn)交流的全新市場機(jī)遇。

1. Healthcare

1、醫(yī)療保健業(yè)

With the potential to improve the health, safety and care of billions of people, healthcare is oneof the most promising industries for IoT. With wi-fi-enabled medical tools and devices,hospitals are able to collect, record and analyze data faster and more accurately. This helpsmedical staff perform diagnosis and treatment and undoubtedly improve standards of care.

鑒于醫(yī)療保健水平的提高有助于改善數(shù)十億人的健康、安全和醫(yī)護(hù)問題，這是物聯(lián)網(wǎng)前景最廣闊的行業(yè)之一。在聯(lián)網(wǎng)醫(yī)療工具和設(shè)備的幫助下，醫(yī)院能夠更快、更準(zhǔn)確地收集、記錄和分析數(shù)據(jù)。這有助于醫(yī)護(hù)人員進(jìn)行診斷和治療，護(hù)理水平也必然會大大改善。

Health monitoring and wearable devices for patients are becoming extremely popular, asthey’re able to transmit a patient’s real-time, vital-sign data from their home to medical staff.Such Wi-Fi powered devices include “things” such as glucometers, scales, heart rate andultrasound monitors.

供病人使用的健康監(jiān)測和可穿戴設(shè)備變得十分流行，它們能夠把病人的生命體征數(shù)據(jù)從家里實(shí)時(shí)發(fā)給醫(yī)護(hù)人員。這類聯(lián)網(wǎng)設(shè)備包括血糖儀、體重秤、心率和超聲波監(jiān)測器。

Furthermore, wearable devices are gaining attention among the elderly and those with chronicillness. With the push of a button, a person is able to alert the medical staff of an emergencysituation.

此外，老年人和慢性病患者也越來越關(guān)注可穿戴設(shè)備。在緊急情況下，他們只需要按下按鈕，就能及時(shí)通知醫(yī)護(hù)人員。

Additionally, fitness bands such as the Nike NKE 2.73% Fuelband or Fitbit measure whole-body movement throughout the day — transmitting the data wirelessly to the user’scomputer, tablet or smartphone. This trend also has the potential to impact the way healthinsurance companies operate.

此外，如耐克(Nike)的Fuelband或Fitbit等健康腕帶可以全天測量全身的活動狀況，并通過無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)將數(shù)據(jù)傳到用戶的計(jì)算機(jī)、平板電腦或智能手機(jī)上。這一趨勢還有可能改變健康保險(xiǎn)公司的運(yùn)作方式。

Machinery and manufacturing was one of the first industries to take advantage of IoTtechnology. Currently, billions of wireless devices and sensors are network linked in factoriesaround the world. Industrial networks make day-to-day operations “smarter” in many ways. Toexecute a “smart” manufacturing system, businesses integrate IoT sensor-based technologyinto their processes and systems.

機(jī)械和制造業(yè)是首批利用物聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)的行業(yè)之一。如今，全球的工廠中有數(shù)十億臺無線設(shè)備和感應(yīng)器已經(jīng)聯(lián)網(wǎng)。工業(yè)網(wǎng)絡(luò)在許多方面讓日常運(yùn)營更加“智能化”。為了打造“智能”的生產(chǎn)系統(tǒng)，許多公司在生產(chǎn)流程和系統(tǒng)中采用了基于感應(yīng)器的物聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)。

After installing IoT technologies, King’s Hawaiian was able to produce an additional 180,000pounds of bread every day, doubling its previous output. The company installed 11 connectedmachines into a new factory that gave the employees the ability to access both historical andreal-time data to monitor performance. The system is connected to the Internet, so it can becontrolled and managed from a remote operations center.

在采用物聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)后，面包公司King’s Hawaiian每天能多生產(chǎn)出18萬磅面包，是之前產(chǎn)量的兩倍。該公司在新工廠中安裝了11臺聯(lián)網(wǎng)機(jī)器，使得員工可以根據(jù)歷史數(shù)據(jù)和實(shí)時(shí)數(shù)據(jù)，監(jiān)控生產(chǎn)狀況。該系統(tǒng)與互聯(lián)網(wǎng)相連，這樣就可以在遠(yuǎn)程營運(yùn)中心對其進(jìn)行控制和管理。

IoT has the potential to make manufacturing faster, more efficient and more profitable.

物聯(lián)網(wǎng)有提高生產(chǎn)速度和生產(chǎn)效率、擴(kuò)大利潤的潛力。

The convenience of online shopping provides a huge advantage over brick-and-mortarstores. As such, ecommerce giants such as Amazon AMZN -0.38% have been growing at aphenomenal rate. With advancements in IoT technology, in-store retailers now have anopportunity to level the playing field by tracking inventory and consumers in real time.

比起實(shí)體商店，網(wǎng)店購物的便捷是個(gè)巨大的優(yōu)勢。正因如此，亞馬遜(Amazon)等電子商務(wù)巨頭正在以驚人的速度不斷增長。而隨著物聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)的發(fā)展，實(shí)體零售商如今有機(jī)會以實(shí)時(shí)跟蹤存貨和顧客的特性在競爭中扳回劣勢。

Mobile IoT technology has breathed new life into brick-and-mortar stores by giving them thetools to create a more personalized shopping experience. Today, these stores are able tocollect a consumer’s location, demographic info and shopping history for an enhancedshopping experience. With real-time data, sales associates can make personalizedrecommendations and/or offers on the fly to increase the chances of making a sale.

通過移動物聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)，實(shí)體零售商得以營造更加個(gè)性化的購物體驗(yàn)，這讓他們重獲新生。如今，這些商店能夠收集顧客的地址、人口信息和購買記錄，進(jìn)而改善購物體驗(yàn)。在實(shí)時(shí)數(shù)據(jù)的幫助下，銷售助理可以在忙碌中為顧客提出個(gè)性化的推薦和提議，增加銷售的成功率。

Furthermore, retailers are adopting the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags toidentify individual items in a store. RFID tags work similarly to barcodes, but they can be usedwirelessly. With tags, brick and mortars are able to efficiently track inventory andcontinuously update merchandise information. Sales associates are also able to give adviceand make suggestions in the moment, giving them a competitive edge over their onlinecounterparts.

此外，零售商開始用射頻識別標(biāo)簽來識別店內(nèi)的商品。射頻識別標(biāo)簽與條形碼的原理類似，但它們可用于無線環(huán)境中。使用這種標(biāo)簽，實(shí)體店就能有效地追蹤庫存，并持續(xù)更新商品信息。銷售助理也能夠立刻給出建議，這讓實(shí)體店在與網(wǎng)店的競爭中擁有了優(yōu)勢。

The future of IoT

物聯(lián)網(wǎng)的未來

With billions of devices coming on board the Internet of Things, Gartner estimates that IoTproduct and service suppliers will generate incremental revenue exceeding $300 billion, mostlyin services. There’s no shortage of predictions on how the market will evolve, but it’s clear inthe years ahead, IoT will revolutionize our entire global ecosystem.

高德納估計(jì)，隨著數(shù)十億設(shè)備加入物聯(lián)網(wǎng)，物聯(lián)網(wǎng)產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)供應(yīng)商將會產(chǎn)生超過3,000億美元的增量收入，其中大部分在服務(wù)領(lǐng)域。關(guān)于物聯(lián)網(wǎng)市場將如何發(fā)展的預(yù)測有很多，但確定無疑的是，在未來幾年中，物聯(lián)網(wǎng)會我們的全球生態(tài)系統(tǒng)帶來革命性的變化。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))