Pervasive Computing - The Next Technical Revolution

Pervasive computing systems will provoke a massive transformation of our civilization. Wireless sensor networks will permit to gather information about the world and to act on it at an unprecedentedly detailed level. Wearable or implanted devices will improve our health condition. But also less friendly applications are to be expected, like robot soldiers. They will transform profoundly the way we live as individuals and interact with the society and our environment. This is not an entirely new event. Humanity has already many times crossed a line of no return, and changed, but survived. We can take some lessons from the past. There are many driving forces that make civilizations evolve, the technological development is one of the most important. Even if the events are triggered by a technical innovation, in consequence the whole society is reshaped. We will face novel technical and ethical problems. Evolving, autonomous systems will surprise us. Our symbiosis with internal and external computing systems may change our perception as humans. A brave new world is coming, it is better to be prepared for it.