December 17th, 2004
New technology creates additional housework
A major oil company’s 885-foot tanker has been outfitted with 160 tiny vibration sensors–collectively called "smart dust"–that monitor the performance of the ship’s machinery and report when something shakes in a new and exciting way. Smart dust motes (actually, at roughly one inch square, they’re more like "smart clods," but the idea is the important thing) communicate using wireless transceivers at a maximum range of about 30 feet, and "bucket brigade" packets from one to another until they reach a server. Millimeter-and-a-half cube versions are now in the lab, and Moore’s Law has already taken hold: These motes are cheaper to make than their chunkier ancestors (which cost as much as $125).
So what?
Smart dust is a harbinger of what Accenture Technology Labs calls “Reality Online:” a time when the world is so "sensated" that a significant portion of reality is available for computer examination. Smart dust will be used to monitor machinery, detect brushfires, sniff air ducts for pollutants, and sense enemy soldiers on battlefields. Unfortunately, as it becomes possible to attach miniature camera lenses and microphones to the motes, people will also be able to toss them into cars, homes and offices to make stalking, commercial espionage, and other forms of spying easier. On the plus side, they should boost the economy by increasing sales of high-powered vacuum cleaners. So maybe it isn’t all bad news. (Accenture Technology Labs’ Gary Boone is also exploring Smart Dust’s potential.) –Ed Gottsman
