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 Friday, April 11, 2008
 Posted by Roberto
 10:34 AM   0 comments   

DIGITALLY AUGMENTED OBJECTS AND ENVIRONMENTS

Computers are becoming invisible and integrated into our lives. Our clothes can monitor our heart rate, breathing and motion. Sensors like accelerometers, for measuring acceleration or detecting and measuring vibrations, light detectors, are worn as soft computers "in a noninvasive, non-weight-bearing way".

Tom Igoe, who leads physical computing for the N.Y.U. program said:
"The end goal is not the communication but the quality of life that the communication affords." He offered an example: the Toyota Prius, an electric hybrid, and many other new cars report fuel consumption instantaneously to the driver. Whenever you can help people "measure how they do something, they change how they do it". It becomes a live-in video game, but a live-in video game with a purpose.

Other examples of sensors being integrated into unexpected areas include the PhyTalk system from Phytech. It uses sensors placed on fruit trees or other crops to provide information to farmers. One sensor monitors tiny changes in stem diameter, while another tracks size and growth of fruit. Avi Lulu, the company's chief executive, said: "We are not irrigating what we think the plants need; we're irrigating what the plants really need"

Some plant lovers might be interested in Botanicalls, a simpler project developed by the New York University program in interactive telecommunications. It will measure soil moisture and send a message to the owner when the soil is too dry. When the plant gets the water, it also sends a thank-you note.

At the Intel Corporation's Digital Health Group, Eric Dishman, director of product research and innovation, said he saw many opportunities for making embedded computers that could help people. His group is focusing on preventing falls, social health and cognitive assistance. Sunny Consolvo, at Intel, has been working to create a system using similar sensors that gives feedback to users about their degree of physical activity with subtle and often coded metaphors. What she calls a "glanceable" display converts distances of walking and climbing stairs into a picture of a garden. "As you work through the week, the garden blooms. And if you meet your goal, a butterfly flies" she said.


Article's Source:
The New York Times, My Life in a Video Game (Batteries Not Included)

Links:
Sparkfun, online store catering to developers and prototypers
Phytech, Monitoring Growing Plants
Botanicalls, The Plants Have Your Number
MIT, Things That Think Consortium

 
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