Everything is alive

The pervasive computing vision is a paradigm shift "back to the future." It could create a world 25 years hence where, once again, everything is alive (EiA) and can sense, act, think, feel, communicate, and maybe even move and reproduce. This might include equipment, vehicles, robots, clothing, pets, and objects such as trees and walls. The assumption behind this paradigm shift is that sensors, actuators, intelligent controllers, software, and communication devices will be virtually free and vanishingly small. They will be able to attach to their hosts transparently and intercommunicate and cooperate to help us with our tasks. This will extend the desktop metaphor so that computing is no longer just inside computers but rather inside all sorts of physical things. Wireless will replace telepathic communication - everything will be Internet-enabled and stamped with "agents inside.".