The recent article in the New York Times, (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/business/31unboxed.html)
, "Smart Dust are We There yet?" talks about the progress in distributed wireless sensors which I have talked about in previous blogs. While we continue along the Moore's Law track towards smaller more capable nano-sensors, the more interesting part of the story is the surge in Participitory sensing where humans and their phones are the sensors. With each new smartphone comes more advanced suites of sensors including motion, sound, RF, light among others. Peripheral sensors connected via primary connectors, SD slots, or Bluetooth and WiFi connections, could expand this suite dramatically with sensors such as chemical/bio detection, spectral analysis, and power/current use. This could enable a whole new wave of applicatioins that could be used for both socially good and for profity applications such as air quality/climate monitoring, community planning, and RF interference management. Participatory Sensing is a great example of Digital Swarms that I talk about in my recent book, The New World of Wireless: How to Compete in the 4G Revolution (http://www.amazon.com/New-World-Wireless-Compete-Revolution/dp/013700379X)
The Center for Embedded Network Sensing (CENS) at UCLA ( http://research.cens.ucla.edu/ ) has been at the forefront of research in this area and companies like Sense Networks ( http://www.sensenetworks.com/ )are just now beginning to mine the data flowing from participatory sensing networks. The possibilities are endless.
, "Smart Dust are We There yet?" talks about the progress in distributed wireless sensors which I have talked about in previous blogs. While we continue along the Moore's Law track towards smaller more capable nano-sensors, the more interesting part of the story is the surge in Participitory sensing where humans and their phones are the sensors. With each new smartphone comes more advanced suites of sensors including motion, sound, RF, light among others. Peripheral sensors connected via primary connectors, SD slots, or Bluetooth and WiFi connections, could expand this suite dramatically with sensors such as chemical/bio detection, spectral analysis, and power/current use. This could enable a whole new wave of applicatioins that could be used for both socially good and for profity applications such as air quality/climate monitoring, community planning, and RF interference management. Participatory Sensing is a great example of Digital Swarms that I talk about in my recent book, The New World of Wireless: How to Compete in the 4G Revolution (http://www.amazon.com/New-World-Wireless-Compete-Revolution/dp/013700379X)
The Center for Embedded Network Sensing (CENS) at UCLA ( http://research.cens.ucla.edu/ ) has been at the forefront of research in this area and companies like Sense Networks ( http://www.sensenetworks.com/ )are just now beginning to mine the data flowing from participatory sensing networks. The possibilities are endless.
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