Is your TV connected to the Internet? What about your chair, or your fridge? Probably they are not. But in the future, most things in your home may be connected, thanks to the so-called "Internet of things".
The Internet of things may be coming sooner than you think. Earlier this year, a Samsung CEO spent a lot of time talking about the Internet of things. He said that five years from now, every Samsung product will be part of the Interact of things, no matter whether it's a fridge or a washing machine."
So, how do household(家用的)objects that are part of the internet of things work? For example, an Internet-connected camera could help people feel safer in their homes. It can know people's faces and has an infrared sensor(红外传感器),so even if it's dark it can see when someone passes by and send you a message on your start phone to let you know who's there. If the person is someone you don't know, it can tell you that, too. Think of a common chair. When connected to the Internet, the chair warms up when it knows the user bas just walked into the room and is feeling cold.
But according to MIT Technology Review, whether companies are connecting dog food bowls or sofa to the Internet, there may be some problems. Because many early connected-home objects don't have built-in security systems, which means they could be hacked(被黑客攻击)easily. Moreover, it could be difficult to get these new machines to work together especially when they are made by different companies. To fight this, many companies, have joined the Open Interconnect Consortium, which had 45 members by late 2016.
So, picture this: you enter your home. The temperature changes to make you feel comfortable. Your favorite music starts playing for you. Do you think that this would be a good thing? It may happen sooner than you think.