The BBC website has a read-worthy article called “Smart tags hail the web of things“. Not only are RFID (radio frequency identification) chips unique identifiers of the object/animal/person they are attached/inserted/injected into. The article explains that radio tags are becoming smarter and more communicative, by networking with other objects.
“We are trying to embed a little more intelligence beyond location by adding sensors and by networking these objects together”, researcher Gerd Kortuem is quoted.
“The future of the internet is an internet of connected objects”, says the spokesman for the the intelligent rabbit Nabaztag, Mr. Kitten (what’s in a name..).
Why is this article is relevant to The Mobile City? First because it discusses one of the paired developments we want to address with the conference: how the digital realm is becoming more physical (the other of course is how the physical realm is becoming more digital). And second, the examples mentioned in the article directly concern the work of architects and urbanists. One example is how radio tags can improve health and safety conditions in building construction sites by measuring vibrations generated by heavy tools and keeping a personalized health record for construction workers. What other possible implications do networked objects have for designing and building the city? (Just a side-thought: here two current trends of ubiquitous computing and corporate social responsibility meet! 
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Another example is the way our homes become “smarter”, as more and more objects are linked to the internet. This is about the proverbial refrigerator that autonomously orders new milk from the supermarket when the old milk turns sour. What will this mean for the important concepts of “living” and “dwelling”? And when taken out into the public domain of the city, how do such networked objects influence interaction patterns and concepts of “meeting”?
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BBC article about internet of things
“We are trying to embed a little more intelligence beyond location by adding sensors and by networking these objects together”, researcher Gerd Kortuem is quoted.
“The future of the internet is an internet of connected objects”, says the spokesman for the the intelligent rabbit Nabaztag, Mr. Kitten (what’s in a name..).
Why is this article is relevant to The Mobile City? First because it discusses one of the paired developments we want to address with the conference: how the digital realm is becoming more physical (the other of course is how the physical realm is becoming more digital). And second, the examples mentioned in the article directly concern the work of architects and urbanists. One example is how radio tags can improve health and safety conditions in building construction sites by measuring vibrations generated by heavy tools and keeping a personalized health record for construction workers. What other possible implications do networked objects have for designing and building the city? (Just a side-thought: here two current trends of ubiquitous computing and corporate social responsibility meet!
)
Another example is the way our homes become “smarter”, as more and more objects are linked to the internet. This is about the proverbial refrigerator that autonomously orders new milk from the supermarket when the old milk turns sour. What will this mean for the important concepts of “living” and “dwelling”? And when taken out into the public domain of the city, how do such networked objects influence interaction patterns and concepts of “meeting”?
article source