A world of connections - Signal Lake Venture Fund

YouTube video in return. With sensor networks this traffic asymmetry is inverted:
they send far more data than they receive. Although each individual consignment of
data is tiny, they add up. And some sensors send out a steady heartbeat, if only to
say “I'm still here!”, which sets off a communications session throughout the
network.
What worries engineers most is how to deal with all the data produced by the
sensors. “The good news is that you can get all these data; the bad news is that you
have to do something with them,” says Kris Pister, the co-founder of Dust Networks.
Efforts are under way to increase the processing power of the sensors so that they
can analyse the information themselves rather than just collecting it and passing it
on.
But this wealth of information creates opportunities as well. Teruyasu Murakami of
Nomura Research Institute believes that having things continuously connected to a
network will open up new markets and new ways of living. And Bob Karschnia of
Emerson Process Management, which designs and builds factory automation systems
such as the one at BP's Cherry Point Refinery, digs through the mountains of data to
find new ways for businesses to operate. At times, he philosophises about what the
technology means. The interconnected machines are akin to the brain's neural
pathways, he suggests. “If we are computing and connecting like the brain, we
should be able to emulate memory,” he says. “How do you create ‘memories' in the
processes of a factory?”
As machines talk to other machines, they may uncover facts and relationships that
are not apparent to people. That may enable factories to “learn” and find ways to
become more efficient. What happens on the factory floor will make its way, in a
different form, to office buildings and homes. The next step is for wireless technology
to enter human beings themselves.
Copyright © 2007 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved.