The Case of the Accidental Terrorist — An Internet of Things Detective Story: Part 1
Detective James Harloe woke refreshed as his alarm gradually increased the brightness of his bedroom light and his musical selection for the week (Chopin’s Nocturnes) gradually increased in volume. His coffee maker, being synchronized with his alarm, began brewing his two cups of coffee — one cup with breakfast, the other for the commute to the office. The climate control system began warming his modest townhome about 30 minutes ago.
He climbed out of bed as the lights throughout his home came on to their pre-programmed setting in the rooms that he would be using that morning. They were set to turn off when his wearable sensors were more than 1/10 of a mile from home. Harloe stepped into his shower before turning on the water, subconsciously confident that the flow of water would be the correct temperature as soon as it left the shower head. Wasting gallons of water per use by waiting for it to warm up was a thing of the past. When not in use, cohesion tension emptied the water pipes and returned the water to the hot water heater. Activating the lights in the bathroom or kitchen sent a flow of hot water through the pipes, waiting for the tap to be opened. Water conservation grew exponentially when this simple technology became widely adopted.
As he ate his breakfast, his lighting system changed from white to yellow, signaling to him that he needed to leave within the next 20 minutes to ensure an on-time arrival at his first appointment of the day. It would change to red in another 10 minutes if he were still home. Moments later, his wristlet signaled an incoming message from his supervisor, Sergeant Pomeroy. He wanted to continue eating, so he tapped the side of his eyeglasses to activate the bone conductor speakers built into both sides of the frame.
“Good morning sarge.” “Harloe, a member of an extremist group on our watch list was involved in a traffic collision while manually operating his personal transport vehicle”, Pomeroy said. “He died in the collision and left behind a trunk full of suspicious items that may be bomb-making materials. I need you to go to the scene as soon as possible and handle the case. I’ve transmitted what we know so far to your case file.”
So much for a leisurely breakfast. Since the incident coordinates had been sent with the message, his daily itinerary updated automatically and the travel itinerary was downloaded to his self-driving vehicle.
When he stepped outside, the weather was as expected. Of course, why wouldn’t it be? He had received an audible weather report and clothing recommendation from his home computer system as he showered and shaved.
Harloe’s car activated the electric motor and the climate control as he approached, and programmed in his destination from his electronic calendar. He chose to use the self-driving mode, so that he could review the case file enroute. As his car merged onto the expressway, it worked its way to one of the lanes designated for cars in self-driving mode. Vehicles in those lanes traveled at higher speeds and within closer proximity to each other. Open space is maintained between clusters of vehicles to facilitate merging into and out of the designated lanes. Each vehicle also served as a node in the city-wide mesh network. In addition to monitoring traffic patterns, they retrieved and passed on data from the sensors embedded in the roadway, in the lighting near on- and off-ramps and intersections and from changeable message signs. The information is used to plan maintenance and repair activities and to notify highway crews of roadway impediments (dead animals and other debris). Traffic flow data is also used by navigation software to plan efficient routes of travel. When an emergency vehicle with lights activated enters one of the designated self-driving mode lanes, the lane is cleared of all other vehicles long enough for the emergency vehicle to pass.
Harloe exits the freeway and within minutes he arrives at the crime scene. As he approaches the crime scene perimeter on foot, the chip on the back of his badge communicates with the perimeter control system and logs his arrival in the official crime scene log and grants him access to the crime scene. He begins to audibly document his observations into his case chronology through the microphone in the collar of his coat. The voice recording is stored on his smart phone or his in-vehicle computer system, depending upon which device is within range. The data is then uploaded to the police department’s records management system.
Mattie Price, one of the crime scene technicians approaches. “Hi Harloe,” she says. “Guess it was your turn in the hopper, huh? Follow me. You’re going to want to see this.”
To be continued . . .
