schneiderism

In 1995 Neal Stephenson published “The Diamond Age, or A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer.” This book is excellent and still, twelve years later, prescient. It presaged, in an eerily descriptive and accurate manner, many of the technologies that are either commonplace today or under intense research and development with hopes of eventually becoming commonplace. Specifically, Stephenson elaborated on the ubiquitousness of nanotechnology, expressed as a wide variety of miniature, microscopic robots and machines that fulfill an incredible diversity of uses… to the extent that some cities have entire impenetrable defensive grid “immune systems” comprised of networked nanomachines that can defend against air pollution, air borne viruses, and criminals. This is only one of many impressive aspects of the story, but it should be noted how thoroughly Stephenson intertwined nanotechnology with our own existence. In 1995 this was incredible, other worldly, and seemingly unreachable. Actually, not so unreachable. Nanotechnology would work its way onto the evening news and into our newspapers before the year 2000. Today, it is a major technological force that receives funding largesse, and for some is a panacea.

About the same time that the concept of nanotechnology was going mainstream, researchers were working on the idea of “smart dust.” In 1999, James Flint wrote of smart dust:

“It relies on the convergence of three technologies: digital circuitry, laser-driven wireless communications, and something called MEMS (Micro ElectroMechanical Systems) to pack enough equipment into a space no more than one or two cubic millimeters in size.”

The concept of smart dust was conceived by researchers Kris Pister and Randy Katz of UC Berkeley. Both are pioneers of ubiquitous computing and the development of networked motes, or small sensor driven and task linked robotic devices. In 2000, Pister wrote of this technology:

“In 2010 everything you own that is worth more than a few dollars will know that it’s yours, and you’ll be able to find it whenever you want it. Stealing cars, furniture, stereos, or other valuables will be unusual, because any of your valuables that leave your house will check in on their way out the door, and scream like a troll’s magic purse if removed without permission (they may scream at 2.4 GHz rather than in audio).”

Beyond ensuring that your stuff stays your stuff, this technology has unreal potential. For medical technologies alone, smart dust could create a revolution. Then, there are the military and security applications (enter Neal Stephenson). The internet has clearly demonstrated the power of the network, virtually. Smart dust has the potential to bring this same power of connection into a physical manifestation, ideally in a manner that is benevolent and not entirely defined by surveillance. Applications of this technology are already being used, albeit still by motes and not yet on a nanoscale… but if we have learned anything over the past 20 years it is that miniaturization can happen very, very quickly. You will find successful use of networked motes being used in applications like monitoring the micro climates in wine vineyards and for seismic monitoring along fault lines. Seems innocuous, but back in 1999 Pister himself seemed excited, when quoted by James Flint in a piece for Telepolis, saying that…

“Considering the military arena, Smart Dust may be deployed for stealthy monitoring of a hostile environment, e.g. for verification of treaty compliance. [With] acoustic vibration or magnetic field sensors [it] could detect the passage of vehicles … [it] could be used for perimeter surveilliance, or to detect the presence of chemical or biological agents on the battlefield.”