<h2>IoT Time</h2>
Signs point to us eventually living in a world in which nearly <a href="https://futurism.com/smart-walls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">everything around us is &#8220;smart.&#8221;</a> Our clothes will send messages to our smartphones letting us know when they need washed, and our milk will order its own replacement as its expiration date nears.
But before the <a href="https://futurism.com/videos/create-your-own-internet-of-things" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Internet of Things</a> can fully take hold, we need to figure out a cheap and versatile way to give all these objects the ability to communicate — and the world&#8217;s first battery-free Bluetooth chip just might do the trick.
<h2>Stealing Power</h2>
On Monday, Israel-based semiconductor company <a href="https://www.wiliot.com/blog/bround" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wiliot demonstrated</a> a first-of-its-kind Bluetooth chip at the National Retail Federation&#8217;s (NRF) annual retail expo.
The chip is paper-thin and about the size of a postage stamp. It can sense weight and temperature and is able to send encrypted information via Bluetooth a distance of about 3 meters. Rather than using some sort of battery to power this operation, the chip pulls energy from ambient Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular signals.
Following the NRF demonstration, Wiliot announced that it had raised an <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/15/18183456/wiliot-bluetooth-chip-paper-thin-battery-free-low-cost" target="_blank" rel="noopener">additional $30 million</a> in funding, with tech powerhouses Amazon and Samsung both investing.
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<h2>Sticker Shock</h2>
Wiliot is confident that its battery-free Bluetooth chips will help us realize the promise of a fully connected world.
&#8220;Re-cycling the radiation around us to power sticker-size sensors can enable new ways for consumers to interact with products that were previously not feasible,&#8221; Wiliot CEO and co-founder Tal Tamir said in a <a href="https://www.wiliot.com/blog/bround" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. &#8220;Products can share when they are picked up, their temperature, or when they need to be replenished.&#8221;
&#8220;Without batteries or other high-cost components,&#8221; he continued, &#8220;tags have unlimited power and lifespan, so [they] can be embedded inside of products that were previously unconnected to the Internet of Things.&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/15/18183456/wiliot-bluetooth-chip-paper-thin-battery-free-low-cost" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This Tiny Bluetooth Chip Doesn’t Need a Battery Because It Harvests Energy From the Air</a> [The Verge]
More on the IOT: <a href="https://futurism.com/smart-walls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Everything Is Smart in the Future, Even the Freakin’ Walls</a>

“Without batteries or other high-cost components, tags have unlimited power and lifespan.”

World’s first battery-free Bluetooth chip pulls power from the air

Energy Thief

Wiliot has raised an additional $30 million after demonstrating its battery-free Bluetooth chip, which pulls power from ambient radio signals.

World’s First Battery-Free Bluetooth Chip Pulls Power from the Air

It could make everything you own “smart.”

<h2>Bust a Cap</h2>
It&#8217;s the future. You&#8217;re running low on dish detergent, so the container starts bugging you to buy more. Maybe it even cuts you out of the process by ordering more soap online on its own.
That&#8217;s the idea behind <a href="https://www.water-io.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Water.io</a>, a hardware company that&#8217;s working on a range of &#8220;smart caps&#8221; that keep track of how much stuff is left in a container.
<h2>Track Race</h2>
Water.io envisions a cap for water bottles, another for pill bottles, and another for detergents. The caps will tell you if you&#8217;re hydrating enough, track whether you&#8217;re taking all your pills — and, yes, put in orders when you&#8217;re running low on soap.
It&#8217;s a neat idea. But in the end, it&#8217;s just one more way for retailers to collect data about your shopping and consumption habits. Just remember that, like online ads, these smart caps could eventually become annoying — <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/online-ad-targeting-does-work-as-long-as-its-not-creepy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">or even invasive</a>.
<h2>Brand More</h2>
Water.io CEO Kobi Bentkovski spelled out the vision in a <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90253468/water-io-is-building-a-platform-that-presages-the-future-of-consumer-products" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new interview</a> with Fast Company.
&#8220;We are enabling the brands of consumer packaged goods to get data from their products,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The moment they know who their customers are, how customers are using a product, and when the product is going to run out is the moment they can compete with Amazon and the private brands of the retailers.&#8221;
That sounds great for brands. But here at The Byte, we&#8217;ll just keeping buying detergent when we see that we&#8217;re running low.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90253468/water-io-is-building-a-platform-that-presages-the-future-of-consumer-products" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get Ready for a Future in Which Your Favorite Products Act Like Helicopter Parents</a> [Fast Company]
More on online shopping: <a href="https://futurism.com/amazon-alexa-voice-ordering-disruptive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Voice Ordering Is The “Most Disruptive” Shopping Trend</a>

In the future, your soap could call the shots. Well, sort of.

In the future, even your dish detergent will be spying on you

Smart Caps

Water.io is working on "smart caps" that monitor levels in containers and can even put in orders when you're running low on something.

In the Future, Even Your Dish Detergent Will be Spying on You

These tiny sensors keep track of how much is left in bottles. They could get kinda annoying.

Wrapping these robotic skins around an object will “bring it to life”, making any household object a helpful, programmable robot.

If autonomous stuffed animals make your skin crawl, look away.

Robotic skins can turn almost anything into a machine

Robots & Machines

Wrapping these robotic skins around an object will "bring it to life", making any household object a helpful, programmable robot.

Robotic Skins Can Turn Almost Anything Into a Machine

With Li-Fi, the lights in your home could connect you to the internet faster than your router.

Hard Science

Learn about how Li-Fi can connect you to the internet faster and more securely by using the lights in your home at Futurism.

Li-Fi is the Next Phase of Wireless Internet | Futurism

Forget Wi-Fi, Li-Fi is the Next Phase of Wireless Internet

Smart phones, smart fridges, smart cities — everything is increasingly connected to everything else. The internet-of-things revolution has brought new (and <a href="https://twitter.com/internetofshit?lang=en">often frivolous</a>) features to the most mundane of everyday objects. But you know one thing it might actually help us to have synced up? our road system.
You may have noticed, roads are really dumb right now. They&#8217;re expensive to maintain, and generally can&#8217;t do much besides allowing above-ground transportation (credit where credit is due, though). But Kansas City tech startup Integrated Roadways is trying to change that.
Detailed in <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article210853514.html">a report by the Kansas City Star</a>, the startup&#8217;s &#8220;smart pavement&#8221; vision promises to make roadways safer, and generally give roads a little more 21st century pizzazz, by imbuing the road itself with smart technology.
Integrated Roadways&#8217; concept involves replacing common asphalt paving with sophisticated, and — according to <a href="http://integratedroadways.com/">their website</a> — &#8220;upgradeable&#8221; factory-made concrete slabs that give common roadways the ability to detect vehicles, and know where they are in real time.
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By knowing where vehicles are, and how fast they&#8217;re going, smart roadways could theoretically call first responders to the site of an accident. It could also collect real-time data on road conditions and congestion data, letting drivers — and self-driving cars in particular — choose the route that is the most efficient and safe.
Integrated Roadways also envisions the system to be the backbone of a much-anticipated &#8220;nationwide 5G network&#8221; — an ultra-fast wireless communication standard of the <a href="https://futurism.com/super-fast-5g-one-step-closer/">very near future</a> — without the need of additional infrastructure by sending data over an integrated fiber optic mesh. So far, so good.
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But inquiring, skeptical minds must wonder: why is all of this necessary? Conventional asphalt roads have sufficed for a while now. Autonomous vehicles — while <a href="https://futurism.com/ubers-self-driving-car-decided-swerve/">far from perfect</a> in their current state —  have sophisticated path detection technologies built-in. So why would the road have to inform the car of potential dangers?
And then there&#8217;s the data: who has access to it, and how much information will our smart roads be collecting about us? Would we have to accept the terms and conditions before driving on the highway? Tim Sylvester, founder of Integrated Roadways, <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article210853514.html">tells the Kansas City Star</a> that personal data will not be collected. &#8220;We aren’t going to say this is John Smith’s Lexus, but we can say that this is a Lexus.&#8221;
And what about tolls? In its flashy demo video, Integrated Roadways mentions its roads will be self-funded by allowing third parties to use the data for value added services — think interactive billboards or location-based advertising. And where&#8217;s that data going? So far, it&#8217;s impossible to get real answers because smart roads aren&#8217;t a thing yet. But we might get some soon: Integrated Roadways is working with the Colorado Department of Transportation, according to its web site, though the initiative is still conceptual.
You&#8217;re not imagining it: it really does seem like everything is connected to a network that collects data about you and your habits, whether you like it or not. And smart roadways like Integrated Roadways&#8217; concept are only another example of that. But it will likely take more than a promise of connectivity and autonomous vehicle safety to convince municipalities and governments to shell out the cash to put it in place.

Because EVERYTHING has to be smart these days.

Smart Roads could soon call an ambulance, connect you to the internet

Sci-Fi Visions

A Kansas City startup wants to make roads smart by replacing asphalt with high-tech slabs of concrete. But are they better, than normal roads?

Smart Roads Could Soon Call An Ambulance, Connect You to the Internet

Exciting sci-fi vision of the future, or highway to hell?

In the future, everything is connected. Even our walls will be watching us binge watch TV on our couches.
Yes, the internet is already connected to doorbells, toasters, and light bulbs, <a href="https://futurism.com/alterego-talk-computer-without-words/">changing the way</a> we interact with them. Even our fridges are possessed by an AI that can shame us for not picking the free-range, organic eggs.
Now, researchers from the Carnegie Mellon University teamed up with researchers from Disney (yep, the Disney of World, Land, and Cinderella) to transform those lame, &#8220;dumb&#8221; walls into smart walls. They function as a gigantic trackpad, sensing a user and their movements.
In <a href="http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/3180000/3173847/paper273.pdf">the paper</a> presented at the 2018 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Montreal, Quebec, the researchers note their goal to give walls the ability to track a user&#8217;s touch and gestures through &#8220;airborne electromagnetic noise&#8221; — more or less (mostly less) the same kind of sensing your smartphone screen does.
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=175LB2OiMHs&amp;feature=youtu.be">Their pitch</a> had me hooked from the start: &#8220;Houses, offices, restaurants, schools, museums — walls are everywhere, yet they are inactive.&#8221; Totally. All walls do is, you know, hold up structures and separate the noisy goings-on in various rooms to, like, give people privacy and stuff. We&#8217;re tired of giving walls a free ride; it&#8217;s time walls started holding up their own weight around here.
Rather than using a camera to locate a user and track their movement, as other systems do, this system relies on a grid of &#8220;large electrodes&#8221; covered in a layer of water-based paint that conducts electricity. Water-based paint is less smelly and looks better than other conductive paints, like nickel-based ones. And all it took to connect the electrodes was copper tape. Cha-ching, goes the checkout lane at Home Depot, for a measly 20 bucks per square meter.
The result: a wall so smart, it could play a game of vertical Twister with you, and also tell if you were cheating. It can even sense if you&#8217;re holding a hair dryer really close to it through electromagnetic resonance (why you would hold a hair dryer really close to a wall is a separate question).
But the team does have some actual uses in mind for their invention: users could play videogames by using different poses to control them, change the channel on their TV with a wave of their arm, or slap the wall directly to turn off the lights, no need for light switches.
Yes, indeed, we are truly living in the future.

Everything is smart in the future, even the freakin' walls

The internet of things is taking over our lives. Even the walls will be literally listening.

Everything Is Smart In The Future, Even The Freakin' Walls

With a little paint and some copper wires, you could just slap the wall to turn off the lights, to hell with switches. 

Everything Is Smart In The Future, Even The Freakin’ Walls

Hey you! Ever wish your technology was more invasive? You love voice-to-text, but it&#8217;s just too public?
Some researchers at MIT Media Lab have come up with the perfect gadget for you. And it looks like a Bane mask crossed with a squid. Or, if you prefer: like a horror movie monster slowly encompassing your jaw before crawling into your mouth.
The researchers <a href="http://fluid.media.mit.edu/sites/default/files/p43-kapur.pdf">presented their work</a> at the International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (yes such a thing exists) in March in Tokyo.
Whenever you think of words, they&#8217;re silently, imperceptibly, transmitted to your mouth. More specifically, signals arrive at the muscles that control your mouth. And those signals aren&#8217;t imperceptible to a highly sensitive computer.
The researchers call this device the AlterEgo. It&#8217;s got seven electrodes positioned around the mouth to pick up these signals. The data that the electrodes pick up goes through several rounds of processing before being transmitted wirelessly to a device awaiting instruction nearby. Oh, and it&#8217;s got bone-conduction headphones so that devices can respond.
<figure id="attachment_128624" style="width: 775px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-128624 size-full" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/04/Screen-Shot-2018-04-04-at-6.55.27-PM.png" alt="" width="775" height="226" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">AlterEgo in use. <a href="http://fluid.media.mit.edu/sites/default/files/p43-kapur.pdf">Kapur et al, 2018</a></figcaption></figure>
The scientists tested their prototype on a few people who trained the software to recognize the data that corresponded to different commands (&#8220;call,&#8221; &#8220;reply,&#8221; &#8220;add,&#8221;), then on a few more to see how accurate it was. The results were promising, though it&#8217;s not exactly ready to go into mass production.
The closest comparison to this system is a device you can address in your normal speech, like Siri or Alexa. But, terrifyingly, this is not scientists&#8217; first attempt at creating a more direct way to transmit our thoughts to computers. Most earlier versions have relied directly on brain signals (from devices laid over or implanted in the brain. No thank you).
AlterEgo has the following advantages, according to the researchers:
<ul>
<li>It&#8217;s not invasive (seems like kind of a low bar but ok)</li>
<li>It&#8217;s 92 percent accurate (probably marginally better than your average autocorrect, about the same as Siri or Alexa)</li>
<li>It&#8217;s portable (and about as sexy as one of those Bluetooth earpieces)</li>
<li>Unlike direct brain readings, it can&#8217;t read your private thoughts (except for the ones you quietly mouth to yourself)</li>
</ul>
I admit, in some situations a device like this might be useful. Particular movements could tell your phone to turn on music, or use a calculator, or text your friend. It could control your &#8220;smart home,&#8221; turning off the oven or starting the coffeepot with a mere twitch. Heck, in 10 years, I could be thinking this article into existence. This goes double for people with disabilities or vision problems that might make controlling a digital device challenging otherwise.
BUT. But. There are a few things that might make AlterEgo less than ideal. The electrodes can&#8217;t shift when a person is using them, for example, or the reading will get all messed up. It&#8217;s hard to imagine that people would be comfortable hanging out with a device covering half their mouths. And there&#8217;s no telling how the system would do in real-world settings — that&#8217;s what the researchers have to test out next. And, of course, there&#8217;s the issue of crossed signals, like when Alexa thought <a href="https://futurism.com/ai-assistant-amazon-alexa-laugh/">random sounds were telling it to laugh</a>. And — just thinking big for a second — if it were hacked, could the hacker use the electrodes to physically control your mouth?
Might we have a future in which our faces butt-dial for us? Who&#8217;s to say. But you can bet all the people in my nightmares of a dystopian future are equipped with one of these bad boys.

You think a command for your smartphone or coffeemaker, and this thing that looks like a Bane mask knows.

This crazy gadget helps you "talk" to your computer without words

Researchers at MIT Media Lab created a device called the AlterEgo that picks up on imperceptible muscle movements to communicate with computers.

This Crazy Gadget Helps You “Talk” To Your Computer Without Words

It's like if Siri was stuck to your face. 

<h2>Wireless Range</h2>
Everything in our lives, from our refrigerators to our televisions, heating systems, and lights are becoming connected to our smartphones. <a href="https://futurism.com/videos/viband-connects-you-to-the-internet-of-things/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;Internet of things&#8221; technologies</a> allow us to streamline data and expand our capabilities in a number of ways; but as these technologies develop, we will need a greater wireless bandwidth to keep up. Researchers from Brown University recently explored the use of a new frequency range that could one day be used for such devices. Their study is <a href="http://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.5014037" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published in the journal </a><a href="http://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.5014037" target="_blank" rel="noopener">APL Photonics</a>.
This new frequency range falls within the terahertz (THz) region of the spectrum, which the researchers think could be used in future wireless communications. As the team explained <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2018-02/aiop-aon020218.php">in a press release</a>, the Brown team is not the first to explore this spectrum, but previous research hasn&#8217;t been comprehensive.
The Brown researchers think THz communications not only be useful for ordinary wireless transmissions, but could also create wireless links that rely on indirect, or non-line-of-sight pathways. Researchers previously thought such pathways were impossible.
However, &#8220;Our work shows that this isn&#8217;t necessarily the case,&#8221; said Daniel Mittleman, whose group led the study, in the press release.
<figure id="attachment_121684" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-121684 size-large" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/02/iot-1200x800.jpg" alt="A person's wrist as they check the weather on a smart watch. As more internet of things devices like this come online, we may need a new frequency range to support them." width="1200" height="800" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">As tech advances and interconnects, we&#8217;re going to need more bandwidth. Image Credit: fancycrave1 / pixabay</figcaption></figure>
The frequencies of THz radiation, reaching over 95 gigahertz (GHz), are so high that the FCC doesn&#8217;t even have service rules surrounding them. In fact, this spectrum is so far from what we usually use for wireless carrier waves, like WiFi, that people are worried about how it might affect human health.
<h2>Internet of Things</h2>
Within the study, researchers produced both line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight measurements. For the line-of-sight experiment, they pointed the THz signal directly at a receiver. For the non-line-of-sight experiments, they reflected the signal using objects like a painted cinder block, a door, metal foil, and a smooth metal plate. <figure style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/privacy-and-the-internet-of-things/"><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/02/Homepage-Thumbnail-27.jpg" alt="Privacy and the Internet of Things" ></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text center"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/privacy-and-the-internet-of-things/" target="_blank">Click to View Full Infographic</a></figcaption></figure>
In one experiment within the study, the signal and receive were placed where they could not see each other at all. When the signal was sent, it bounced off of a wall (twice) and was then detected by the receiver. This might seem like a minor feat, but it is the first time that non-line-of-sight use has been demonstrated possible within this spectrum, using a THz signal.
These findings go against previous doubts about the use of these frequencies. The potential health concerns surrounding THz radiation will need further exploration, but this proof-of-concept could spark agencies like the FCC to consider future use, build rules surrounding them, and begin further exploration of using this new frequency range practically.
This will only become more necessary as internet of things technologies are<a href="https://futurism.com/samsung-pledges-over-100m-to-make-an-open-internet-of-things-finally-happen/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> spread and develop.</a> Current bandwidth availability is already <a href="https://futurism.com/grand-challenge-managing-bandwidth-machine-learning/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proving insufficient</a> for the demand being set.
As Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg told <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/04/18/qa-ericsson-ceo-hans-vestberg-on-next-generation-communications/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Mercury News</a>, “You’re going to see this ‘Internet of things’ start demanding network performance and making the networks much more aware of what is on top of them.”

The new frequency may even work when receivers can't "see" the signal source.

A new frequency range could open up more wireless tech

Brown University researchers have demonstrated that a new frequency range within the terahertz region can be used for transmitting wireless signals.

A New Frequency Range Could Open Up More Wireless Tech

This will support growing "internet of things" technologies. 

<h2>Unseen, Unknown</h2>
The <a href="https://www.darpa.mil/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency</a> (DARPA) is seeking proposals for &#8220;intelligent floats&#8221; with an ambitious goal: wire the world&#8217;s oceans with a network of sensors, capable of recording vast amounts of data about the environment that takes up 71 percent of our planet.
The plan has been compared to the <a href="https://futurism.com/by-2020-there-will-be-4-devices-for-every-human-on-earth/">&#8220;internet of things&#8221; trend</a>. Yet instead of linking refrigerators and thermostats to the internet, the &#8220;Ocean of Things&#8221; will bring everything from whale calls to <a href="https://futurism.com/our-oceans-are-warming-faster-than-we-thought/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">water temperature online</a>.
&#8220;The goal of the program is to increase maritime awareness in a cost-effective way,” said John Waterston, program manager in DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office (STO), <a href="https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2017-12-06" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in a statement</a> on the project. “By coupling powerful analytical tools with commercial sensor technology, we plan to create floating sensor networks that significantly expand maritime awareness at a fraction of the cost of current approaches.”
Most of the world&#8217;s oceans are like a pitch-black room lit with a couple of very bright spotlights; we know a fair bit about the &#8220;lit&#8221; spots that we&#8217;ve visited with scuba, submersibles, and autonomous vehicles, but <a href="https://futurism.com/expert-we-still-know-very-little-about-the-largest-inhabited-zone-on-earth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">almost nothing about the dark spots in between</a>.
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A web of data-hungry floats could help change that. <a href="https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&amp;mode=form&amp;id=c8d27e692a7a093bc093734fae223612&amp;tab=core&amp;_cview=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DARPA&#8217;s agency annoucement</a> on the proposed network suggests that the intelligent floats should be flexible to accommodate different payloads and sensors, depending on their unique mission. Every one should collect basic environmental data like temperature, salinity, and sea state, as well as report their system health and detect nearby vessels.
The program also requires that the floats pose no risk to passing boats or marine mammals, and be made of environmentally-friendly materials that can last in the sea for at least a year.
<h2>An Ocean of Problems?</h2>
Many marine scientists are excited about the wave of data that an Ocean of Things could provide. The sheer size of the ocean, and the difficulties that come with operating in it, often means researchers can either choose to have spatial data — the same sort of information, taken at different points and different times — or temporal data, the same information taken at one point over a long period of time. The Ocean of Things could provide an as-yet unheard-of method of recording both.
But others doubt that such a monumental undertaking will even be possible. The DARPA call for proposals limits the cost of each float to $500; yet experts estimate that a battery and the iridium satellite required to transmit information would each cost $100 or more, leaving little cash left for the actual instruments aboard. <figure style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/deep-ocean-dwellers-infographic/"><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/09/HomeThumb-1.jpg" alt="Deep Ocean Dwellers [INFOGRAPHIC]" ></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text center"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/deep-ocean-dwellers-infographic/" target="_blank">Click to View Full Infographic</a></figcaption></figure>
Another researcher, speaking anonymously, <a href="https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2018/01/23/the-agency-that-helped-create-the-internet-now-wants-to-wire-the-ocean" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Oceans Deeply </a>that it would also be extremely difficult to even keep the floats where researchers wanted them; in the ocean, weather systems can create spots where large areas of water begin circulating in an eddy, which could pull all the sensors into the same location. &#8220;Then you lose the resolution you’re hoping for,&#8221; the researcher said.
DARPA&#8217;s call for proposals is just the starting phase for this project, and designers may have innovative solutions to overcome the problems raised. Fortunately, DARPA isn&#8217;t the only organization seeking to illuminate the unknowns of the sea. The U.S. <a href="http://oceanobservatories.org/observatories/">Ocean Observatories Initiative</a>, a National Science Foundation-network of six research arrays in the Western Hemisphere, has been providing researchers with spatial and temporal data from the ocean&#8217;s surface all the way <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/12/underwater-network-gives-scientists-rare-glimpse-deep-sea-volcanoes">down to the deep sea</a> since it <a href="http://nautil.us/issue/37/currents/the-ocean-gets-big-data">came online in 2016</a>. And if a new joint project by the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans succeeds, schools of robots will soon be <a href="https://futurism.com/schools-robots-mapping-unknown-deep-sea/">launched to chart the world&#8217;s oceans</a>, with the goal of mapping everything by 2030.

A vast network of "intelligent floats" could collect data about the marine environment that takes up 71 percent of our planet.

A web of sensors may uncover secrets of the deep oceans

Deploying a vast network of sensors across the oceans could help scientists uncover its mysteries. But the plan is costly and difficult to implement.

A Web of Sensors May Uncover Secrets of the Deep Oceans

But is the plan really feasible?

<h2>Going All In: A $15 Billion Project</h2>
To advance research and development on artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and the Internet of Things, Alibaba is dedicating $15 billion in funding over the next three years to create the next generation of such technology.
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-11/alibaba-to-double-r-d-spending-to-15-billion-over-3-years" target="_blank">As reported by </a><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-11/alibaba-to-double-r-d-spending-to-15-billion-over-3-years" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>, the company shared its plans in an emailed statement, shortly after Chief Technical Officer Jeff Zhang made the announcement at the company&#8217;s Computing Conference 2017 in Hangzhou, China. This is the beginning of its global research program, now known as Alibaba DAMO Academy — &#8220;DAMO&#8221; an acronym for Discovery, Adventure, Momentum and Outlook.
As part of the program, Alibaba intends to build seven new R&amp;D labs across the U.S., Russia, China, Israel, and Singapore. Over 100 scientists worldwide who specialize in different aspects of AI, quantum computing, and the IoT will also be hired.
<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QSIPNhOiMoE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
In an interview with Bloomberg, Alibaba Chief Technical Officer Jeff Zhang said the new labs will go a long way to &#8220;help solve issues that Alibaba is currently facing across its business lines. It will also be at the forefront of developing next-generation technology.”
<h2>More Than Labs and Scientists</h2>
Alongside new labs, Alibaba&#8217;s multi-billion dollar investment will also go towards funding various collaborations with universities, with the University of California at Berkeley already on board. Additionally, the company has tapped a number of professors from the likes of Princeton and Harvard to sit on an advisory board.<figure style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/privacy-and-the-internet-of-things/"><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/02/Homepage-Thumbnail-27.jpg" alt="Privacy and the Internet of Things" ></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text center"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/privacy-and-the-internet-of-things/" target="_blank">Click to View Full Infographic</a></figcaption></figure>
Alibaba&#8217;s increased focus on AI and quantum computing is a significant one, with both <a href="https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence-is-our-future-but-will-it-save-or-destroy-humanity/" target="_blank">expected to dramatically</a> <a href="https://futurism.com/worlds-leading-physicist-says-quantum-computers-are-tools-of-destruction-not-creation/" target="_blank">change the world</a>. The company already <a href="https://futurism.com/videos/theyve-increased-productivity-by-300-percent/" target="_blank">has a &#8220;smart warehouse&#8221; run by 60 robots</a>, which saw an productivity increase 300 percent. That percentage can only rise if the company&#8217;s program is a success, though it does raise some concerns about automation and its impact on jobs.
Fortunately, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/11/alibaba-says-will-pour-15-billion-into-global-research-program.html" target="_blank">according to </a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/11/alibaba-says-will-pour-15-billion-into-global-research-program.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a>, the company has a &#8220;commitment to serve 2 billion customers and create 100 million jobs in 20 years.&#8221; We&#8217;ll have to wait and see what Alibaba comes up with in the coming years, but it&#8217;s a clear sign it&#8217;s prepared to see this through, and has the resources necessary to move the world forward.

A new $15 billion project is set to utterly transform our world

Green glowing hardware component fractal

Future Society

Alibaba is starting a $15 billion project over the next three years to create the next generation of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, et al.

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A Web of Sensors May Uncover Secrets of the Deep Oceans

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