Pictures of the Future      Fall 2005

High Tech on the Ball

The legendary soccer star Ronaldinho runs past a German defender, cuts infield and hammers the ball into the back of the net. "Goooal!" exults the stadium announcer, and a second later thousands of fans transform the new stadium into a waving sea of green and yellow banners. "Unbelievable!" screams Luiz, who is reporting on the game for a Brazilian newspaper. "I don’t believe it!" chimes in his German colleague Harry, who clearly doesn’t share his euphoria.

Both have been sitting with their laptops and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) in the press section, where they are following the game. Their computers are linked via a radio network with a number of cameras at the edge of the playing field that automatically follow the ball and always keep it in focus. That enables the reporters to keep track of what’s going on in detail. "One to zero for Brazil, which has taken the lead against the run of play in the 48th minute," says Harry into his PDA. Luiz, after commenting "Brazil has deservedly taken the lead" into his own computer, says "Don’t look so morose, amigo. We’ve simply got superior technique, and there’s nothing you can do about it."

"You may be right, but that only goes for the soccer field," replies Harry. "Just look around, and you’ll see that the whole stadium is full of advanced technology made in Germany." He points to a glassed-in room on the left under the press section. "That’s the control center for the building and security technology. It’s networked with the local police, the fire station and all of the security systems in the stadium. There are a lot of them, even though you don’t notice them immediately. Intelligent cameras monitor the stadium and report any unusual incidents—for example, if somebody waves a burning torch in the stands, like that guy over there is doing right now. The cameras are linked with a network of many tiny sensors that autonomously exchange information, measure the temperature and detect any smoke that develops anywhere in the stadium. In case of an emergency, these electronic watchdogs automatically sound an alarm. All of the information converges down there in the control center. I'll bet you they’ve already detected that man with the torch, thanks to the cameras, and that they’ll send over some security guards immediately to check him out."

Meanwhile, back on the playing field, Brazil is dominating the game. A wave of jubilation sweeps through the stadium and washes over the reporters. They watch as the "La Ola!" wave reaches the stands where the German fans are sitting and gradually disintegrates. "You may have great engineers, but you sure don’t have rhythm," grins Luiz. "But without our technology it would take your fans much longer to be able to show off their sense of rhythm," counters Harry, holding his admission ticket under his colleague’s nose. "These tickets contain RFID chips made of plastic. They enable the fans to get into the stadium quickly and easily. The reading systems in every section register which area each spectator is sitting in. And the tickets not only admit their holders to the stadium, they’re also parking permits and tickets for public transportation. But—hold on a second!"

Defender Philipp Lahm has stolen the ball from Ronaldinho and passed it to Podolski, who evades two Brazilian defenders before scoring the equalizer. It’s now the German fans’—and Harry’s turn—to scream and shout.

"Don’t count your chickens before they hatch! That was just a lucky break!" grumbles Luiz, gazing mistrustfully at his laptop, where the scene is being replayed. But Harry is growing in confidence. "You’re the one who was lucky today. If you hadn’t followed the traffic management system’s recommendations, you would have missed the opening goal. That was another one of the innovations I was talking about. Thousands of sensors, cameras and TrafficOnline systems located along the roads monitor traffic and transmit their data to the traffic management center. The center then makes recommendations to drivers via their navigation systems and mobile phones. For example, it can suggest that they switch to public transportation for a certain route."

On the playing field, Ronaldinho is once again swinging into action. He brilliantly dribbles around the German defense and shoots. The ball bounces off the goalpost and rolls along the goal line until a player kicks it out of play. "Goooal!" shouts Luiz. "That’s what you think," replies his German colleague. "The ball didn’t cross the goal line. There’s no way that was a goal!" Luiz is of a different opinion, but decides not to waste his time arguing. "We’ll find out in a minute,” he says. "Ever since the 2006 World Cup in Germany, all the balls have been equipped with RFID chips that determine whether the ball really crossed the goal line." He presses a key on his laptop, which is linked with the reader system at the goal post. And a clear message appears in the text window: Brazil is leading 2:1, and there are just 30 seconds left to play. "I love your technology," says Luiz, grinning from ear to ear.
                                                                                                                   Florian Martini

Networks for Living

Networks for Living
In skyscrapers, tunnels and amusement parks, networked systems keep users safe and improve efficiency  
^{(see Improving Tunnel Vision,Tower of Superlativesand Europa-Park Rust)}

At Home in the Future
T-Com House in Berlin is unique. In this completely networked home, almost all of the appliances and devices can communicate with one another  ^more

An Internet of Things
Prof. Friedemann Mattern, an expert in pervasive computing, foresees a world of networked objects "  ^more

The Road to Telematics Travel
Traffic management systems are helping to make the most of our roads and to improve the on-time performance of public transit systems  ^more

Taking Stock
RFID chips are increasingly handling routine operations in companies. This makes processes cheaper and more transparent, and speeds up the flow of goods  ^more