Internet of Things

“Our expectations for the IoT,” that is, as shown by the term “Internet of Things,” to collect and analyze data from all manner of things to visualize and reveal matters that have been hidden from human eyes until now, bringing new insights, improving and elevating things to provide higher levels of services. We also see the use of AI as an unavoidable technology for handling more data efficiently and accurately.

Humans feel a sense of happiness when they gain human relationships, work, and living environment that are well suited to their personal characteristics societally, and that is said to raise their performance. In recent years, research has addressed the relationship between the numerical values of human happiness levels and corporate productivity. Buildings may be designed with happiness level as a KPI (Key Performance Indicator), and building services will be controlled accordingly in near future. IoT can gather these happiness levels, and AI can be used for optimization and accuracy improvement. Various proving experiments are now just getting under way, but it would hopefully become possible to realize architectural spaces and urban spaces which can achieve “human-centered environments for high happiness levels,” which are called Society5.0, and which can “maximize human performance.”

It would be necessary to build a data platform which can unify the data of separate systems (air conditioning, lighting, security, etc.). For example, that could be a system in which the data of air conditioning, lighting, elevators, and security are shared through smartphone communications, and can be controlled and operated through a web page or application. The data obtained in that way can be used in various situations, to enhance convenience and comfort for workers, raise the efficiency of workplaces, save energy in building services systems, and for other purposes. The data gains value when it is accumulated and analyzed. Also, combining data of different types can create new services. Security is now examined how to ensure safety in saving and sharing data using the Cloud, and to build data gathering rules, towards storing and sharing data on multiple buildings in the Cloud.

“Knowing where people are” is extremely important in developing and delivering various services within buildings. The system, called a “location system,” tracks positions on the basis of smartphone IDs in place of individual people, and controls the building services to address the sensed positions. We are now studying and validating the types of antennae and terminals for detecting position information, positioning methods, costs, privacy, network security, and various other issues. In exterior spaces, GPS and the Internet are already making living environments far more convenient, and it is certain to become the standard for interior spaces, too, in the future. It is also expected that the technology will advance to coordinate 3D model data and map coordinates (urban coordinates).

These ideas originated with "ID200", an activity where about our 200 engineers from the Building Services Design Division propose suggestions each year.