Imagine robots ruling the earth. That seems like a movie topic, something a producer would want to showcase to the world to make profit from their audience. It’s a type of movie plot that actors such as Will Smith participated in, but this is slowly becoming a reality. More and more we’re seeing that objects and devices are connecting to the internet. Refrigerators are being connected to the internet to tell you what you need when you go grocery shopping, and iPhone has had “find my iphone” for years so users can track where their iphone is located in case it became lost. Julian Bleeker came up with the term “blogject” which means that a physical object can essentially blog. A perfect example would be Siri or Alexa, two search servicing objects that can tell you what you need to know by just saying their name first and then talking to them. They then take this data and use it in the future to make things more convenient for you. They can give you reminders and set alarms for you, and they can even tell you about traffic before you head out the house. Neil Gershenfeld, author of As Objects Go Online, states that “By 2010, the number of computers on the Internet had surpassed the number of people on earth“. There are so many computers out there, and they aren’t just taking form as your traditional PC/desktop/laptop- they’re our phones and our other smart devices. There are devices that can connect to household things that serve a purpose- to remind us and to track data. There are e-collars that can be used to track animals, even chips the size of a single rice can be used to send data to the internet to help you know where they are at all times. Robots aren’t just talking, almost-human-looking beings. They are any device that can report data and connect to the internet. We’re seeing more and more of them being created, for better or for worse.
Mar 12