How We Will Connect To Our Networked Future in a Post-IoT World

Prof. Dr. Joseph A. Paradiso, MIT Media Lab, USA

We have already witnessed profound and often unanticipated developments as IoT is built out and the world is mediated via a mainly graphic wireless device held at arms length. But what will happen once the world is precognitively interpreted by what we term ‘sensory prosthetics’ that change what and how humans physically perceive, a world where your own intelligence is split ever more seamlessly between your brain and the cloud? Accordingly, this talk will overview the broad theme of interfacing humans to the ubiquitous electronic "nervous system" that sensor networks will soon extend across things, places, and people, going well beyond the ‘Internet of Things,’ challenging the notion of physical presence and the boundary of self. I'll illustrate this through two avenues of research - one looking at a new kind of digital "omniscience" (e.g., different kinds of browsers for sensor network data & agile frameworks for sensor/data representation) and the other looking at buildings & tools as "prosthetic" extensions of humans (e.g., making HVAC and lighting systems an extension of your natural activity and sense of comfort, or smart tools as human-robot cooperation in the hand), drawing from many projects that are running in my group at the MIT Media Lab and touching on technical areas ranging from low-power wearable sensing/robotics to cognitive audio and distributed sensor networks.

Joe Paradiso is the Alexander W. Dreyfoos (1954) Professor in Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, where he directs the Responsive Environments group and serves as the associate academic head. He received his PhD in Physics from MIT in 1981 and a BSEE from Tufts University in 1977, and joined the Media Lab in 1994 after developing spacecraft control and diverse sensor systems at Draper Laboratory and high-energy physics detectors at ETH Zurich and CERN Geneva. Much of his current research explores how sensor networks augment and mediate human experience, interaction and perception. This encompasses wireless sensing systems, wearable and body sensor networks, energy harvesting and power management for embedded sensors, ubiquitous/pervasive computing and the Internet of Things, human-computer interfaces, space-based systems, and interactive music/media. He has written over 300 articles and papers in these areas. In his spare time, he enjoys designing/building electronic music synthesizers, composing electronic soundscapes, and seeking out edgy and unusual music while traveling the world.