Posted on 04/18/2015 7:23:30 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Cities on both U.S. coasts will soon begin piloting new GE technology designed to help them become more intelligent and efficient. San Diego, California, and Jacksonville, Florida, will both be trialing a new GE LED solution, which uses LED street lighting installations to connect, collect and analyze data being generated, harnessing the power of the Industrial Internet to help their city run better while providing new services and conveniences for residents and visitors.
From high street lighting costs to traffic congestion, parking allotments and emergency response, cities across the world juggle a variety of challenges. GE is developing solutions that will help cities solve these problems through their existing infrastructure. By repurposing street lights with LEDs containing sensors, controls, wireless transmitters and microprocessors, a city will be able to create new opportunities...
Driven by Predix*, GE's innovative software platform that connects machines, data and people to help improve asset performance management, the intelligent-cities-enabling technology will provide a platform for the future development of intelligent applications...
"This solution truly presents endless possibilities for cities to learn, connect and improve both their operations and everyday life for their citizens," says Maryrose Sylvester, president and CEO of GE Lighting. "In the pilots with San Diego and Jacksonville, we will be working with the cities to analyze data trends and determine where the solution holds the most value and how it will ultimately be used."
(Excerpt) Read more at thestreet.com ...
Welcome to 1984. Big Brother is watching.
Stop this nonsense right now.
The "problem" of how to achieve global command-and-control.
I propose we light up the border with these. Then we at least will know who is coming and going.
The article kept repeating the same buzz words without every giving any specifics.
They can save a lot of energy which is good, but what else? They make it sound earth-shattering without any proof.
can they melt ice and snow?
“The article kept repeating the same buzz words without every giving any specifics.”
Welcome to Marketing! Your desk is over in the corner...
Other than eliciting the usual and hilarious luddite reaction from some on FR, this is hype and BS, pure and simple. There is a solid value proposition associated with replacing low-efficiency lighting with LEDs just as there is by replacing open fires with clean burning gas furnaces. But there is no unmet need that can be solved by enabling the street lights on Elm to talk to the street lights on Maple. Other than controlling traffic signals for emergency vehicles (which has been done for 40 years), GEs PR machine is emitting smoke.
Exactly. “Solution” for what? All I read was full of sensors snd junk but it never did say what it actually DOES other than elude to lighting by LED and “repurposing”, a stupid new feel good catch phrase that one.
Now every street light will probably have a gunshot locator and wifi camera built-in.
Progress Comrades!
Beware of cuddly obfuscation.
GE has been in bed with Obama since the beginning. I wouldn’t doubt this is a precursor to some major pay-off for another green project. Bastiges!
“Other than eliciting the usual and hilarious luddite reaction from some on FR”
I don’t get that either. Early on I replaced the old light bulbs with energy efficient ones and saved a ton of money.
The CFL technology is a transient technology, soon to be replaced by LED (as they become cheaper).
Lighting consumes about 11% of the US energy budget, so reducing this is in our National Interest.
The Internet of Things has an upside and a downside. I would like to be able to monitor my home from my smartphone. The downside is that were all being tracked constantly. Both in our physical movements and whatever we post on the Internet.
The technology has outrun custom and law and the government and industry and taking complete advantage of that fact.
Well, since the test cities are in Florida and So. Cal., they can probably make those claims.
The synergistic utilization of best-practices methodology focused on bringing diversity to Green-Engineering paradigms enables a broad portfolio of enhanced solutions to sociocultural and bio-engineering issues, fostering consensus among stakeholders, and solving mankind's most vexing dilemmas.
That'll be $125K, please ...
Three pages of breathless buzzwords and not a single word as to exactly WHAT an individual “intelligent LED” is, does, or how it works.
Article is nothing but a reprinted GE press release. Same article exists word for word on a number of other web sites, being presented as “news”.
I googled “intelligent LED” and pretty much turned up nothing actually explanatory, but did find a number of copies of the GE press release
Question: How is the smart street light supposed to direct me to a parking space — unless it knows where I am?
Government Electric - Gateway
As soon as I saw the word “repurposing” I knew it would be a vacuous marketing nothing.
STREET SPIES: New downtown light system capable of more than illumination
Reported by: Gerard Ramalho
Illuminating concepts, the company who designed Intellistreets, say the processors store and analyze data, soundtracks, announcements, commercials and even video files.
According to its own marketing video, the lights they manufacture are adaptable and capable of adding cameras for surveillance and security and even recording devices.
Yes, the same streetlights now being tested in Las Vegas could someday be set up to record conversations from everyday passersby.
“Right now our intention is not to have any cameras or recording devices…it’s just to provide output out there, not to get any feed or video feed coming back,” said Las Vegas public works director, Jorge Servantes.
But, those assurances aren’t enough for some, especially since the company’s own website touts security benefits, including how the lights can be used to assist homeland security in protecting citizens.
Lee would like to know: who is protecting our rights?
“At what point do we say this is the land of the free,” Lee said.
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