How the next stage of the Internet’s evolution will connect humans and machines

nypost.com

There's very little technology won't do for and with us -- and, says a new book, that's not a bad thing.Photo: OSHbot

Soon, 10 years from now, while looking for a new restaurant, you’ll search Google and find a nearby prospect. You’ll peruse the menu and, once intrigued, you’ll pick a dish, say “Smell,” and a special device will emit the odor of that dish.

Then, via another device, you’ll taste a sample. Satisfied, you’ll say, “Reservation for two, tonight, 7:30.”

Congratulations, you just made a dinner reservation in 2025.

Modal Trigger“The Internet of Things” refers to the next stage of the Internet’s evolution. While social media and mass data collection have connected us all in ways most could never have imagined, technology’s next phase will bring an even greater level of connectedness — especially between humans and machines.

According to author Samuel Greengard, “ ‘The Internet of Things’ represents a more evolved and advanced state where physical and digital worlds are blended into a single space.”

We will soon exist, he says, in a single, technologically connected ecosystem with all the physical items in our lives, from refrigerators and microwave ovens to our cars, wired into each other.

He quotes networking firm Cisco Systems as stating that “more than 1.5 trillion ‘things’ exist in the physical world, and 99 percent of physical objects will eventually become part of a network.”

The Internet of Things is enabled by several factors, including the rise of cloud computing, which makes for easy transfer of digital information, and radio frequency identification — or RFID — which uses microchips to read information from sensors and monitor product use and condition.

Modal Trigger

Wearable fitness trackers will seem quaint by 2025, when sensors will be implanted in our bodies.Photo: EPA

“By tagging objects and imbuing them with Internet connectivity, it’s suddenly possible to not only track the objects and collect new types of data, but also combine these data to generate a level of information and knowledge,” Greengard writes. “It’s as if the rules of earthly physics have been rewritten on the fly.”

Smartphones already employ several sensors, including “built-in microphones, cameras, GPS chips, accelerometers and gyroscopes,” Greengard writes. With the Internet of Things, we’ll soon see those and other detectors connecting to sensors on our clothing, in our jewelry, and in our bodies.

He describes a system currently in development by San Francisco-based Adamant Technologies, which has figured out a way to digitize some of our sensory functions, including taste and smell.

While the human nose employs around 400 sensors to fulfill these functions, processors in development will use up to 2,000, possibly giving future smartphones a sharper sense of smell than humans.

This has many possible applications — from detecting bad breath to spoiled leftovers to a would-be drunk drivers to early disease detection. Greengard also sees the potential for devices with tactility, by which shoppers can feel the fabric on a couch without setting foot in a showroom.

‘A CONNECTED WORLD WILL GENERATE ENORMOUS STRESS FOR SOME MEMBERS OF SOCIETY — PARTICULARLY THOSE WHO ARE OLDER — BUT ENERGIZE AND EXCITE OTHERS.’

 - Author Samuel Greengard

In the home, sensors will allow kitchen pantries, refrigerators and bathroom cabinets to sense when a specific item — anything from eggs to toilet paper — is running low and automatically reorder for delivery.

Outside, a sensor-equipped sprinkler system will connect with online weather forecasts to determine the optimal time for watering a lawn. Across a municipality, the cost savings and water conservation will be substantial.

We’ve already seen, via devices such as the Fitbit, how our increasing interconnectedness has vast implications for health. The Internet of Things will increase this exponentially.

Greengard writes that within several decades, it is likely that “RFID sensors and other devices implanted in the human body or worn on the body could gather data, and let the Internet of Things transmit specific information about blood pressure, blood sugar, heartbeat and other vitals while also monitoring medication dosage. This could ensure that the right amount of medicine is dispensed at all times.”

Driving will also be massively disrupted by the Internet of Things, as our cars will eventually take on all the functions currently fulfilled by drivers. Several companies are already far into the development process for this. Google has had 10 self-driving vehicles since 2010 that use lasers to navigate roads and have taken lengthy drives through San Francisco.

In the coming decades, automobiles will become “fully autonomous vehicles” that will access and interpret traffic lights and road signs, including last-minute detours, using “sensors, satellites and data from the Internet.”

In time, our cars will drive themselves while all connected to each other, using networked information to evade traffic jams. This will optimize road capacity and vastly reduce accidents and road fatalities.

Modal Trigger

Soon cars will become “fully autonomous vehicles” that will access and interpret traffic lights and road signs, including last-minute detours, using “sensors, satellites and data from the Internet.”Photo: Getty Images

As a result, senior citizens could retain their freedom, as their driving ability will no longer be an issue. And the need to parallel park will disappear, as cars will park themselves.
Greengard includes a chapter spelling out a possible day in the life of the average American family in 2025.

According to his book, the mother wakes up “after her pajamas send a mild sensory alert to her skin.”

She heads toward the shower, where the water has already been turned on and set to her ideal temperature, thanks to a “smart water heater that knows the family’s bathing patterns and adjusts the temperature accordingly.”

After the shower, she enjoys a quick breakfast of yogurt, which her refrigerator added to her automatic shopping list as soon as she removed it from the fridge.

Modal Trigger

A woman poses as humanoid robot Pepper takes a picture in Tokyo on Feb. 22.Photo: Getty Images

While she’s at work, an army of small robots handle the household chores, as they “make the bed, tidy the rooms, clean the counters, vacuum the floors and water plants inside the house.”

These robots also serve as the family’s security force — each is equipped with a camera and microphone.

After dinner, her children “use connected gloves and goggles” to visit a virtual zoo, where they can pet otherwise dangerous animals in a completely safe and authentic environment.

Finally, she and her husband turn in for the night, where “sensors in the bed and in their clothing track their sleep patterns, and when morning comes, the system begins to slowly adjust the lighting to aid them in waking up.”

Of course, all these benefits come with a possible dark side.

When our homes and our bodies can be hacked, the possible hazards are terrifying. Plus, corporations and the government will have access to virtually every piece of information about us, creating very real opportunities for abuse.

“There’s a distinct possibility that the Internet of Things will unveil a far more dystopian future that approximates George Orwell’s ‘1984,’ ” Greengard writes.

The reality, he believes, will be — as with technology today — a blend of positive and negative. Only time will tell which way the pendulum swings, but the one thing we can count on is that the Internet of Things will change our world drastically.

“A connected world will generate enormous stress for some members of society — particularly those who are older — but energize and excite others,” Greengard writes.

“Like the introduction of any technology, there will be countless winners and losers.”