THE SENSOR SOCIETY.                            

                        © H.M. Thomas.

Our future society most likely may be transformed into a sensor dominated society. What exactly is a sensor? It is a device may be based on mechanical parts or sophisticated digitalized electronics. It is a device able to detect something like fabrics, molecules, atoms, light, movements or whatever. It can be used to steer industrial processes, exercise quality control of food, air or water or almost anything else. Measuring devices are able to give people information about their environment. Build in our cars, clothes, shoes, technological devices, whatever products you choose, they track what happens with you at home and abroad.  Maybe over a decade, more than billions and billions of sensors are hanging on the internet.

The simplified photograph shows us the idea of a car following a digitalized road. No hands on the steering wheel because the car steers itself by computer programming devices. The surrounding will be scanned because the car has to react on obstacles and weather conditions. Inside sensors has to register if the driver has not fallen asleep, his blood pressure and health in general. Different parts of the car’s machinery communicate with each other and also with information coming from outside. All that will become available for the driver. The car has become a smart car. Maybe the car is on its way to the driver’s home, a smart home of course. The driver has given his instructions to his robotically steered automation devices taking care of his household. The place will be kept clean, meals prepared and the climate inside optimal regulated. In general sensor steered automation this way can become more smart, more adaptive to what we want to know and what we want products to let do for us. The more sensors are plugged in, the more points for measuring are situated in manufacturing systems and their products all around us and with us.  It means, far more information will become available, not only for material goods and companies and governments, but for everyone having very different interests. Sensors could be used for marketing purposes or for assurance companies exercising risk analyses, or for healthcare institutions with their decision making for medical treatments, for energy regulating, food and water supply engineering and quality control and many more purposes we hardly can think of having only a vague glimpse of the future.       Innovations can lead us to abundance as Peter Diamandis and many of us like that to believe.

Diamandis studied physics, biology and medicine. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimated him as one of the most influential thinkers of our time. He believes that problems like shortages of food, water and energy can be solved by means of technological innovations. But often technological innovations have unwanted side effects. Only if innovative ideas also are developed  for keeping technology in safe hands and to neutralize side effects like for instance too much regulation, loss of privacy and loss of authenticity of our natural environment, we all benefit.

For reactions: ahjohann84@gmail.com

 Only if possible an answer may follow.