The internet of things can seriously up your green thumb game
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a growing market and will have an ever-increasing presence in our everyday lives in the years to come. A Wall Street Journal article last year estimated that the IoT market could reach $1.7 trillion by 2020. IoT technology has moved beyond our indoor space and into our gardens recently with a number of products and services that are bringing connivence and peace of mind for the green thumbed population.
Some examples of IoT services focused on your outdoor living space include the Presence App which was created by a company called People Power. The app turns unused phone and tablets into a video surveillance system that monitors your home. With easy to install smart sensors the app give you the ability to monitor entry, motion, water, temperature, and humidity changes in your home and backyard without a monthly fee.
A more specific garden service called Eden is a smart system that is able to monitor and track environmental conditions in your garden to help your plants thrive. The system includes a wireless soil sensor that is able to provide tailored smart recommendations about the types of plants that are best suited for your garden.
Other IoT garden related products include Rainmachine, which offers a family of smart Wi-Fi sprinkler controllers and greenIQ which is a Smart Garden Hub that controls irrigation scheduling based on current weather forecasts.
PSFK spoke with Brian Hinderberger, Digital Content Strategist for People Power, a company focused on humanizing IoT, to ask about the emergence of IoT in the garden space. When asked why there seems to be a rise in the number of garden-focused IoT products Mr. Hinderberger responded saying that “people are discovering the incredible opportunities to apply Internet-connected products, security, and connectivity to their outdoor space.” He continued saying, “it’s understandable why people are thinking of creative ways to extend their IoT to garden space…it really holds the potential to improve our outdoor experiences and help us feel more connected to nature in a very digital time.”
When considering the macro implications of IoT garden services, Hinderberger said, “IoT service providers are in position to help industrial and commercial gardeners achieve, acquire and analyze data for better growing environments, better yields and more energy efficiency.”
Hinderberger said that physical sensors can quickly become cost prohibitive which is where he believes drones will come in. “Precision agriculture is arguably the ‘killer app’ for drones, allowing farms to efficiently distributed water, nutrients, and attention to targeted areas of a farm,” Hinderberger explained. Precision agriculture has incredible potential with a growing market and is expected to reach $4.8B by 2020 according to MarketsAndMarkets.com.
When asked about the future of IoT in the gardening space Hinderberger believed that there will be an emergence of community of people that share a passion for gardening that will connect via social networks. And that this might enable what Hinderberger called ‘Uber for Home Services.’ He further explained saying that this type of service would help individuals “find experts nearby to help deliver services that keep their home and garden running top notch…all from their smartphone.” Hinderberger closed saying that the “future of home gardening is connected, it’s personal and it’s ripe with opportunities.”