An Operating System For Cities

Posted by Soulskill on Friday September 30, 2011 @04:19AM from the can't-wait-for-those-citywide-blue-screens dept.

CProgrammer98 writes "BBC News reports that cities may soon get their own operating system. From the article: 'The Urban OS works just like a PC operating system but keeps buildings, traffic and services running smoothly. The software takes in data from sensors dotted around the city to keep an eye on what is happening. In the event of a fire, the Urban OS might manage traffic lights so fire trucks can reach the blaze swiftly. The sensors monitor everything from large scale events such as traffic flows across the entire city down to more local phenomena such as temperature sensors inside individual rooms. The OS completely bypasses humans to manage communication between sensors and devices such as traffic lights, air conditioning or water pumps that influence the quality of city life."

1 of 216 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Re:and it will never happen.... by arth1 · 2011-09-30 04:58 · Score: 5, Insightful

I think disabling all traffic lights and turning off stop signs every Sunday would help a lot. People would have to re-learn the traffic rules they have forgotten, like yield to right and do not block intersection on pain of nightstick.
No, I am NOT kidding.