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Vision for future technology
WHEN we think about the technological advances that change our world everyday, we tend to think of companies like Intel Corporation and the ground-breaking work that makes them a technology leader. But, behind the Intel name, the office towers and laboratory doors are the individual people whose ideas and visions drive innovation. In an interview to Dawn ScienceDotcom, Pat Gelsinger, vice president and chief technology officer of Intel, discussed his vision for the future of technology.
When you think about what you see today in the world of technology, what really excites you?
With Intel’s history, resources and commitment to technology innovation, I think what we term Radio Free Intel is the most exciting area these days. The idea of adding wireless capabilities to every device we produce opens the door to an immeasurable number of technological innovations that make the future an exciting uncharted frontier.
For example, Radio Free Intel will be fundamental to enabling such things as sensor network technology which will help you quickly and precisely locate a new restaurant when you’re late for a business lunch. You’ll be able to enter the address in your PDA and in return you’ll get exact directions to your destination. Or, sensors in a baby’s blanket could measure body temperature when the child is sick so a parent is constantly aware of the baby’s temperature without the need for a thermometer. The uses for Radio Free Intel and sensor network technology are boundless and really exciting.
How is the idea of convergence going to change the way people communicate and compute in the future? What is convergence all about?
Convergence is a combination of things that were previously separate. Intel sees a world where every computing device will communicate and every communications device will compute. Currently, we have things like separate telephone networks, separate television networks and separate data networks that each have their individual merits. But, as a converged entity, the merits of these individual networks begin to multiply as their elements are connected to each other to become one. Convergence makes the combined benefits of the individual products more valuable as new usage models and new users emerge.
What are sensor network technologies all about?
Intel, in collaboration with our network of university affiliated research labs, is promoting such things as a new operating system called TinyOS and database software known as TinyDB that are designed for networks of thousands of tiny computerized sensing devices called motes which can be scattered in all kinds of settings including hospitals, factories and fields. These motes, through the use of miniature computers and radio transmitters integrated in them, can together form an ad-hoc network over which they collect and communicate pieces of data, such as readings of temperature, light intensity, or vibration, back to a computer, which converts them into meaningful information.
Intel also believes that the idea of context-aware computing is going to be a driver for tech innovations in the future. When we can combine sources of location and other time- or context-specific pieces of information about the user, we can deliver in real time more useful services and information to the user. Sensor network technology opens up a wide range of usage models including inventory and quality monitoring for manufacturing processes, firefighting and rescue operations in remote areas, and structural integrity monitoring for bridges and buildings. In the future, we’ll be able to use sensor network technologies to find lost children, or recover missing property - the possibilities are endless. The exciting part is that the future is not too far off.
What is your vision for the home of the future?
Sensors will be part of the foundation upon which homes are built. Sensor technology will make telephones smarter so they can call for help should you be unable to in an emergency. Your television will moonlight as a tool for coaching healthy behaviors. Your refrigerator will monitor the contents of your fridge to offer menu suggestions, or tell you when perishables have spoiled. You’ll be able to monitor from the office what your children are eating and doing while they’re at home with the nanny. You won’t simply live in your home. Your home will live with you when we can enable the sort of innovative technology we don’t yet have today. — Dawn ScienceDotcom Panel
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