VideoWhat worries engineers most is how to deal with all the data produced by the sensors. "The good news is that you can get all these data; the bad news is that you have to do something with them," says Kris Pister, the co-founder of Dust Networks. Efforts are under way to increase the processing power of the sensors so that they can analyse the information themselves rather than just collecting it and passing it on.
But this wealth of information creates opportunities as well. Teruyasu Murakami of Nomura Research Institute believes that having things continuously connected to a network will open up new markets and new ways of living. And Bob Karschnia of Emerson Process Management, which designs and builds factory automation systems such as the one at BP's Cherry Point Refinery, digs through the mountains of data to find new ways for businesses to operate. At times, he philosophises about what the technology means. The interconnected machines are akin to the brain's neural pathways, he suggests. "If we are computing and connecting like the brain, we should be able to emulate memory," he says. "How do you create memories' in the processes of a factory?"
As machines talk to other machines, they may uncover facts and relationships that are not apparent to people. That may enable factories to "learn" and find ways to become more efficient. What happens on the factory floor will make its way, in a different form, to office buildings and homes. The next step is for wireless technology to enter human beings themselves.
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