Sensors of the Future Will Create The Matrix

The Matrix trilogy was one long paean to data visualization. As we all know, it began with the premise that life was a sophisticated simulation, virtual reality taken to the civilizational level. Except for a few Matrix die-hards that I’m sure exist, people don’t actually believe this is what the physical/geographical world actually is. But with new sensor technology, we could create the datasets that the movies hinted lay inside the world. Current efforts at revisualizing the world through specific environmental data collection — traffic flowmaps, real-time temperature maps — will expand into a much wider variety of fields over the next few years.