Machine-to-machine communications, in which communication is carried out among machines without any human involvement at all, soon will be a part of everyday life. This year will see about 10 billion microprocessors sold and embedded in everything from computers to coffeemakers. In the future, such devices could be networked, said Nortel CTO John Roese, who calls the trend "hyperconnectivity."
Chicago Tribune | 06/09/07
Putting in 45 minutes on the health-club treadmill isn't the exercise in boredom that it used to be.
Today you can touch a button on a treadmill's screen and watch the "Office" episode you downloaded to your iPod. Plug a USB Latest News about USB stick into the machine, and your preprogrammed workout pops up. After you're done, just save your workout results on the stick and track your performance over time.
Welcome to a world where even treadmills are networked, as equipment designers strive to engage body and mind.
"We try to appeal to people in different ways," said John Stransky, chief of Schiller Park, Ill.-based Life Fitness, a global maker of exercise machines. "It's a combination of engagement and entertainment. Some people don't want to work out, and we try to take their minds off it."
Getting Hyperconnected
Putting exercise equipment online is another example of how machines big and small are being embedded with smart devices that can watch what we do and keep track of where we are. Soon, cars will talk to traffic lights, air conditioners will communicate with the electric company, and refrigerators will e-mail Email Marketing Software - Free Demo their owners to remind them to pick up milk on the way home.
The proliferation of smart devices, along with the growth of new broadband networks such as the WiMax wireless Get the facts on wireless solutions suited to your industry. system Manage remotely with one interface -- the HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server. Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) Latest News about Sprint Nextel is building in Chicago, make it inevitable that machines once regarded as dumb will be networked, said John Roese, chief technology officer of Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) Latest News about Nortel Networks.
This year will see about 10 billion microprocessors sold and embedded in everything from computers to coffeemakers. Most are not part of networks, but their functionality would increase if they were, said Roese, who calls the trend "hyperconnectivity."
"Our expectation is that all things will interact," he said. "There's an inevitable trend to more communications."
Personalized Entertainment
In fact, some futurists predict that in 15 to 20 years more than 1 trillion devices, most of them wireless, will be connected to global networks, according to Nortel.
Hooking iPods to exercise bikes and treadmills lets users more easily select the music they want, using the built-in touch screen to control their selections. Video iPods can transmit directly to screens embedded in the exercise machinery.
"Personalized entertainment keeps people coming back to the machines," said Robert Quast, Life Fitness senior director for cardio-product management.
Networking equipment is especially helpful for patients who use machines for medically prescribed workouts, said Michael Shew, assistant manager of the Vanderbilt Orthopedic Institute in Nashville, Tenn. Workout information becomes part of a patient's electronic medical record that physicians can review, he said. It also may encourage the patient to keep working.
"What am I investing? What's my return?" Shew said. "When people can see a tangible result that measures progress, that's fantastic."
The Dark Side
Health clubs may use networked information to send messages to members who have been slacking off, trying to lure them back, said Ted Lepucki, senior director of technology realization at Life Fitness.
Getting people's competitive juices flowing is another way networked fitness equipment can help motivate people, said Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster based in Silicon Valley. Already there are video games intended to encourage children to exercise, he said, and exercise soon will become part of virtual reality Web sites such as Second Life.
"I guarantee people on stationary machines will stage bicycle races in Second Life," Saffo said.
However, he added, "There's a dark side to all this."
"When you put a computer into an ordinary machine, it means the machine will go obsolete sooner," Saffo said. "You'll have all these exercise bikes with obsolete computers appearing at garage sales Free White Paper - What Retailers Should Know about M-Commerce. It's diabolical. The more computers companies put into things, the sooner people want the new version."
A New Kind of Social Network
Machine-to-machine communications, in which communication is carried out among machines without any human involvement at all, soon will be a part of everyday life, Roese said.
"All machines will talk seamlessly," he said. "Nothing new need be invented. It's just a matter of linking things to the network."
Home appliances like air conditioners and clothes dryers should talk to the electric company to take advantage of rates that fluctuate by the hour, running full blast when electric rates are low and dialing back as they rise. The automobile is a prime example of how improved networking will change our lives, Roese said.
"With your car connected to the Internet, you should always been going to the right place," he said.
A phone call or e-mail from a client to cancel a meeting would go directly into the network, enabling it to reroute the car to the next scheduled appointment, Roese said. In this world, your car will even talk to your lawn sprinkler, telling it to shut off as you approach your driveway so you can cross the lawn without getting wet, he said.
Federal officials also are creating standards so that cars can communicate with traffic lights as they approach intersections. When the traffic signal communicates that it is about to change from green to red, your car would know to slow down for the stop, said Craig Pickering, a senior associate with the Booz Allen Hamilton consultancy.
A test of such a system is planned for the Detroit area, Pickering said.
"They're working on security Barracuda Spam Firewall Free Eval Unit - Click Here and privacy for the system," he said. "You don't want Big Brother to know everything, or hackers to get in."
Although much of this may have the ring of the distant future, experts predict that hyperconnectivity is just around the corner, as wireless networks are built and chips are designed to access them.
"I'd say that by 2009 to 2010, we'll see the maturing of this industry," Roese said.
Chicago Tribune | 06/09/07
Putting in 45 minutes on the health-club treadmill isn't the exercise in boredom that it used to be.
Today you can touch a button on a treadmill's screen and watch the "Office" episode you downloaded to your iPod. Plug a USB Latest News about USB stick into the machine, and your preprogrammed workout pops up. After you're done, just save your workout results on the stick and track your performance over time.
Welcome to a world where even treadmills are networked, as equipment designers strive to engage body and mind.
"We try to appeal to people in different ways," said John Stransky, chief of Schiller Park, Ill.-based Life Fitness, a global maker of exercise machines. "It's a combination of engagement and entertainment. Some people don't want to work out, and we try to take their minds off it."
Getting Hyperconnected
Putting exercise equipment online is another example of how machines big and small are being embedded with smart devices that can watch what we do and keep track of where we are. Soon, cars will talk to traffic lights, air conditioners will communicate with the electric company, and refrigerators will e-mail Email Marketing Software - Free Demo their owners to remind them to pick up milk on the way home.
The proliferation of smart devices, along with the growth of new broadband networks such as the WiMax wireless Get the facts on wireless solutions suited to your industry. system Manage remotely with one interface -- the HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server. Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) Latest News about Sprint Nextel is building in Chicago, make it inevitable that machines once regarded as dumb will be networked, said John Roese, chief technology officer of Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) Latest News about Nortel Networks.
This year will see about 10 billion microprocessors sold and embedded in everything from computers to coffeemakers. Most are not part of networks, but their functionality would increase if they were, said Roese, who calls the trend "hyperconnectivity."
"Our expectation is that all things will interact," he said. "There's an inevitable trend to more communications."
Personalized Entertainment
In fact, some futurists predict that in 15 to 20 years more than 1 trillion devices, most of them wireless, will be connected to global networks, according to Nortel.
Hooking iPods to exercise bikes and treadmills lets users more easily select the music they want, using the built-in touch screen to control their selections. Video iPods can transmit directly to screens embedded in the exercise machinery.
"Personalized entertainment keeps people coming back to the machines," said Robert Quast, Life Fitness senior director for cardio-product management.
Networking equipment is especially helpful for patients who use machines for medically prescribed workouts, said Michael Shew, assistant manager of the Vanderbilt Orthopedic Institute in Nashville, Tenn. Workout information becomes part of a patient's electronic medical record that physicians can review, he said. It also may encourage the patient to keep working.
"What am I investing? What's my return?" Shew said. "When people can see a tangible result that measures progress, that's fantastic."
The Dark Side
Health clubs may use networked information to send messages to members who have been slacking off, trying to lure them back, said Ted Lepucki, senior director of technology realization at Life Fitness.
Getting people's competitive juices flowing is another way networked fitness equipment can help motivate people, said Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster based in Silicon Valley. Already there are video games intended to encourage children to exercise, he said, and exercise soon will become part of virtual reality Web sites such as Second Life.
"I guarantee people on stationary machines will stage bicycle races in Second Life," Saffo said.
However, he added, "There's a dark side to all this."
"When you put a computer into an ordinary machine, it means the machine will go obsolete sooner," Saffo said. "You'll have all these exercise bikes with obsolete computers appearing at garage sales Free White Paper - What Retailers Should Know about M-Commerce. It's diabolical. The more computers companies put into things, the sooner people want the new version."
A New Kind of Social Network
Machine-to-machine communications, in which communication is carried out among machines without any human involvement at all, soon will be a part of everyday life, Roese said.
"All machines will talk seamlessly," he said. "Nothing new need be invented. It's just a matter of linking things to the network."
Home appliances like air conditioners and clothes dryers should talk to the electric company to take advantage of rates that fluctuate by the hour, running full blast when electric rates are low and dialing back as they rise. The automobile is a prime example of how improved networking will change our lives, Roese said.
"With your car connected to the Internet, you should always been going to the right place," he said.
A phone call or e-mail from a client to cancel a meeting would go directly into the network, enabling it to reroute the car to the next scheduled appointment, Roese said. In this world, your car will even talk to your lawn sprinkler, telling it to shut off as you approach your driveway so you can cross the lawn without getting wet, he said.
Federal officials also are creating standards so that cars can communicate with traffic lights as they approach intersections. When the traffic signal communicates that it is about to change from green to red, your car would know to slow down for the stop, said Craig Pickering, a senior associate with the Booz Allen Hamilton consultancy.
A test of such a system is planned for the Detroit area, Pickering said.
"They're working on security Barracuda Spam Firewall Free Eval Unit - Click Here and privacy for the system," he said. "You don't want Big Brother to know everything, or hackers to get in."
Although much of this may have the ring of the distant future, experts predict that hyperconnectivity is just around the corner, as wireless networks are built and chips are designed to access them.
"I'd say that by 2009 to 2010, we'll see the maturing of this industry," Roese said.