Future of IoT Technology Trends – Seeped in Pop Culture

What was a dream of Nikola Tesla and Alan Turing has become a reality! Way back in the early 1800s and early 1900s when computing in itself was a distant dream, they envisioned an invisible connection between devices. It was logical really, after all, man is a social animal. We have eventually evolved on to communicating with devices around us. This technology now known as IoT (Internet of Things) was then considered as the unexplained and the unexplored. While the fascination of communicating with new species and objects existed and attracted the attention of many, it was only in the 1950 with the advent of TV that things got interesting.

There were 2 shows airing in the 50s-60s in the US and the UK, which are credited to open doors to new age technology that hadn’t even been invented then. They explored beyond the ordinary and forever immortalized themselves as cult classics.

‘The Twilight Zone’: Aired between 1950 -1960s in every living room in the USA, and became a cult classic. To this day, anything that happens out of the ordinary is referred to as the Twilight Zone. The show explored perceptions, perspectives and point of views that were peculiar to say the least. It focused on the supernatural, the unnatural and often brushed on new dimensions in space and time.

‘Doctor WHO’: What can be said about Doctor Who that hasn’t been said already? One of the greatest success stories ever created by BBC way back in 1963. The adventures of a nameless timelord from Gillifrey fascinated an entire generation of WHOVIANS (fans of the show address themselves with this moniker) With a million viewers across the UK, rich off the bat since its initial airing, the TARDIS has explored new dimensions and technologies that had been hitherto unknown. Including IoT technology trends which were implemented in to the TADIS that had not even been invented then!

Future of IoT: Rests in The Past

Pop Culture is a phenomenon that chronicles the times gone by and keeps a tally on the trends which impacted culture the most. Currently, it is the era of the MEME and shall continue to be forefront for a couple more years. IoT on the other hand has its roots seeped in pop cultural legendary movies and TV shows. In this blog, we shall be taking a walk down memory lane by understanding how this future tech has been imagined and adapted in the past.

1. Small Wonder - VICI-

This show made robots and the prejudice against machine automation being implemented in factories at that time to the forefront. The show started out with an ordinary suburban house with a patriarch who happens to be a robotics engineer. He creates VICI (Voice Input Child Identical) an android based robot. He passes this child sized robot as an orphaned family member who they later adopt. It showcased future techs such as robotics and IoT a household thing. VICI was created to help handicapped children in the society. But it also depicted key IoT future techs such as machine learning, data mining and the ability to communicate with electronic household devices (she could turn the bulb on and off with a blink of the eye!!)

2. Terminator – T-800-

This movie cemented Arnold Schwarzenegger’s stardom in Hollywood as an action film icon. Often mocked due to his accent and lack of emotions, Arnold was stuck in the role of a macho He-Man. This role as the Terminator, was tailormade for him. With a nemesis that is not seen or heard but ever-present, ’Skynet’ was the perfect antagonist for this movie. The CPU of the T-800 unit could be programmed with multiple database files, advanced infiltration, basic soldier training, sniper training, and real time analysis of the environment. This model was very simplistic, yet with an abstruse design which was definitively depictive of IoT. Sensing and analysis was a key aspect which could be seen clearly during the events of the film as it rolled.

3. Star Trek- The Starfleet Tricorder-

So, all those Trekkies hiding under the hood, the major Sci-Fi series, Star Trek- The Originals, Tricorder was a multifunction device (TRI Function ReCorder) which incorporated a segmented design. As about device’s primary functions – sensing, computing and recording. The device had clearly depicted the notations of IoT in its mechanism. Yeomen, serving in to the Starfleet starships, often used such Tricorders to gather and assess information for the Captain.

4. 2001: A Space Odyssey- HAL 9000-

Ever imagined to be a part of The Discovery One? HAL 9000 was the main antagonist of the Arthur C Clarke’s Space Odyssey series. HAL was a sentient computer that controlled the mechanisms of The Discovery One spacecraft. Though, AI and IoT were amalgamated in this very own saga (1968) way before either of them were ever introduced in this world.

Have you ever imagined a computer killing a human? This very machine killed the astronauts of the spaceship in order to protect and follow its directive protocols, as it felt the prospect of detachment.

Not a Conclusion: Just the Beginning

Yet, people emphasize on the fact that,” Without a heart, it’s just a machine.” After all, Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing in ‘The Imitation Game’ is the most famous for saying,” Machines can never think as humans do but just because something thinks differently from you, does it mean it's not thinking?”

There have been innumerable events since the past that clearly tell us that evolution of mankind is hinging on the enhancement of the technology. Pop Culture, all around the world hitherto, has represented scads of Cosmic-con, Sci-Fi societies, music, fads etc. Yet, without technology, there couldn’t have been much development in the field.

The statement: “The Future of IoT, rests in the Past” clearly states it. There has been a rudimentary effect on the base of today’s world. Internet of Things is a vitally important element of this cosmopolitan culture all around the world, sundered by borders and united by this culture, brought out by the technology.