ABSTRACT

Chapter 3 contained many examples of future information technology (IT) environments. Taking these scenarios as a baseline, we will see IT design projects focusing on the following kinds of systems:

1. Embedded systems-ID technologies (such as radiofrequency identication, RFID), sensors, cameras, actuators, and so on are embedded into the objects around us that so far are analog. Traditional products and structures may then look familiar from the outside, but they are internally enhanced with digital functionality. is digital functionality enables objects to collect information from humans, to communicate with each other, and act through their embedded “intelligence.” Objects may also have a virtual representation of some sort on the Internet, a kind of website or dossier for each product. e owner of a PC, for example, could look up his PC online, see the warranties attached to it, where it was build, sold, and so forth. e term Internet of Things has been framed to describe this phenomenon.

2. Material-enhanced systems-Beyond digital functionality, nanotechnology will change the objects around us, giving materials new properties. As a result, new value propositions are enabled by the novel materials’ characteristics. Roger’s Talos suit and Sophia’s glove are examples for people gaining bodily strength through the material. But smart textiles could also allow additional qualities, such as energy harvesting.