SXSW Interactive: Buddhism and the Internet of Things

I’ll be joining a panel at the SXSW Interactive Festival this year exploring Buddhism and the Internet of Things. Here’s a description of what we’ll be exploring in the panel, and about my fellow panelists:

For millennia, eastern philosophers have talked about the “interconnectedness of all things;” the idea of an invisible web that links together beings and objects, organic and inorganic. For the first time in human history, this idea is becoming physically manifest as we begin to network more and more objects—and even our own bodies—with the help of WiFi, sensors, and RFID. These technologies are turning up in everything from grocery packaging to household devices to self-monitoring tools like the FitBit and JawBone Up, and pointing to a future in which the minute details of our lives will be coordinated online. But could all this connectedness make us better people? In this fascinating session, we’ll bring together a researcher examining the trends of quantified self and “the Internet of things” (Sara Öhrvall from Bonnier R&D), a top connected-product designer (Matt Rolandson of Ammunition Group), and tech-savvy Buddhism teacher Vincent Horn, who will shed light on what the networked future might mean for human spirituality.

In order to attend the panel you’ll need to have tickets to the Interactive Festival, which you can snag here: sxsw.com/interactive