Neurosphere

The Human-Human Interface

All the Right Memes


The World Right Now

A home awareness system; Home Heartbeat; easy to carry “HomeKey” remote status monitor. World right now, organic metaphor, not quite jacked-in, but a nice integration of Neurospheric elements. Not quite cheap yet, but 200 bucks gets you started, and growing the system sensor by sensor is a good transition business model.

“With the Home Heartbeat system- easy-to-install wireless sensors check the pulse of your home. No technicians, no codes, no third party monitoring or complex manuals are required. Just use the included keychain-sized controller (or even your cell phone) to see the current status of your house at a glance–whether you’re at home or away from home.”

http://www.homeheartbeat.com/HomeHeartBeat/index.htm

Does a Neurosphere Need Governing?


Wholeness and Virtual Communities

There’s actually a method and approach for getting to this recurring dream from the way things are now, affiliated with Ken Wilber’s Integral philosophy and Don Beck’s Spiral Dynamics.

“A Declaration of the Value of Global Governance

The Declaration below is an on-line petition to the leaders of society to recognize the value of establishing a democratic world federation guided by the enlarged understanding of history and culture provided by the integral worldview.”

http://www.integralworldgovernment.org/

Grid Conference


Wholeness and Virtual Communities

The Zigbee guys are part of this.

“The Grid-Interop Forum … will inform and engage public and private electric systems stakeholders in the integration issues associated with the increasingly complex, distributed automation systems that will be involved in system operations, as well as the interface standards and codes needed to enable a more efficient, reliable, and resilient electric system.

Grid-Interop is being organized by the GridWise Architecture Council, whose mission is to enable all elements of the electric system to interact.”

http://www.grid-interop.com/2007/content/overview.asp?tabvar=a

New Networks


Network Infrastructure for the Neurosphere

Municipal wi-fi networks seem to have run into a snag as many were based on public-private partnerships that would have made them essentially low or no cost to the taxpayers. Many of the business plans aren’t working out. But there is still work going on in bottom up, organic networks with individuals contributing their bandwidth.

“The citizens of Kuuskaista have formed a co-operative to develop and own an open public local access network to serve the community and I believe this shared ownership model could be adopted more widely. – Tuija Riukulehto : CEO of Network Co-Operative, Kuuskaista, Finland”

http://www.oplan.org/

And bigger scale public-private partnerships. Hmm.

“BT has teamed up with Spanish technology company Fon, backed by Google, to try to persuade its more than 3 million British internet users to open up part of their home wireless broadband networks so that other people can use them.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/oct/05/internet

http://www.fon.com/en/info/whatsFon

Neural-Virtual Interface


Personal Infrastructure

I once presented on the ideas in Neurosphere and a guy in the audience said, “it’s already here, it’s called Second Life.”

“A research team led by professor Jun’ichi Ushiba of the Keio University Biomedical Engineering Laboratory has developed a BCI system that lets the user walk an avatar through the streets of Second Life while relying solely on the power of thought.”

http://www.pinktentacle.com/2007/10/brain-computer-interface-for-second-life/

Yummysphere


Personal Infrastructure

Merging one’s personal filters and pointers with the mobile environment. Mark-up the world.

“Keep all your bookmarks in delicious and access them from home, office, anywhere.”

del.icio.us

Where You At ?


Personal Infrastructure

Intensively location based services – where you at?

http://www.boostmobile.com/

Tip of the Neurohat to Robbie Blinkoff of Context-Based Research Group

More Support Infrastructure


Personal Infrastructure

“In a patent application, an Austin-based startup called EEStor promised “technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries,” meaning a motorist could plug in a car for five minutes and drive 500 miles roundtrip between Dallas and Houston without gasoline. EEStor’s secret ingredient is a material sandwiched between thousands of wafer-thin metal sheets, like a series of foil-and-paper gum wrappers stacked on top of each other. Charged particles stick to the metal sheets and move quickly across EEStor’s proprietary material. The result is an ultracapacitor, a battery-like device that stores and releases energy quickly.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=3547157&page=1

tip o the neurohat to FUTUREdition from the Arlington Institute.

Even More Bionics


Personal Infrastructure

and more war.

More than 130 veterans of the Iraq war now face the daunting challenge of learning to live with a missing arm. To make that transition easier, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, has launched a $55-million project that pools the efforts of prosthetics experts nationwide to create a thought-controlled bionic arm that duplicates the functions of a natural limb.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/09/05/bionic.arm/index.html

The Living Home


The World Right Now

Just back from CEDIA show, consumer electronics for the very high end of the market – folks who will plunk down $15,000 for a combo DVD/HDTV/iPOD player that controls every media device in the home. What caught my eye here were two things – the first is the use of biological metaphors for home control technology. The second is, in the midst of this testimony to rich consumer self-indulgence, both these products are built to run on the very mass market Windows Media Center Edition platform.

“The World’s First Home Awareness System. Security systems might discourage break-ins, but they can’t guard against breakdowns. With the Home Heartbeat™ system- easy-to-install wireless sensors check the pulse of your home. No technicians, no codes, no third party monitoring or complex manuals are required.

http://www.homeheartbeat.com/HomeHeartBeat/index.htm

‘

“Autonomic Controls Inc.’s MCE-CS Control Server brings the power of Windows Media Center to touch-panels, controls systems, and CE devices.”

http://www.autonomiccontrols.com/MCE%20Server.htm