Innovations

Citation

Rudall, B.H. (1999), "Innovations", Kybernetes, Vol. 28 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.1999.06728baa.006

Innovations

Keywords Automation, Cybernetics, Research and development

Abstract Presents reports and surveys of selected current research and development in systems and cybernetics. They include: Cybernetics studies in Romania; Management cybernetics; Nanofabrication; Global information access; Web publishing revolution?; Innovations in systems and cybernetics.

Innovations

1. Smart vest

A report from researchers at the US Georgia Technology Institute's School of Textile and Fibre Engineering, describes what is called a "smart shirt or vest". This is an example of high tech clothing that has been made from fibre optics and electrically conductive thread. This new material will allow its connection to computer systems in their many and various forms. For example, the scientists say that computer chips can be plugged into the garment, allowing its wearer to surf the Internet or for an employer to use a computer system to track a worker's movements.

One important application is the use of smart clothing to monitor the health of the wearer, and to transmit details to a medical centre, hospital or directly to the doctor. In fact smart clothing was initially developed for military use so that anyone who was wounded or needed attention could be pinpointed on the battlefield and details of injuries etc., could be relayed to the medical services. Other obvious uses are being examined and in particular, in the civilian sector, their use in hospitals, nursing homes and emergency services, including the police and fire brigades, is being actively considered.

Sensors in the clothing can be set to monitor, for example, the wearer's blood flow, body sounds, stress levels and even, the developers say, create a computer body image. One example given suggests the use of these wearer-based systems to monitor a baby for signs of sudden death syndrome. A similar system could be used to carry out checks at a distance on a patient with heart disease.

Currently, we are told, it is the military market which is commanding most attention. The military version that has been produced has a page-sized processor that analyses data and transmits them via a satellite. This has been costed at £400,000 in development charges, but we are assured in its mass produced state it would cost £20-30.

2. World-wide automatic forecasting systems

Global volcano early-warning system

Advances in communications technology have meant that new breakthroughs in global early-warning systems are now possible. These new developments have led to the design and implementation in many wide-ranging application areas where global warning systems are a necessity. The applications range from weather forecasting to missile detection. High on this list are global systems to detect earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The advent of reliable satellites now makes it possible to develop such monitoring systems. A scientist from the University of Hawaii, USA, recently told the American Geophysical Union at its conference in San Francisco, that up until now volcanologists had not been able to monitor volcanoes remotely for impending eruptions.

The proof of this statement is in the currently successful prediction of a volcanic eruption using satellite systems at Pacaya, Guatemala, some seven days before it happened. The report from the researchers involved in the project says that using satellites with infra-red detectors, heat signals from the volcano were picked up a week before, that indicated the hot magma was bubbling towards the surface. The resulting eruption sent an ash cloud over Guatemala City and the airport which is some 13 miles away. The whole global warning was centred on the developments that have been successfully harnessed in space technology.

As a result British and American scientists believe this breakthrough could lead to the establishment of a worldwide automatic forecasting system for what are described as some 600 active volcanoes and many others that are potentially active.

The report from these researchers also gives details of another successful detection of a volcano eruption. This time it was in the Galapagos Islands some three hours before it began. The signals reporting activity via the satellite still gave sufficient warning to the neighbourhood for wildlife to be moved. Another example is that of the detection from space of the eruption at Popocatepetl, near Mexico City. On this occasion ground teams had already spotted the same indications and sounded the alarm one minute earlier. It is not possible, however, to have trained staff stationed at every potential eruption site. Hence a satellite system could be capable of giving local services the early warning to clear people and animals from the danger area.

The new systems depend on the two geostationary satellites owned by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They are able to supply images of a given volcano or an area of land every 15 minutes. Advances in computer technology make it possible for the images to be analysed for hot spots. The data are then sent to the University of Hawaii's Hot Spot Image Internet Site.

Dr Andrew Harris of the UK's Open University Department of Earth Sciences at Milton Keynes, a member of the development team, reports that about seven satellites, able to see heat in the right waveband, would be needed to create a global early warning system. At the moment he says, we are really covering only the Americas and the Caribbean. Support for such an early warning system comes from diverse sources but particularly from localities close to the site where the danger lies; also reports of aircraft at risk from volcanic dust and indications that rising sea levels because of global warming may make volcanoes more active give yet further urgency. It has been reported that some 12,000 years ago when sea levels rose by 38 ft in two centuries volcanic activity rose sharply.

Different warning systems have already been tried and many techniques, mostly land-based, used. Experts still believe, however, that no one method of detection will be 100 per cent reliable. Seismic activity is good on a scale of a few days, and the movement of the ground may give a few months' warning, while detecting heat may give an early warning of a few hours or days in advance of an eruption.

The new satellite system is being developed and the data consisting of images are being beamed to the University of Hawaii for analysis. Such an early warning system is obviously still in its infancy and as more advances in communication and analysis are made it will become more sophisticated and may use other criteria as a basis of making its predictions. Its present potential of monitoring the whole globe without ground stations is in itself a remarkable achievement.

B.H. RudallNorbert Wiener Institute and University of Wales (UK)