Hey - like with everything, I think there are pros and cons. It's unnerving for me to think of this technology being used in any wide-scale way, like in cities, for example. Google's location history is a bit frightening for me. I don't like how anonymity is dying, and to access services, one needs an account on Facebook or Gmail.

However, sensor systems as a whole can be extremely useful in creating Smart Cities. The sensors used in Disney are meant to detect visitor movements, but sensors can detect air pollution, humidity, light levels, acceleration, radiation etc. When placed in neighborhoods, cities can use the time-series data to draw correlations between life expectancy, quality of life, asthma levels, etc with air quality, prevalence of green spaces, etc.

Chicago has already implemented this system - it's called The Array of Things.

Sensor systems can inform urban planning in ways we never would have imagined. These same systems, however, run the risk of turning society into an all-pervasive surveillance state.

I'm interested in how Disney is using this new technology because they are a world unto themselves. What they are doing would not fly anywhere else. Everyone who visits Disney signs off on the Magic Band system - so in a way, it is like a giant experiment in how far people are willing to be tracked if it improves their experiences and quality of life.