Sensing The World With HP

I love my HP calculator - - the only calculator I have ever owned. This is how HP visualizes the future of sensors and networks - -

• Sensors - - Micro-electromechanical systems that draw on technology used in HP printers are the brains of the sensors, which are accelerometers - - 1,000 times more sensitive than the ones used in Nintendo's Wii gaming system - - that detect even the slightest motions and vibrations.


• Networks - - Tiny radio transmitters also bundled with senors wirelessly send out a constant and massive amount of data to computers specially programmed to find patterns and flag critical information about, say, activity along a fault line or unusual movements on the pillar of a bridge.


• Intelligence - - Sensors placed beneath the earth provide data to build geophysical maps that can help Shell know where to look for oil. And HP wins too, it not only sells the basic sensors but also hawks computers that monitor vibrations, and software that aids Shell in mapping and analyzing the data.