High tech lamp tracks people and polution

11 July 2014 2 min read

Chicago will start this summer of 2014 with installing a network of high tech lamp posts that will keep track of the environment and people passing by through sensors. This data collected by the intelligent lamp posts is used to help urban planners make the city safer and traffic flow better. It will for now but will you walk through the streets of Chicago at ease or will you feel being watched?

Chicago calls their initiative the ‘Array of things’ and it will start in July with only one sensor. Well that changes the perspective? No, because the goal is to launch thousands of sensors across the city. The sensors are intelligent and keep track of the number of people who walk past a sensor by tracking the cellphone. This information is shared in real time with city planners. This might help to improve the traffic within the city. The sensor can also give information about the pollution and noise levels during the day. All is focussing on creating a city which is more pleasant to live. Many people will also see it as a way to end privacy.

More and more cities becomes invaded by sensors. We create a world where the smartest person in the room will be the room itself. We carry sensors with us in our phones and finally also our clothes and now our surroundings becomes equipped with sensors. In the near future all this will communicate with each other and the biggest challenge we are now facing is how we use all this new and valuable data. Will we use it to just sell more stuff to people or will we use it to create a more human environment where we life in balance with our surroundings and our planet. I believe that that is the biggest challenge we face within the technological progress.

Image The Chicago Tribune