Nick Bilton wrote in his Bits Blog in the New York Times on May 19 (The Sensors Are Coming! - NYTimes.com - Bits Blog): “The coming generation of mobile phones... will have so many new types of smart sensors that your current mobile phone will look pretty dumb.” Among the sensors he discusses are altimeters, gyroscopic sensors, heart monitors, perspiration monitors, more microphones (presumably for stereophonic noise management and imaging) , temperature and humidity monitors and connections to sensors in your clothes and environment (presumably through a Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy interfaces.) Software associated with these sensors can be used for micro-location services, environmental characterization, another layer of user security and many other uses. The message Nick delivers is primarily to get ready for a new set of applications and associated privacy issues.
A few years ago, it became clear that a smart phone plus Bluetooth / Bluetooth Low Energy devices on the body or in the body constitutes an excellent health monitoring and management platform for a wide range of chronic conditions. A three step process of registering with a management server, downloading a health monitoring and management app and linking to a sensor could change the way some conditions are managed with significant cost savings compared to institutionalization or frequent visits from a health professional. I’m sure all these elements are already in place for some patients in some parts of the world. Once cell phones become platforms for health care delivery, we may see a new set of requirements emerge for cell phones... focused on reliability, availability, partitioning, local caching of critical data, security, battery life, etc. Something like this happened to wireline phone systems when E911 services became a necessity of life.
What are your thoughts about the proliferation of sensors in cell phones and the cell phone as a sensor monitoring, relay and management platform? Each new capability that has been added to the cell phone has had unforeseen consequences... for example, GPS capability potentially makes each of us more trackable, photographic and video capability has made everyone a potential video-graphic witness to crimes and disasters. New capability have also increased the value of the cell phone to users and increased usage and willingness to pay for advanced services. What sensors would you like to see on a phone; what sensors would you like to turn off?
