JOURNAL: Early 'Cloud Power' Visuals?

Here's an off-topic riff on high level ideas for how the USAF might remake itself:

A company called SenseNetworks has an interesting new product called Citysense (via). It aggregates location/movement data on cabs in major cities, models the data to tease out insight, and then makes it available via their platform. Users access output through a variety of applications (i.e. a dashboard). Here's the output:

The most interesting aspect of this system is that it provides a visual clue as to what Cloud Power (a blanket of microsensors and machines that can dominate a target zone) is going to look like:

• Granular real-time data acquisition (permissive or non-permissive tagging) on every object of interest in an urban zone,
  
• modeling of that data for insight, trending, historical patterns and
  
• actions that take advantage of that data (micro-UAVs).

NOTE: even if the AF doesn't embrace "cloud power" -- sclerortic decision making, misdirection, etc. -- the strength of the trend line (riding Moore's law down) indicates that we will definitely see some variant of this in the DIY weapons space over the long term.

Comments

[chris23]

Saw this the other day. Really fascinating, especially when paired with cheap wi-fi nodes like Meraki.

BTW, I just started reading Brave New World and it's lighting my head on fire. Must get back to book now... cheers!

[S]

This is not all that new. There was/is a company called Traffic Pulse funded by DOE which essentially put sensors out on highways to more effectively manage traffic in sub/ex burbs. Westwood One also in this business.

[stevelaudig]

such a data collection over a period of time could be used to inform decisions regarding bus routes, commuter train routes and frequency.

[Selil]

John Robb consider yourself tagged in the meme of 7. You can find my response at http://selil.com/?p=181, and I can't wait to see yours!!

[rick]

Actually, I see a serious downside to this. I can potentially use this for targeting my attacks. I just create a user personality similar to the group I want to attack e.g., muslim, christian, gay, etc. Find where the greatest concentration of these people are, and attack the 'hot spot'. This is doable now with some research, but this makes it very easy if I'm only in town for a day or two...