The Gaia Web Hypothesis

Since most readers of this chapter will not have the electronic and electrical engineering type skills to create their own web based sensing projects that report data to a web page, it is useful to be aware of live sensor systems currently connected to the Internet that can be incorporated into existing web page and frame page designs. It can also be a bit of fun to put sensor compositions in a larger context. The the Gaia Hypothesis is the concept that the Earth itself is a living organism, not necessarily sentient, but nevertheless, alive.

Does this table below of Internet integrated sensors extend the concept to the Gaia Web Hypothesis? Interesting issues in both art, social studies and science emerge if you begin to think of the Internet as a form of global and cultural nervous system with organism-like capacities integrating with the life of the organisms of the planet.

Below is one way to organize the growing collection of items now connected to the Internet. Some missing categories of sensors for which no web site which integrating them can be found are also noted. Directing me to sites which can add to or fill in missing cells is greatly appreciated. The table below organizes sensors in terms of human senses: ears; hands and legs; skin and internal systems; eyes; voice; nose; and tongue.

 

The Network has: Parts of the network body. Where to Buy?
Ears I need some sites that use a microphone connected to our computer to respond to our voice. Can you help? Outside of specific web sites, Netscape 4.0 in general has a Conference feature that allows you to make Internet telephone calls and share a whiteboard for drawing and markup using its Conference feature, if you have a microphone.

 Such electronic sensors are common but I need some web sites that can demonstrate the live detection or measurement of sounds. Please do a web search. Can you find anything new? [Use the right search technique to hunt for the phrase "electronic ears" and as of November 17, 1998 Alta Vista found 79 pages that used this phrase. Are there other search term or phrase? Try ultrasonic sensors.]

Hawaii-2 Observatory (H2O) located over 3 miles deep (16,400 feet) in the Pacific Ocean currently with seismometer and hydrophone.
Motion (Hands & Legs)
  • The Telegarden - view and interact with a remote garden filled with living plants. Users can plant, water, and monitor the progress of seedlings via the tender movements of an industrial robot arm.
  • ShadowServer. Activate lighting in an art installation.
  • Robots that you can control from the web.
    		•
    Skin and Internal Systems
  • Tactile Sensor Construction
  • The Buzbee Bat House Temperature Plot
  • Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) Array-nearly 70 moored buoys spanning the equatorial Pacific from Indonesia to the Galapagos Islands. Web pages report air temperature, relative humidity, surface winds, sea surface temperatures and subsurface temperatures down to a depth of 500

    • meters.
  • Satellites provide ongoing data about what is striking the Earth's "skin" such as the data provided by Spaceweather.com ; NOAA Satellites and information.
  • Google's Directory of Space Satellites
  • Many of you know that the Tuckasegee River flows around Western's campus. You can check the Tucks' river depth sensors at Bryson City, NC any time of day by using the web. You can also check daily water level readings from rivers all across the United States.
    		•
    Eyes
  • Many web sites track a wide array of devices hooked to the Internet. Almost any electrical or electronic device can be remotely accessed and/or controlled, from the Soda machines in your building to robots on and around Mars.
  • Yahoo's List of Spy Cameras, including Around the World in 80 Clicks.
  • Public Access Telescope (30 inch mirror, Case Western, Cleveland, Ohio)
  • EarthCam

    • WCU web cams: Hunter Library Computer Lab ; (Does anyone know of more?)
  • The Hubble Space Telescope. (to the edges of the known universe)
  • The Jason Projects. (to the edges of planet Earth)

  • WeatherCams in U.S. and in countries around the world.
  • [Please do a web search. Can you find anything new? [Use the right search technique to hunt for the phrase "electronic eyes" and as of November 17, 1998 Alta Vista found 476 pages that used this phrase. Is there a better search term or phrase?]
    		•
  • Timed Video grabber software - free 
  • Webcam32 software - $25. 
  • ISpy webcam software $49.00.

  • USB Video Capture with Wireless Camera, $150.
  • D-Link Wireless Network Camera, $220.
  • EarthCam 802.11b All Weather Cam, $1995; et al.
  • Google image search-wireless webcam.
    		•
    Voice
  • No current examples. Prior sites have disappeared.
     
  • Such techology is common but I need some web sites that can demonstrate the live voice. Please do a web search. Can you find anything new? [Use the right search technique to hunt for the phrase "electronic voice" and as of November 17, 1998 Alta Vista found 1679 pages that used this phrase and 528 pages that discuss "electronic speech".]
    		•
    Nose Thought. What scent should pervade your web site?
    Think of the nose as a sensor for gases. Electronic sensors for gases are available (e.g., smoke detectors) but connecting them to computers can be more expensive. Projection of smells via computer requires smell synthesizers attached to your personal computer and these are still in development, but close to being marketed. I need some web sites that can demonstrate the live detection and/or broadcast of gases (smells). Can you find anything new? Please do a web search. Several search terms are useful: electronic nose; gas chromatography; smell camera; chemical olfaction; smell generators; odor synthesizers; aromatherapy. Here are some sources of information found so far:
    Selling smell synthesizers: E-Noses & Their Applications ; Review: the Electronic Nose, worldwide.
    Article: Charles Platt, "You've got smell!" Wired, (Nov. 1999). pp.257-263. Quote: "A typical scent using the Bellenson-Smith encoding format, can be defined with less than 2 Kbytes of data."

    Google search for "electronic nose".

     

     
    Tongue Univ. Texas research:Electronic Tongue articles. Think of the tongue as a sensor for liquids. Such sensors are common but I need some web sites that can demonstrate the live detection of acidity, salt levels and so forth. Please do a web search. Can you find anything new?
    • Google search for "electronic tongue".
    • See other search engines. Use the right search technique to hunt for the phrase "electronic tongue" Note the changes over time. On November 17, 1998 Alta Vista found 52 pages that used this phrase. On November 17, 2003, there were over 5428 hits.]
    Internet-related Compositions that integrate most or all of the above. The Millenium Bug ; the email story behind the bug that demonstrates the nonlinear serendipity of the Net.