The Future in a World of Digitally Defined Objects

Dec 17, 2014

Over a decade ago, consumers began to replace analog devices with their digital counterparts. Portable tape players were swapped for CD and MP3 players, tube TVs replaced by digital displays, and mobile phones became smart. It is true that engineers had long used sensor technologies in a host of applications, but these were hidden in everyday objects like airbags and computer hard drives. Until recently, consumers were largely oblivious to the sensing capabilities of their devices. The launch of Apple’s original iPhone and Nintendo’s Wiimote in 2007 exposed consumers to sensing technologies and ignited our imaginations around the technological potential.

We enter 2015 with a suite of devices designed to sense, record and curate the data points of our everyday existence. The sensorization of virtually all consumer-facing electronic products has proven to be a watershed moment in the march toward a digitally defined physical world. Much like manufacturing innovation created the Industrial Revolutions of the 19th Century; the broad sensorization of consumer tech is ushering in a data revolution in the 21st Century that is redefining how we interact with technology.

What will it mean when “everything” is digital? This is more than just a curious trend. In 2009, the British technologist Kevin Ashton, who coined the term ‘the Internet of Things,’ wrote:

“If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things—using data they gathered without any help from us—we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling, and whether they were fresh or past their best.”

 

We now have these computers and are deploying them widely. We carry them in our pockets as smartphones and wear them on our wrists as smart watches. They are in our homes and offices. As we digitize everyday objects—from appliances, to surfboards, to autonomous vehicles, to metrics around our own bodies—we’re embedding sensors in thousands of new devices, many of which are connected to the Internet. This allows us to digitally capture information in a way that accelerates its flow to people, services and devices. Today’s computers, devices and everyday objects are increasingly gathering data on their own, overcoming the limitations of human-entered data.

This sea change is about more than just technology; it’s about people. Value will not come by just connecting physical things, but by successfully routing the data these connected things generate to the right person, at the right time, and on the right device, to make better decisions. We are surrounded by billions of connections; providing these connection points with intelligence will, in turn, influence everything we do.

The lifeblood of tomorrow’s world will be data, in all its manifestations. By developing machines that can capture and make sense of data, we will unlock solutions to problems that have tormented us since the origin of man. It will also allow us to create solutions to problems we never even knew existed.

That is the Digital Destiny before us. It’s not just an abundance of cool gadgets or better TV resolution or safer cars. It’s humanity’s future—our destiny—that hinges on an increased ability to harness the power of data through digitization.

 

Source: CE i3