Researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Centre in Silicon Valley are working to develop cheap, smart sensors, that would be able to wirelessly connect to each other.
The author argues that the terrorist threat will push "the global economy toward a truly networked world -- one where pervasive sensors could detect and disrupt terrorist attacks" throught persuasive computing.
The worlds of wireless and Web-based technology are converging in a new generation of linked networks that could produce a vast computing and communications infrastructure based on the interaction of currently exclusive technologies. The integration of these independent communication architectures will result from a gradual dissolution of the physical boundaries of today's Internet, enabling the realization of a broader view of everyday computing.
Researchers around the country already are developing the basic building blocks to create what is being dubbed the fully immersive Internet. They are hoping that in 10 to 15 years, the Internet no longer will be confined to computer desktops, two-way pagers, wireless phones and other digital gadgets. Instead, Internet users will be able to literally surround themselves with the global computer network.
Professor Nicholas Negroponte speculated recently that 'in three to five years, the largest community of users of the internet by far will be washing machines, dishwashers, freezers and toys,' he said. He based his prediction on the growing number of common household appliances that are being wired to connect to the internet to download updates or receive data.