Repurposing Underground Fiber-Optic Cables for Urban Sensing in Los Angeles
This opinion piece by Carlo Ratti and Biondo Biondi explores how existing underground fiber-optic cables in Los Angeles and the Bay Area can serve as a hidden nervous system for urban sensing. While data is often compared to oil, the authors argue that valuable insights into city life need not compromise privacy through intrusive surveillance like smart glasses. Instead, they highlight distributed acoustic sensing, a technique that analyzes light pulse reflections within fiber-optic cables to detect minute vibrations. This method transforms telecommunications infrastructure into thousands of virtual geophones capable of monitoring traffic patterns, infrastructure health, and seismic risks. Referencing recent research published in Nature Communications, the authors demonstrate how this technology successfully mapped underground features in San José, offering crucial early warnings for geological hazards such as voids and fault line activities. The article advocates for repurposing current digital infrastructure to enhance urban safety and understanding without installing new hardware, presenting a non-intrusive alternative to traditional data collection methods in the age of artificial intelligence.
Wire timeline
Repurposing Underground Fiber-Optic Cables for Urban Sensing in Los Angeles
This opinion piece by Carlo Ratti and Biondo Biondi explores how existing underground fiber-optic cables in Los Angeles and the Bay Area can serve as a hidden nervous system for urban sensing. While data is often compared to oil, the authors argue that valuable insights into city life need not compromise privacy through intrusive surveillance like smart glasses. Instead, they highlight distributed acoustic sensing, a technique that analyzes light pulse reflections within fiber-optic cables to detect minute vibrations. This method transforms telecommunications infrastructure into thousands of virtual geophones capable of monitoring traffic patterns, infrastructure health, and seismic risks. Referencing recent research published in Nature Communications, the authors demonstrate how this technology successfully mapped underground features in San José, offering crucial early warnings for geological hazards such as voids and fault line activities. The article advocates for repurposing current digital infrastructure to enhance urban safety and understanding without installing new hardware, presenting a non-intrusive alternative to traditional data collection methods in the age of artificial intelligence.
latimes