Yes, we have seen how quadrocopters come together not to strike fear into the hearts of mankind by ushering in a robotic apocalypse, but rather, play the James Bond theme song. This time around, here is another idea that might just see flying devices or robots offer free Wi-Fi connectivity no matter where it might be. The name of the project would be Electronic Countermeasures, where Liam Young of think tank Tomorrow’s Thoughts Today has teamed up with design studio Unknown Fields Division. This partnership intends to launch the Electronic Countermeasures project that delivers an autonomous, roaming Internet swarm, using repurposed UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles).
According to Young, “These drones would fly off and hover above the city, and create ad hoc connections and networks in a new form of nomadic territorial infrastructure. A flock of interactive autonomous drones that form their own place specific, temporary, local, Wi-Fi community–a pirate Internet.” Sounds like something political activists would want to have in their arsenal, just in case the ruling party cuts off all forms of communication in a mass protest situation. The swarm will offer peer-to-peer communication, and is envisioned as a roaming infrastructure that is constructed using digital beams. The fact that it is scalable is also interesting. Do you think a swarming Wi-Fi network is the way to go where our future is concerned?