<s>
Supranet	B-Device
is	O
a	O
term	O
coined	O
at	O
the	O
turn	O
of	O
the	O
21st	O
century	O
by	O
information	O
technology	O
analysis	O
firm	O
Gartner	O
to	O
describe	O
the	O
fusion	O
of	O
the	O
physical	O
and	O
the	O
digital	O
(	O
virtual	O
)	O
worlds	O
,	O
a	O
concept	O
that	O
embeds	O
the	O
"	O
Internet	B-Operating_System
of	I-Operating_System
things	I-Operating_System
"	O
as	O
one	O
of	O
its	O
elements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
its	O
inception	O
in	O
2000	O
,	O
the	O
term	O
was	O
alluding	O
to	O
the	O
ongoing	O
convergence	O
of	O
the	O
Internet	O
,	O
mobile	O
communications	O
,	O
always-on	O
connectivity	O
,	O
sensors	B-Application
and	O
advanced	O
human-computer	O
interaction	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
subsequent	O
elaborations	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
extended	O
to	O
include	O
electronic	O
tagging	O
(	O
via	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
RFID	B-Application
)	O
,	O
geotagging	O
and	O
electronic	O
geomapping	O
(	O
i.e.	O
,	O
mapping	O
internet	O
coordinates	O
to	O
geodetic	O
coordinates	O
)	O
,	O
thereby	O
completing	O
the	O
fusion	O
of	O
physical	O
and	O
virtual	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Collectively	O
,	O
those	O
publications	O
anticipated	O
the	O
following	O
trends	O
,	O
all	O
subsumed	O
under	O
the	O
"	O
Supranet	B-Device
"	O
heading	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
increase	O
of	O
miniature	O
intelligent	O
devices	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
microelectromechanical	B-Architecture
systems	I-Architecture
or	O
RFID	B-Application
tags	I-Application
,	O
already	O
numbered	O
by	O
the	O
billions	O
in	O
2001	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
fact	O
that	O
all	O
or	O
most	O
such	O
objects	O
will	O
be	O
networked	O
via	O
the	O
wireless	O
Internet	O
(	O
the	O
"	O
Internet	B-Operating_System
of	I-Operating_System
things	I-Operating_System
"	O
)	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
fact	O
that	O
the	O
planet	O
's	O
surface	O
will	O
be	O
mapped	O
in	O
the	O
internet	O
,	O
either	O
via	O
ad	O
hoc	O
GIS	B-Application
's	O
or	O
in	O
more-definitive	O
ways	O
such	O
as	O
assigning	O
an	O
IP	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
to	O
every	O
square	O
meter	O
on	O
earth	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
practical	O
common	O
example	O
of	O
Supranet	B-Device
is	O
photography	O
geotagging	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
done	O
in	O
Flickr	B-Algorithm
,	O
Panoramio	B-Algorithm
or	O
Picasa	B-Application
,	O
perhaps	O
(	O
although	O
not	O
necessarily	O
)	O
using	O
GPS-enabled	O
cameras	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
will	O
be	O
possible	O
to	O
attach	O
electronic	O
information	O
to	O
places	O
,	O
from	O
the	O
botanic	O
description	O
of	O
plants	O
on	O
mountain	O
trails	O
to	O
the	O
projection	O
of	O
ancient	O
Rome	O
onto	O
the	O
actual	O
vision	O
of	O
the	O
current	O
landscape	O
from	O
the	O
Pincio	O
;	O
it	O
will	O
be	O
possible	O
for	O
products	O
to	O
self-determine	O
their	O
paths	O
along	O
supply	O
chains	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
auto-assemble	O
;	O
it	O
will	O
be	O
possible	O
to	O
grow	O
cyborgs	B-Application
resembling	O
fiction	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
threshold	O
between	O
space	O
and	O
cyberspace	B-General_Concept
blurs	O
,	O
and	O
eventually	O
it	O
may	O
even	O
be	O
unclear	O
whether	O
we	O
are	O
in	O
one	O
or	O
in	O
the	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
concept	O
of	O
Supranet	B-Device
has	O
been	O
ever	O
since	O
talked	O
about	O
in	O
the	O
media	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
used	O
in	O
scientific	O
research	O
and	O
product	O
development	O
;	O
one	O
remarkable	O
example	O
of	O
large-scale	O
project	O
heavily	O
influenced	O
by	O
the	O
Supranet	B-Device
is	O
"	O
Virtual	O
Australia	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
of	O
his	O
subsequent	O
works	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
)	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
Gartner	O
authors	O
made	O
it	O
clear	O
that	O
there	O
were	O
several	O
precursors	O
to	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
Supranet	B-Device
,	O
crediting	O
David	O
Gelernter	O
,	O
G.W.	O
</s>
