We now live in a world permeated by computers. From phones to watches, home thermostats to coffee makers, and even ball-point pens, more and more of the gadgets we interact with on a daily basis are general-purpose computational devices in disguise. These “smart” devices differ from ordinary ones in that they are programmable and can therefore respond to users’ specific needs and demands.
For example, I recently bought the Jawbone Up 24, a rubber bracelet fitness monitor that tracks my daily movement. While the Jawbone is an interesting gadget on its own, it also works with a cross-device interface I can program. So now, every time the Up detects that I’ve met my daily goal for number of steps walked, a festive-looking lava lamp in my living room lights up. It’s a small event, but it’s my own personalized celebration to keep me motivated. It’s also an example of the sort of thing devices can do for you if you ask nicely.
For years, computer scientists have been envisioning a world without boundaries between cyberspace and the physical spaces people occupy, where programmable devices are integrated into larger systems, like smart houses, to make the user’s entire environment programmable. This joining of computers and objects is sometimes referred to as the Internet of Things or the Programmable World.
What will this programmable world look like? And how will we get there?
Read the full text of this intriguing article published on Footnote by Samuel Kortchmar and Michael Littman here.
Brown University Humanity Centered Robotics Initiative 