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Name: Matt Noury
From: Georgia
Bio: I'm a computer engineer and an alumnus of Georgia Tech.
Area of Expertise: Research Scientist/Illuminator
Topic: Information Infrastructure
Headline: If the Shoe Fits, It Better be USB
Nutshell: The future: connected, integrated, and unavoidable.
Vision:The only thing we know for certain about the future is that it will be the ancestor of the technology we have today. So let’s start with today’s great enabling technologies, and see where we can go from there.
What are the defining inventions of today, as we prepare to enter the year 2005? The cell phone, certainly. Does anybody remember the 3.5-inch floppy drive? These days you have to ask for one if you want one with a new computer. Today everybody uses CD’s and USB memory keys. Tomorrow it might not be USB, but sure enough, we will have some compact and portable storage technology that is even smaller. Wireless networking and Bluetooth. RFID’s. Wearable computers and fabrics with embedded computers.
The future holds no bounds, we are only limited by our imagination. So where do we want to go? Well, I can tell you what I’d like to see. That compact storage device I mentioned? Sure would be nice if I always had it with me. Why not put that in my pants, shoes, or even under my skin? But how do I get the data to my computer? I don’t like wires coming out of my skin, and I’m worried about radiation from having a wireless device so up close and personal 24×7. So I need some other way to get the data through the floor, my desk, and into my computer. Seems like we should be able to find some way to do this using today’s technologies. Somebody get on it.
Now this isn’t a doomsday prophesy, but it does seem like the pesky computer virus problem just won’t go away. Guess what, it won’t. I want my antivirus software to act like my antibodies, and fight off the infection. I want it to adapt to any threat. If I am not sitting at my desktop, guess what: it shouldn’t be sending thousands of e-mails! When I am sitting at my desktop, I don’t want to be bothered by my antivirus software, updates, asking for permission to send e-mail, or otherwise. We have the technology to do this, but our computers have no way to identify when a particular user is nearby with any certainty. RFID chips could solve this. Or perhaps from that storage device in my shoe, through the floor, my desk, and into my computer. Sure, there are privacy issues, but we can address those. Somebody get on it!
Date Submitted: November 10, 2004
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