Business opportunities in the IoT space seem to be endless, as forecasters predict 50 billion devices and things to be connected by 2020. Despite the hype, Cisco says that today 99% of things in the physical world remain unconnected.

Dave Hrycyszyn, director of strategy and technology at Head, told CBR: "IoT is currently exploding. We are seeing very rapid growth, which means that people are stumbling forward into new areas at very high speed. The most important thing is the security standards need to be dead simple for people who are designing and building connected systems."

CBR list five IoT applications that are as peculiar as useful and could generate new revenue streams in the industry.

1. Pubs

29 pubs are closing around the country on a weekly basis according to consumer group Campaign for Real Ale, but the emergence of smart pubs could be a game-changer.

In 2013, a University of Oxford student modified a Raspberry Pi to help ease the workload at his college bar.

Theoretical Physics PhD student Johan Paulsson started by itemising the till to automatically export data from the till to a database.

The Raspberry Pi obtains sales data with 30 minutes breaks and stores it in a MySQL database. The data is then analysed and helps to control stock levels and avoid shortages in the bar.

Other applications of the solution help to monitor the bar’s lighting system and who is in the venue, while the tech also has the capacity to dispense items, although due to British legislation Paulsson has not taken that route.

2. Pavements & Streets

Spanish Via Inteligente (‘Inteligent Street’) has develop a solution that turns sidewalks into Wi-Fi routers, or as they put it, "the street as a platform".

The iPavement’s main goal is to make internet available everywhere at anytime to everyone, as well as transmit information such as weather and traffic to people walking by.

The company has put to the market two types of iPavement: Classic and Foot Sensitve, with the only difference being that the Foot Sensitive version features a groove of 22mm by 5 mm.

The devices operate with Viabox’s OS and are compatible with main internet browsers, including Google Chrome and Firefox. The blocks are designed to operate at temperatures between -20 to 60 Celsius degrees and at a maximum height of 6.000 meters.

The iPavement transmits information in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and Italian.

3. Wheelchairs

AT&T and Permobil have developed a trailblasing proof of concept solution that wirelessly connects wheelchairs to increase user independence and freedom.

The connected wheelchair concept uses AT&T’s IoT technology so that the chair can be easily monitored for comfort, performance, maintenance requirements and location.

The solution, allows users to access data that impacts their everyday life. The data, that can be remotely accessed in the cloud and shared with caregivers, fleet technicians and clinicians, can be used to improve the users’ health.

Mike Troiano, VP AT&T industrial IoT solutions, said: "The connected wheelchair is a great example of how the AT&T Foundry can quickly collaborate with a customer on a proof of concept to bring connectivity and intelligence to a new range of devices."

4. Nappies

Parents across the world argue over who’s time it is to change their child’s diaper. Intel has this year revealed at Computex 2015 a smart nappy with a built in sensor that uses its Edison technology.

The company’s vision is that nappies of tomorrow will send real-time warnings to parents’ smartphones letting them know if their newborn has made a number one or number two. The alert is sent via Bluetooth LE.

Other applications of smart connected nappies include monitoring the baby’s movements, body temperature and other body signals, according to IIT Bombay.

The monitor can be clipped to nappies and extract data which gives insights into the baby’s health status and helps prevent both injuries and other life threatening situations by keeping the parents posted in real time.

5. Christmas Trees

Christmas is 105 days away, but the IoT has a solution to connect Christmas Trees to the internet. The "Lonely Christmas Tree", invented by Matt Richardson, uses an internet-connected Arduino and lights up, for example, whenever a user receives an email making it ideal for office places.

The device, announced on Maker in 2011 – a platform to connect developers – can be connected to other internet applications like YouTube, which will work the same way as the emails set up but with videos’ comments instead.