Networks of the Future: Extending Our Senses into the Physical Worl
The picture of a future with wireless sensor networks-webs of sensory devices that function without a central infrastructure–is quickly coming into sharper focus through the work of Los Alamos National Laboratory computer scientist Sami Ayyorgun.
Proponents of this new technology see a world with deployments to improve a wide range of operations. Engineers could wirelessly monitor miles of gas and oil pipelines stretching across arid land for ruptures, damage, and tampering. Rescue workers might detect signs of life under the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake, thanks to a network of sensors inside the structure. Armed forces could keep an eye on a combat zone or a vast international border via a sensor network that could promptly provide alerts of any intrusion or illicit trafficking.
“It’s not easy to envision the impacts that sensor networks will make, both socially and economically,” Ayyorgun said. “Like many other researchers, I think they are likely to rival the impact that the Internet has made on our lives.”
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