Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
(a)
(b)
FIGURE 19.8
(a) Female polar bear with satellite collar and RFID tag (arrow). (Photo by USGS.)
(b) Scannable bar code, allowing mobile phones to connect to the web. (Author.)
who are in the wrong place at the wrong time? Will GC have the power and capacity to do agent-
based modelling with 9 billion agents with human traits in real time? If so, what new knowledge
will be created that is of use or of direct benefit? These are intergenerational questions of great
importance. Experience shows that today's youth are quick to trade positional (Foursquare) and
personal (Facebook) identity for shared information, and I wonder if their grandchildren will feel
the same way in 2061.
19.5.3 u
BiquitouS
c
oMPuting
f
uture
Ubiquitous computing is a description of human-computer interaction in which information han-
dling has been integrated into everyday objects and activities, in such a way that the user may not
be aware that computing is taking place. The paradigm is also known as pervasive computing or
ambient intelligence (Hansmann, 2003; Sui, 2014). At the user level, the core of ubiquitous com-
puting has centred on mobile devices, yet the transformational nature of ubiquitous computing has
really been on the server, not the client side. Over the last decade, the Internet has transformed from
a
library
model consisting of HTML text-based content in need of searching and browsing to a
cyberinfrastructure or grid, where both content and services require discovery then use. Software's
clear distinction in the desktop computing model has blurred, as server architectures, data and for-
mat standards and now also tools and services have become web enabled and accessible. The broad
availability of application programming interfaces and their overlap into geographic tools and geo-
browsers has permitted the development of an astounding array of new mashups, applications and
services (Crooks et al., 2014). Also new has been the incorporation of virtual computational power
delivered via the World Wide Web, including grid access and links to high-performance comput-
ing (Adnan et al., 2014; Birkin and Malleson, 2014). The highly distributed nature of these systems
has led to the emergence of cloud computing: the provision of computational resources on demand
via computer networks. It has also led to task dispersal, the so-called crowdsourcing possible when
systems exist that allow users to create and contribute their own data and information (Crooks et al.,
2014). While these developments have already revolutionised GC, by 2061, they promise a future
where living and computing become almost indistinguishable, a world where bits and atoms are
mixed (Negroponte, 1995).
Moore's law, in which the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit
doubles about every 2 years, is expected to continue until 2015 or 2020 or later. Yet before 2061,
