M2M : Machine 2 Machine

So the results are out from the Remote heart Monitoring trail run by Guidant/Boston Scientific. First reported here.
The LATITUDE Patient Management system can detect clinical events between scheduled follow-up visits and then send the clinical event data directly to physicians. The system basically monitors key heart parameters and send it over to a central server for monitoring - this data can be viewed and acted upon by the Caregiver.

Key numbers
* 15,000 patients participated.
* Monitored Months - 106,000
* Duration - 7 Months
* Irregular Heart Beats Detected - 948 (sustained over 24 hours)
* 1,516 i.e 10% of the trial population had reactive treatment based on the data collected.

THe numbers are a lot better than I expected coming out of this trial. The possibilities are endless - the system will be a enormous cost saver if we ensure that the data collected is actionable, privacy and security concerns are accounted for.

The market for these types of system will expand as the population ages and grows older..

Read an article on the changes taking place in the Controls Industry. One of the key phrases that caught my eye was

Connectivity + Convergence + Confluence = Change

How does this work out in the M2M arena? Over the last few years as technology options increased there have been new M2M solutions cropping up.

Agriculture
* Low Power Wireless Sensors + Satellite Weather Data + Analytics = Need based Plant Watering / fertilizers/ pesticides Applications. You end up reducing wasteful water, pesticides and fertilizer applications - saving the environment and lowering your cost of growing food. Read More

Vineyard - Microclimate Monitoring
* Wireless Mesh Sensor + Historical micro climate Data + Analytics = Higher yield and Quality. As the vineyard matures, gather data, make adjustments, and receive alerts for the best possible yield and quality of the harvest. Read More

Demand Side Management
* Powerline Networks + Real time utility Rates + User call to Action = Lowering Peak Utility Loads. Ambient device shows color coded cost energy at that time of day. Red = Electricity is expensive shift usage to other times of the day. This allows the user to consciously make a decision on his power usage and reduce the load on the grid. Read More

The Minnesota Bridge collapse brings back to mind the question of why don’t we start using the available technology to monitor and extend the life of our aging bridges / assets. There are sensors and networks available that can monitor stress and load on buildings on a 24 / 7 basis. The real time data that is collected can be analyzed and monitored to detect variances and predict critical stress points and notify users of potential problems.

The challenge here is convincing the powers that be that this process if effective. As with any new technology / process there is a great deal of skepticism on how much of this is vapor ware versus reality. In my opinion there are not many companies that have the expertise to offer and end to end solution that solves this problem and therein lies the challenge. Users/ Customers are looking for experts who can walk in and provide an end to end solution that provides the value that is promised - as opposed to the piece meal approach of modules/ connectivity / analytics and applications.

One bridge saved / a few lives saved is all that is required to pay of the cost of getting this implemented.

Some companies that are making strides in structural monitoring
http://www.lifespantechnologies.com/

M2M can reveal information that was once hidden from us. Came across this study that proposes to monitor the various parameters on Earth and use that as a predictor of disease outbreaks.

Quote >>
Interconnectedness
At Sensors Expo last month, Gregory Withee, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), talked of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), a global endeavor to acquire data on the earth and its health. For instance, researchers at the Biotechnology Institute at the University of Maryland discovered that cholera outbreaks in Calcutta, India, were more prevalent when the sea surface temperature is elevated and the sea is high. For more detail on this topic, read “Global climate and health: predicting infectious disease outbreaks” from The Encyclopedia of Earth. In the clincher graph, notice how the number of cholera cases follows the elevation in sea surface temperature and height. This correlation provides an early warning system, allowing public health officials in India to ramp up preventive efforts before a cholera outbreak kicks in.

I consider Home Automation a consumer driven segment of M2M. Typically new technology gets introduced in the Enterprise and then trickels down into the Consumer segment - e.g the Personal Computer : A Machine for enabling business which is now part of nearly every household. Same applicaes to automation - Industrial automation has been around for some time (e.g Building Automation, Process Automation) and is now making its way into the consumer segment.

If Home owners are buying into remote control and automation services - can the Industry be far behind? Agreed these are early adopters  of the home automation / remote monitoring technology but as the technology becomes available to the mass market consumers the adoption rates are bound to go up.

How does it work? Installers connect your house’s electronic and digital devices to a command center, a hard drive that looks like a stereo receiver and can stream music, store movies and manipulate security cameras, among other functions. All can be activated by a remote control, wall keypad, off-site computer via the Web or cell phone. This hub of the home is the next major battle ground for major consumer electronics OEM’s - Sony, Microsoft, Dell and all the other Communication providers such as Comcast, Verizon, AT&T all want to be the heart and soul of your house - i.e provide you with the tools to manage all your systems in teh house - Audio, video, HVAC, Lights, Security. These providesrs are all approaching the same market from different angles. Remains to be seen who wins this race. 
Aside from the market battles taking place in the Home Automation segment - The Enterprise automation is where most of the big $$’s are going to get spent. The need for M2M in the enterprise is not a convenience feature but a necessity to drive forward innovation and better product (Quality & Service).

The question remains as to which company , which technology platform will drive the growth of the home automation segment…

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