Scots Scientists Unveil 'Spray-On' Computer
From: Scotland on Sunday - 04/08/2007
By: Laura Oliver

The "speckled" computing technology developed at several Scottish
universities shows the ability to improve medical exams and imbed technology
in everyday objects. Speckled computing is based upon computers the size of
the head of a matchstick, thousands of which can be sprayed onto a surface to
create a network that can be programmed like a traditional computer. Doctors
could spray them on a patient to monitor multiple functions, providing them
with a comprehensive picture of the patient's health. "This is the new class
of computing: devices which can sense and process the data they receive,"
said leading speckled computing professor Damal Arvind. "They also have a
radio so they can network and there's a battery in there as well, so they are
entirely self-powered." Arvind will present larger prototypes of the
computers, and their ability to work through a video link-up, at the upcoming
Edinburgh International Science Festival. The focus of his talk will be to
show that ordinary objects could be "speckled." "This talk will stop people
from thinking about computers simply in terms of laptops and desktops in the
home," he said. 

Read the entire article at:
http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=539582007

Links:
What is Speckled Computing?
http://www.specknet.org/

Speckled Computing
http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/Events/Big-Ideas/Cutting-Edge-Technology/Speckled-Computing

Speckled worlds
http://www.futurelab.org.uk/viewpoint/art69.htm

Spray-on computers
http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=90

Damal Arvind
http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/home/dka/