Not only does the digital transformation bring massive changes in the way we live and work but the interconnectivity of man and machine will change how we behave.
Researchers speculate that the so-coined internet of things (IoT) will innovate how we interact with and through the physical world. There will be more smart machines doing more things for us in all areas. Sometimes these embedded devices, will carry out activities we may not like to do, like mowing the lawn or parking backwards. And they can make our lives more convenient by letting us know via Wifi when the laundry is finished or regulating the temperature in our house.
In fact, all of these applications are available today. A self-driving car is not a thing of the future but real development, a product that will be on the market soon!
There may be, or there are, some drawbacks, when intelligent technology is used to control or monitor what we do. Some people find these measures obtrusive and authoritarian.
For example, researchers are developing cutting-edge approaches to screen drivers who have had too much alcohol to drink. One system measures the blood alcohol level’s from a driver’s breath. Levels would be detected from sensors without the driver being aware of it. Another method would detect alcohol when the driver touches the start-button. Alcohol levels would be recorded from the skin’s surface by an infrared light scanner. Future cars would disable themselves if they detect more than the lawful minimum of alcohol.
These new methods are still being tested but the technology should be ready for implementation in the next 5 to 8 years, according to Bud Zaouk, director of DADSS, a government-funded research organization. The goal is another wide reaching safety breakthrough similar to seat belts, air bags, and collision avoidance systems. The engineers envision a future world without drunk driving. And that will prevent 1000s of deaths annually. That is a good thing, right?
How do you see this? Do you want the right to decide, if you’ve had too much to drink?