Ah the Internet of Things, the technology growing in both interest and demand. Who doesn’t want a garage that knows you’re coming and opens automatically when you pull up? You’re used to your dog leaping at your homecoming, but your garage? Cool. The smart garage is a common Internet of Things (IoT) example, but the excitement around this technology reaches well beyond enhancing residential conveniences. Entire industries are turning their mighty heads, percolating with ideas around the possibilities IoT could make into realities. The healthcare industry specifically is one with vast room for improvement, and it’s exciting to see the changes that are now happening. Smart Hospital Beds Remote controlled hospital beds have been contouring comfort for years, but these hospital beds go well beyond making Seinfeld reruns easier to watch. Smart beds have the ability to monitor a patient’s vital signs like heart rate and breathing rate, which can trigger an alert to hospital staff if something’s not right. These smart beds can also be triggered to adjust the patient’s position. For example, if a sleeping patient’s blood pressure drops, a monitor can communicate this to the bed, which in response adjusts up or down until the patient stabilizes. Professor and Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of New Hampshire, John LaCourse, has invented programs that can permit fast, automatic responses from the beds that can be especially valuable while a patient sleeps and isn’t directly monitored. "Procedures such as retinal surgery require exact blood pressure levels as part of the healing process," LaCourse explained. "A smart hospital bed would periodically adjust itself to maintain these levels for patients." Patient Monitoring Hospital stays are pricey for everyone involved; the healthcare facility, insurance agency, and the patient who would prefer spending time being well. With the average daily cost of an inpatient totalling over $1,800 per day, there is motivation to get the patient out of bed. With remote monitoring technologies, patients are given greater flexibility to stay in their homes while still under the close monitor of healthcare professionals. BodyGuardian Sensor products provide remote monitoring systems with these capabilities, giving medical staff the flexibility to move patients into their homes. Location Tracking Monitoring patients is one way the Internet of Things is becoming critically helpful in healthcare. Meanwhile, streamlining communications between hospitals and hospital staff is another. Location tracking deployed inside buildings can be widely used for real-time triage, mapping the most qualified doctor in the nearest location at the time of emergency. This not only maximizes efficiency and optimizes resources, but ensures the the most critical cases receive the immediate attention they need by the most qualified doctor in the area. An especially attractive feature is that IoT in healthcare may offer ways for hospitals to lower operating costs in order to remain competitive. Furthermore, the Internet of Things can improve a patient's journey through a medical event with increasing options in procedures and monitoring techniques. As IoT increases in ubiquity, Internet of Things healthcare apps can increase their efficiency and availability. In no industry do seconds matter as much as in medicine, and IoT healthcare apps are the next generation of technology poised to save lives.

Programmable thermostats, domestic robots, and Wi-Fi connected appliances are no longer a dream, they’re quickly becoming the norm. Take a look at the trending smart home devices and the percentage of people interested in purchasing them (based on a survey conducted by The Harris Poll®). Share This Infographic On Your Site <p><strong>Please include attribution to https://dev-barefoot.pantheonsite.io/ with this graphic.</strong></p><br /> <p><a href='https://dev-barefoot.pantheonsite.io/blog/desirable-devices-smart-home-infographic/ '><img src='https://dev-barefoot.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/1611_ig_barefoot-solutions_smart-home-devices_v4final.jpg' alt='Desirable Devices for the Smart Home [Infographic]' width='' border='0' /></a></p><br /> <p>

We were listening to the radio the other day, and over the airwaves came a bank advertisement. Beside the usual pronouncement of low interest rates and free consultations, the bank touted a seemingly unusual feature. With excitement and clear enthusiasm that this offer would surely draw in new customers, the voice over announced, “Now with real, live, human tellers!” It was at this moment we burst out laughing at the absurdity our real, live, human ears just heard. Do we really live in a world where human interaction in bank transactions are so rare, that they are worthy of advertisement? Suppose so. Yet it got us thinking from that small nugget of humor - we really do live in the future. Sure we don’t have a civilization on Mars or flying cars yet, but the dreams of storytellers in the past are undoubtedly coming true. Surely it is just a matter of time before we have robot maids and flying cars, living life like the Jetson’s and enjoying our meals encapsulated in small little pills. Technology has taken many steps closer to making these dreams come true. Let’s take a look at the fictitious gadgets our heros of the past had, and today are our reality. Dick Tracy’s Watch | Apple Watch Every kid wanted the Dick Tracy “2-way wrist radio.” And who wouldn’t...making a call from your watch was just as silly as making a call from your car. An idea ahead of its time, the watch was first introduced in 1946, and was even rejected by the first publishers Dick Tracy creator Chester Gould pitched the idea to. His employer, The Chicago Tribune, turned down the watch as a cheat. Fortunately other papers gave it a chance, wowing decades of kids through adventures helping Tracy solve crimes and get out of jams. The concept was exciting and extraordinary, seeming unbelievable to viewers following the famous spy. Apple CEO Tim Cook thought the same thing. At the unveiling of the Apple Watch, he harkened back to his youth. “I have been wanting to do this since I was 5 years old,” Cook enthusiastically said. “The day is finally here.” Indeed it is, as the Apple Watch was released to the public in April 2015, making those with around $549 real life detective spies. The Jetson’s Alice the Robot Maid | Mahru-Z Judy and George Jetson made living in the future seem nearly unimaginable. This fun with fantasy cartoon series featured a happy family complete with kids, a family pet and even a bonus maid. Alice, the wise-cracking housekeeper, was not only efficient and a delight to talk to - she was a robot. Korean scientists may not have been inspired by the American cartoon, but they did get together to create Mahru-Z - a real robot maid able to fetch toast and coffee for its owner. While slow she might be, we are more excited for the snarky comments we can only hope are on deck in version 2.0. Star Trek Replicator | 3D Printers The sci-fi series was packed with unbelievable gadgets, most of which seemed too good to be true. One such device was the Replicator, introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation as a device that could create food or beverages out of thin air. In a giant leap forward catching up to the dreams of Star Trek writers, we now have the 3D printer. No, its creations don’t appear out of thin air, but 3D printers are currently able to create items ranging from spare body parts to jewelry to most importantly, the greatest creation known to humankind - pizza. Computerized Batarang | GPS Batman doesn’t get enough credit for the gadgets he and his comic strip creators have invented over the years. Many of our cars have similar features as the Batmobile, and a standard man cave now has just about as much technology as the Batcave. One invention that premiered in 1992’s Batman Returns was the Batarang. This handy device helped our beloved caped crusader locate enemies’ whereabouts via this location tracker. Today, this concept has taken steroids and is available to the everyday smart device user in a myriad of ways. From “checking in” on Facebook to Tinder locating daters in your local vicinity to actual location services that track people via the location trackers on most smartphones, we know where you are most of the time, evildoers. Those are just a few of the inventions we have always wanted, and barely scratches the surface of what is now available. What are some of the inventions that were dreamy fiction in the past, but are today’s reality? Let us know in the comments below.