A thing, in the Internet of Things, can be a person with a heart
monitor implant, a farm animal with a biochip transponder, an
automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tire
pressure is low -- or any other natural or man-made object that
can be assigned an IP address and provided with the ability to
transfer data over a network. So far, the Internet of Things has
been most closely associated with machine-to-machine (M2M)
communication in manufacturing and power, oil and gas utilities.
Products built with M2M communication capabilities are often
referred to as being smart. (See: smart label, smart meter, smart
grid sensor)