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Paul Saffo, director of the
high-tech think tank Institute for the Future,
urged the audience to look beyond the
Internet and lasers, to upcoming sensor
technology that will give silicon the ability to
gauge the analog world and modify it
accordingly. A simple example: sensors in a car
seat will judge the weight and position of a rider
and instruct the air bag how quickly and at
which angle to deploy at the moment of impact.
Saffo also cited some chilling examples of
mini-sensors being tested in
military and social control situations that don't
bode well for the future of individual privacy
and human autonomy.
"The moment we ask them to monitor our
analog world, we'll ask them to modify and
manipulate it," Saffo said.
Common devices with built-in sensors will
always be on, perhaps even with built-in
cameras which Saffo predicted will become
cheap to the point of disposability. "It is the end
of inert matter," he said. "They will always be
watching."
Alex Lash, news.com, March 5, 1997, 6:15 a.m. PT
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