Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
In this paper, we introduce the "Plug" sensor network, a ubiquitous networked sensing platform ideally suited to broad deployment in environments where people work and live. The backbone of the Plug sensor network is a set of 35 sensor-, radio-, and computation-enabled power strips distributed throughout the third oor of the MIT Media Lab. A single Plug device fulfills all the functional requirements of a normal power strip (i.e., four 120V, 60Hz electrical outlets; surge protector circuit; standard electrical connector to a US-style wall socket), and can be used without special training. Additionally, each Plug has a wide range of sensing modalities (e.g., sound, light, electrical current and voltage, vibration, motion, and temperature) for gathering data about how it is being used and its nearby environment. To our knowledge, the Plug sensor network is the first to embody the idea of designing sensor nodes to seamlessly become a part of their environment, rather than play the role of alien, if unobtrusive, observers. We argue this design principle is essential for sensor networks to succeed in the realm of ubiquitous computing.
Lifton et al. (Mon,) studied this question.