The term “Smart Object” refers to a physical object that carries a means of identifying the object and information about the object electronically. One example of a smart object is my passport which has a small chip embedded in it that carries information about my identity. This makes it much easier to validate my citizenship when involved in international travel. Retailers use similar chips to track inventory or register purchases. There are many more examples.
The following is my tetrad for smart objects:
Enhances: Smart objects make it easier to keep track of where objects are located. Not only can objects be found easily, it is also possible to know how the relative positions of numerous objects.
Obsoletes: Smart objects greatly reduce or eliminate the need to manually enter information in order to manage an inventory or keep track of where things are.
Rekindles: Smart objects can rekindle a sense of knowing what you own as well as where everything you own is located as well. In ages past it was easy to keep track of personal belongings. Most people did not have as many possessions so it was easy to know where everything is. Smart objects could rekindle this sense of knowing where everything you own is located as well as what you own.
Reverses: Smart objects could reverse personal privacy. Smart chips make it possible to track where an individual is at any given time. Smart chips also make it possible to track an individual’s purchase patterns. Retailers could use this information to tailor advertisements.
Follow this link to the 2009 Horizon Report on smart objects for additional information and resources.
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Excellent post Gary. I used Smartboards for my tetrad. Did you create a visual of this? What do you feel the implications are for this technology in the future both domestically and globally? Would you consider a GPS or the pet microchip a smart object? I can see that there are a lot of good uses for these objects, but the possibility of abuse seems pretty strong as well. I recently saw a story of a man who had a chip inserted into his wife, so he could follow her because he thought she was unfaithful. When does technology go too far? or how do we protect the technology from being abused?
ReplyDeleteWendi
Wendi,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. When our learning community chose smart objects as the subject for our tetrad I had an idea about the capabilities of smart objects, but really had not thought about the implications of them.
Smart objects have great potential for benefit as well as for causing problems or concerns. Smart objects in the form of smart chips can be used in a multitude of ways. Streamlining inventory management certainly can benefit society in terms of decreasing costs to all Also the information about a smart object can be linked to information about other objects, so it would be much easier to find connections and locate a specific class of objects. This would be great benefit to researchers.
On the dark side, I agree there is potential for misuse or abuse of something like a smart chip. The instance you described is one example. On a larger scale, it would be possible for “Big Brother” to keep track of each citizen’s activities. This goes against the concepts of individual freedoms and privacy. Privacy laws, both national and international, will need to be extended to keep up with this kind of technology.
The pet chip is a good example of a smart object. Taking it further, it may be possible to create a smart chip that has capabilities to monitor certain biophysical activities. It would be possible for a chip to provide real-time blood glucose monitoring in a diabetic patient. This is already available in the form of an external sensor that is applied externally to the skin of the user. A smart chip inserted under the skin would not require as much care on the part of the user.
I did create a visual of my tetrad but could not figure out how to attach it or link to it from the blog. As I become more adept at using the blog I hope I can add it. Until then I will email you or anyone else who requests it a copy of it.
Gary - I tired of logging in or posting without and losing my post - I have created another blog in this site.
ReplyDeleteAnyway - We were close in analysis. Ethics should probably be considered - Would privacy halt progression or could adjustment be made.
Would it be possible to store all of one's medical records? - Then the medical records would follow the patient.
It seems that smart objects could evolve from keeping track for the owner to providing information for others.