Today’s New York Times has a fascinating article entitled ”From Ants to People, an Instinct to Swarm.” In my forthcoming book, Jump the Curve, I dedicate an entire chapter to the topic of biomimickry—which is just a fancy way of saying that we still have an amzing amount to learn from the natural world around us.
As the article explains, ants are an intriguing topic of study. For instance, has it ever occurred to you how thousands of individual ants are able to travel all over the place without ever getting into a traffic jam? The answer is that they follow a simple set of rules and have antennas that sweep the air and allow them to avoid collisons.
To me, this is interesting way to think about the future. I have written extensively on the possibility that robotic automobiles are fast becoming a reality. It never occurred to me that the robots might be designed with antennas which could allow them to become even better at avoiding collisions. Yet the more I think about it, the more reasonable it seems to me that the robotic cars of the future might be designed with ants in mind.
The entire field of applying swarm intelligence to robots is one of immense potential. Last week, Technology Review discussed how a company called Kiva Systems is using robots to deliver online orders faster. At the present time, the robots rely on sophisticated algorithms to avoid collisions. What if, however, these algorithms could be combined with antenna-like feelers or, alternatively, the algorithms could be improved through a better understanding of swarm intelligence? One likely outcome—which will impact almost every retailer—is that soon a lot more companies than just Staples and Walgreens will soon be using robots to fulfill online orders.
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Jack Uldrich is a writer, futurist, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He is also a frequent speaker on future technology and future trends, nanotechnology, innovation, change management and executive leadership to a variety of businesses, industries and non-profit organizations and trade associations.
