Vint Cerf Imagines the Net's Future At NASA

destinyland writes "Vint Cerf performed an hour-long Q&A at NASA for their 'Singularity University' (which is partially funded by Google ). A question about Twitter led Cerf to imagine even more useful micro-applications using the wireless internet and cell phones, including real-time health data and checking your location against a map of known biohazards and disease outbreaks. 'These systems have applications which I think we will discover over time,' Cerf says, adding 'For me, the exciting thing to just anticipate, are the new ideas for using these instruments.' Also speaking were Ray Kurzweil and nanotechnology expert Ray Merkle. (Read an interview with SU co-founder Peter Diamandis in the new issue of H+ magazine)."

Comments

Imagine

[MyLongNickName]

Imagine having advice hooked up that could monitor for a heart attack or a stroke. If detected, emergency could be called automatically. If reliable, what would this do for survival rates? In many cases, survival or simply the degree of damage is determined by how quickly treatment begins. I think something like this, if reliable and unobtrusive, would be a major leap forward for health treatment.

Re:Imagine

[CrimsonAvenger]

Imagine having advice hooked up that could monitor for a heart attack or a stroke.

Imagine having a device hookedup that could monitor basically everything about you, and report it in real time to the government. Or anyone else that you might not like knowing everything about you.

In the ideal, this could be really incredibly useful. In actual practice, it sounds like the worst nightmare of basically anyone who wants privacy of any kind.

Re:Imagine

[ShiftyOne]

That could be an early possibility. This technology could also be used to monitor your body in real-time, ensuring that you are staying healthy. This would allow for prevention of heart attacks and strokes, instead of allowing for fast treatment after the problems occur.

Re:Imagine

[MyLongNickName]

When I wrote the original post, I knew this would be the first response (outside of a goofy troll, I was right). Basically, every advance has the potential to be used for evil purposes. It is up to us as a society to stand up against that. That has nothing to do with the technology itself.

Re:Imagine

[causality]

Imagine having advice hooked up that could monitor for a heart attack or a stroke. If detected, emergency could be called automatically. If reliable, what would this do for survival rates? In many cases, survival or simply the degree of damage is determined by how quickly treatment begins. I think something like this, if reliable and unobtrusive, would be a major leap forward for health treatment.

You do know that tyranny and the invasion of privacy is always "for the good of the land," right? I'm going to engate in some speculation here, something you might call a plausible scenario.

The problem is that if this health monitor becomes available and reasonably cheap, it will probably become difficult to obtain health insurance without it. The stated reason will be cost. So, in that way it's going to be required of everyone whether or not they care about the privacy aspects. I find that scenario a little too likely. That probable lack of voluntary, opt-in-only participation is one of your first clues that you are dealing with something the goals of which deviate from its stated purpose.

Re:Imagine

[MyLongNickName]

Hi,

The solution to the problem you bring up is to deal with the problem, not the technology that brings the problem to a head. If we have a problem with health care in this country, then deal with the issue. Don't go "ABC is a bad technology and should not be pursued". That is foolish. There is a potential for real health benefit. Don't throw it out because it is easier to do so that to actually deal with the problem.

Re:Imagine

[causality]

When I wrote the original post, I knew this would be the first response (outside of a goofy troll, I was right). Basically, every advance has the potential to be used for evil purposes. It is up to us as a society to stand up against that. That has nothing to do with the technology itself.

Here's the difference: did it come from top-down edicts, or from the overwhelming demand of the people? That is, is it something most people have wanted for a long time now that has finally become possible/economical, or is it something that must be sold to them? Is it a solution looking for a problem? Is its participation entirely voluntary and opt-on only or will people be coerced in some way into accepting it whether they want it or not? After all, if it's "for my own good" you should have no stake in whether I use it or not, and thus no problem with my refusal to use it.

The other side of the coin is that there are some technologies with marginal or dubious benefits and extremely terrible potential abuses. What do you call something that can only benefit you a little bit but might really hurt you a lot? Poor decision-making. The problem is that surveillance in general, the uses to which it can be put, and just how much power it represents, are not terribly well known. I'll gladly take my chances with whether I can reach a telephone and dial 911 before I'll wear any sort of monitoring device. That's because I am weighing the unlikely scenario of dying because I could not get to a doctor fast enough against the very likely scenario of this technology being abused when it becomes widespread. I'd much rather have a slightly higher chance of dying in a freer country than a slightly higher chance of surviving in a more tyrannical country. Any day.

Re:Imagine

[causality]

That could be an early possibility. This technology could also be used to monitor your body in real-time, ensuring that you are staying healthy. This would allow for prevention of heart attacks and strokes, instead of allowing for fast treatment after the problems occur.

I am not a doctor of any kind so this obviously is not a medical opinion. I am just saying what I believe to be common sense. This is one of those where I say "I have karma to burn." I don't expect it will be well-received because people who don't take responsibility for their well-being really seem to hate being reminded that they can. They regard you as something of a religious infidel for thinking that people aren't nearly so helpless as they tend to believe.

If I were worried about my health, I would eat mostly fruits and vegetables with some meat, I would exercise regularly, and I would learn how to handle problems without being stressed out by them (it's amazing how important that one is). If I were fat, I would work hard and do something about it until I were no longer fat. If I smoked, I would take steps to quit. Every day I would take a moment to really enjoy the hell out of something, even if it's some small thing. I would do all of those things, and then and only then, would I go to the medical system to resolve any remaining issues.

I see the obesity statistics and things of that nature. I go outside and I see some very heavy people everywhere. Most of them aren't doing anything about it; they are too busy trying to be "accepted" for it. Then I see all of the problems that folks with that lifestyle have to deal with, all the suffering they tend to have later in life, and I think of one word: "preventable."

I don't want real-time health monitoring devices. I want a society that can achieve a basic level of well-being without them.

Re:Imagine

[MyLongNickName]

Do you know what a false dichotomy is? Your post is a shining example of one.

In your argument, I am either 'unconcerned' with my health, and want this device to cover for that. Or I live a healthy lifestyle and shun this.

Perfectly healthy people have strokes. A lady I worked with in her 60's had one. She was perfectly health and coul out-exercise most of the 30-somethings in the office. The first stroke was minor. However, she had a second that was worse, partially due to not having someone there to report it. If you have a stroke, you may be unaware of it because it is affecting your brain. An observer would notice right away something was wrong.

So while you can feel good about yourself and your superior eating habits, there are reasons a device like this may be useful to those who aren't fat and lazy.

Re:Imagine

[CrimsonAvenger]

Basically, every advance has the potential to be used for evil purposes. It is up to us as a society to stand up against that. That has nothing to do with the technology itself.

Yep. Every technology can be used for evil purposes. And "society" has every right to stand up against that sort of thing.

The question becomes: is there any way that society CAN stand up against that sort of thing if we're all wearing our little monitoring devices?

I'm not specifically talking about the government doing the monitoring, but SOMEONE will monitor things, if only for "quality control purposes". Any problems with your ex- being one of the people who do the monitoring? Yes, your ex- is unlikely to be doing that but the people doing that are going to be SOMEONE's ex-. Is it okay if they can keep track of every orgasm you have? If they can monitor your vitals, they can tell when you're having sex, after all.

How about if they can check on WHO you're having sex with? It'll be someone in the same location, and unless you're really crappy at the whole sex thing, your partner's vitals will let anyone watching know that they're having a good time too...

Lots of things I could be doing that I don't want the government to know about. Even more that I don't especially want the neighbors to know about. Much less than neighbor's computer-literate teenagers....

And since this is all broadcast, just about anyone with sufficient savvy and equipment can monitor pretty much whatever they want - the internet doesn't keep too many secrets very well, after all. And cell phones even fewer....

real time health data

[Lord Ender]

All of a sudden, the cellphones of everyone around you whoop with the "red alert" sound from Star Trek. You take your phone out of your pocket. "Swine Flu Reported Nearby" flashes on the red screen. Covering your mouth with your shirt, you and everyone else start running in all directions, spreading the flu immediately to the surrounding communities. The process repeats like the grand-finale of the fireworks display, until the deadly disease is evenly distributed throughout the world.

Re:real time health data

[maxume]

Don't worry, government firebombs would save the world.

We are talking about highly unlikely dystopias, right?

Seriously?

[quangdog]

checking your location against a map of known biohazards and disease outbreaks.

Seriously?

When was the last time you rounded a corner and stepped right in a pile of biohazard or disease outbreak? While I can see the utility and potential upside to a lot of the ideas being implemented on mobile devices these days, some of them seem to be solutions looking for a problem.

Re:Seriously?

[Lord Ender]

I'm traveling to India soon, and I would very much like to avoid the parts with malaria if I can. It would be useful to know that a large number of people in some neighborhood were diagnosed with malaria recently, especially when picking a hotel.

It would also be good to know recent parasite and food poisoning stats on a per-restaurant basis.

Re:Seriously?

[MickyTheIdiot]

When was the last time you rounded a corner and stepped right in a pile of biohazard or disease outbreak?

Doesn't this happen in Phillip K Dick novels a lot?

Re:Seriously?

[Amouth]

while agree the algorithm is easy.. but..

have you ever read electronic medical records? have you ever seen how these people input data?

the amazing programmer is the one that designs the system that gets them to input it right

Motion Detector iPhone App

[lymond01]

Seems the obvious application:

"20 meters!"
"Get set, folks."
"15 meters!"
"Short, controlled bursts."
"10 meters! 5 meters!"
"That's impossible! That's inside the room!"
"It's readin' right, man!"
"Well, you're not readin' it right." Hicks takes the Phone and look at the screen. "He's right, 3 meters...oh, wait. Hold on, call for you." Hands the phone back to Hudson.
"Thanks....Yallo. Going okay. Yessir. Yessir. No sir, not a bug hunt. Pretty much everyone. It wasn't me, man! Yah I remember last time. Who? Sorry, he's dead. He's dead too. Hicks? Yeah, sec." Hands the phone to Hicks who is listening to what can only be described as impatient tapping on the ceiling.
"Yah. No, he's right, only a few of us are left. Acid for blood. Hardly believe it myself, sir. Trying sir, but we need to get to orbit first. Oh. Really? That's new. Lemme look. Wow. There really is an app for everything. Ok. Well, five and a half to beam up. No, Paul Reiser isn't dead. Yet." Hicks fires a grenade into the ceiling. "Energize."

Re:Dimensional analysis = innovation

[MyLongNickName]

Okay, help me out here Slashdot crowd. Is the above post an example of:

A) Sufficiently advanced trolling is indistinguishable from stupidity
B) Sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from trolling
C) A and B
D) None of the above

Thanks.

The Swarm: A BUNCH of dampers

[starglider29a]

I can think of A BUNCH dampers to The Swarm (smartphone micronetwork):

Privacy
Until we learn to balance paranoiac fears of privacy invasion with "the good of the collective", these things will not reach a fraction of the potential. For example, I drive an hour to a choke point. I don't want the world to know where I am at any instant, but would like to know that if I slow down 3 mph, I'll get through the choke point sooner.
Civility
I would like to use my smart phone to talk to people in the commuter swarm around me. "Dude, your left rear tire is low." But, being a Slashdotter, we know where that would go. "Dude, you have an Apple sticker, yer a fking fanboi! die die die!" Lawyers
From inter-network contracts to micro-restraining orders (from the apple fanboi above), the potential for litigiousness will throw sand and syrup into this machine. And don't get me started on "intercept trajectories" with that hot chick who walks down the bike path every other day. "Hey, I just happened to..." "Right, get lost..." She presses the 'repel' button and is steered away from me henceforth.
Money/ROI
Throughput caps, and the exceeding thereof, will get expensive. Texts cost nothing, should be free, but they are not. If everything I do costs a penny, that adds up. The ROI won't hold up. Not everything I do is worth a penny. I make money 8 hours a day, but can spend it 60/60/24/7/365. How long can I sustain that?
Life (as in getting one)
I was a chat maven. Made some good, REAL relationships. No one is on chat anymore. People not on Facebook are virtually vanished. For now. I drive, I work, I cook, I eat, I sleep. Where does micronetworking ADD to that? "Say, I detect that you are adding Worcestershire sauce to that burger. Here are some Swarm Coupons for Baconnaise instead. Say, I detect that your cholesterol level is too high to warrant eating a burger. Say, I noted that you haven't moved outside the house in 4 days despite my detecting good weather in your area. Perhaps you should skip the burger and walk to the store for some lo-fat yogurt with bactieria cultures that I detect you are low in. Your neighbor 2 houses down has smelled your burger and wishes he could have it. Give it to him instead. I detect from his Swarmer that he has a 23% chance of dying of obesity in a month anyway."
Time
Nothing I do with a smartphone will get me time back. Sleep, chill, read, kiss. None of these require a Swarmer. It takes away. I watched 16 innings of baseball and went to sleep. Just as I drifted off, my phone texted me regarding the results. Thanks for that.

Re:Singularity University

[maxume]

http://www.wired.com/culture/culturereviews/magazine/17-07/st_singularity

I am The Architect. I created the Internets.

[sfraggle]

Has anyone else noticed how much Vint Cerf resembles the Architect out of the Matrix films?
The Architect
Vint Cerf

I think maybe we should be worried, especially if he's lecturing at "Singularity University".