Can WordPress team up with the Internet of Things (IoT) to make one of the arguably best blogging platforms even better? While WordPress has proven its immense value over the years as a robust platform, the Internet of Things is now beginning to emerge as the next big thing to transform the world beyond recognition.
All things considered, there are plenty of reasons to envision the feasibility of forging a relationship between WordPress and the Internet of Things. While it may not be blindingly obvious exactly how the two will play well together since the link between the two is currently only speculative, it should be possible to integrate the two complex systems once we have a firmer understanding of IoT data analytics, engineering, and apply a dash of ingenuity, something IoT companies like Fathym helps facilitate.
While there is no need to introduce WordPress since it is so well-known and there are tutorials on how to use it like a pro, we should spend a little time getting more familiar with the IoT before speculating how the two systems could work synergistically.
Internet of Things: Understanding the Big Picture:
Although you may have heard about the Internet of Things, you may only have a vague idea about it.
Currently, the Internet consists of human beings all over the world communicating with each other on their respective devices. By 2020, these devices are expected to be capable of communicating with each other. We are not just talking about some devices talking to each other; we are talking about a vast network of connections between ALL devices. Your household devices, for example, will be talking to each other to figure out each other’s temperature, volume of supplies, timing, and so on.
This connectivity will be based on devices having their own operating systems or sensors. Familiar technology like RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi, along with emerging technologies like ZigBee and AllJoyn, will all be reviewed to see if they can be used to enhance connectivity. Equipped with a high level of circuitry, dumb objects will be transformed into smart objects. While they won’t exactly behave as intelligently as biological systems, at times you may begin to wonder if your fridge is beginning to show signs of self-awareness or is having an affair with the toaster.
In the near future, you will begin to take a lot of stunning innovation for granted. You may, for instance, be using your smartphone while you’re sitting in the backseat of your self-driving car to do things like turn the coffee machine at home off and tweak the thermostat before you get to your office.
Finally, when it comes to the IoT, we’re tossing around some huge numbers. We’re talking about billions of connected devices in a trillion dollar industry. Current projections are that 50 billion devices will be able to talk to each other in an industry valued at about $19 trillion. Naturally, all the big players in the technology sector will be cooperating and competing for a slice of the IoT pie.
How Can IoT Relate With WordPress?
One possible plug-in that might prove useful in connecting WordPress and IoT will be the REST API. Here is a definition from the WordPress.org help files for plugins: “The WordPress REST API exposes a simple yet easy interface to WP Query, the posts API, post meta API, users API, revisions API and many more. Chances are, if you can do it with WordPress, the API will let you do it. The REST API also includes an easy-to-use JavaScript API based on Backbone models, allowing plugin and theme developers to get up and running without needing to know anything about the details of getting connected. This type of versatile plug-in will make it possible to integrate IoT and WordPress because the API will facilitate communication between WordPress and a device by providing a route for external devices. We’re talking about the availability of data-in and data-out pathways.”
So what kind of devices would you want to integrate with WordPress? One example is to integrate WordPress with recipes you’ve created using the IFTT (If This Then That) platform to link WordPress with a chosen device. Perhaps you would like to link WordPress to your wearable Fitbit device so that you could aggregate data points that will be used in a blog post on why you should walk 10,000 steps a day for a healthy heart.
