CR Magazine - Autumn 2016

The Internet
of Things
& What it Means for Real Estate
CRT Lab’s Chad Curry talks about how
technology is shaping real estate.
When we talk about upgrades to homes, we typically think of
the world of physical additions: a remodeled kitchen or new
countertops, things you can shape and build into the home to add
value and make it more marketable. Today, though, we are starting
to see upgrades that come in smaller, but more powerful packages.
Thermostats, video cameras, doorbells, and lighting systems, to
name a few, are amenities that can add value to the home and help
improve the homeowner’s quality of life. This is made possible
because of something called the Internet of Things.
What is the Internet of Things?
The term “Internet of Things,” or IoT, was coined in 1999 to describe
everyday objects that are connected to the internet for the purposes
of monitoring and controlling them and gathering data on their usage.
By the year 2020, it’s estimated that there will be between 26 and 50
billion IoT devices connected. To provide some perspective, there
are nearly 4 billion smartphones connected today. So, we’re looking
at six to sixty times the current number of devices connected to
the web, made possible by commoditized and smaller hardware.
IoT encompasses classes of devices like wearables (think Apple
Watch or Fitbit), as well as smart home and smart city sensors. IoT
promises a better understanding of how we live, and the ability to
control our lives around us with ease and adjust our habits based
on this feedback.
Cities all over the world are working on programs that allow us to
have a better understanding of our city and how it’s performing
in real time. In Chicago, a program called the Array of Things
will allow the city and its citizens to understand the air quality,
temperature and humidity, noise level and many other metrics
on a street by street basis, through open data. This data will be
extremely valuable in both residential and commercial settings
ad i t at t i t d t id a at tat
improves our understanding of how we live.
Keep an Eye On: The Array of Things
Imagine if a light pole told you to watch out for an icy patch of sidewalk, or an app mapped out the best route
home based on air quality. It’s not out of the realm of possibility, thanks to the Array of Things. The Array
i A i a itit t it a attd ivi t ta tat t data at
Chicago’s health and activity. Through AoT, researchers, policymakers, developers and residents can work
tt ad ta i dataad ati t a ia a ati ffiit ad iva it
Data collected will be open, free and available to the public, allowing anyone access to create apps and
projects of their own. Find out more at arrayofthings.github.io
12 Chicago REALTOR ® Magazine