Centre Vision
"There is nothing as mysterious as something clearly seen."
- Robert Frost
CONTEXT: BRINGING INFORMATION TO LIFE
According to a recent study carried out by the University of California at Berkeley, more information has been produced in the last decade than in the entire history of civilization. Similar studies elsewhere point to the exponential growth of information available online, a consequence of which is the need for technologies to help us make sense of the increasing amount and diversity of accessible information. Yet all of these studies only consider physical media (print, optical, etc.) and conventional electronic information channels (TV, radio, Internet). As such, they reflect only the very tip of a vast information iceberg.
When we consider the addition of sensed data - information that can be harvested by recording
events and interactions within the physical world - the true scale of the real information overload problem becomes clear. For every second of every day, a huge quantity of data is generated through natural processes, physical events, and our actions and interactions with others and the environment. More often than not this information goes unrecorded and is lost. However, the emergence of inexpensive, reliable, and robust technologies for sensing, storing, and processing information is having a profound impact on the economics of ubiquitous data capture and pervasive computing.
Certainly, there is no doubt that the ability to efficiently harvest and effectively harness such latent information sources will have a fundamental impact on our day-to-day lives. Developing technologies to achieve this will help to empower the citizen by taming this new information overload problem, helping to ensure that everyone has access to the right information at the right time in all aspects of their everyday work and personal lives. These will include, for example, new ways to monitor personal health status to support our aging population, innovative and socially interactive digital media services, and the potential for self-regulating and adaptive environmental monitoring systems. Such applications reflect key themes within CLARITY's innovative demonstrator programme and are enabled through the combination of adaptive sensing and information discovery technologies that form the core of CLARITY's far-reaching research programme together with an impressive consortium of industrial partners.
VISION: BRIDGING THE MOLECULAR-DIGITAL DIVIDE
CLARITY is a unique, multi-disciplinary research centre. It reflects an ambitious vision to spearhead the evolution of the new science that is emerging at the intersection between two important research areas - Adaptive Sensing and Information Discovery. It will lead to the development of innovative new technologies of critical importance to Irish industry in areas such as personal health, digital media and the environment, which will impact positively on the quality of life of people.
The overarching theme of CLARITY's research programme - bringing information to life - refers to the harvesting and harnessing of large volumes of sensed information, from both physical and digital domains. Through this, we will begin to genuinely bridge the molecular-digital divide by inter-connecting the nanoscale world of molecular recognition and transduction with the digital world of sensed data, information extraction, and content delivery. To drive commercial activity, CLARITY, in partnership with Irish industry, will create strategic intellectual property that will underpin significant and sustainable high-value job creation opportunities in application domains critical for the continuing development of Ireland's knowledge based economy.
