The Summer Northwestern

Now that you’ve finally untangled the World Wide Web, NU researchers are creating a new technology to transform the Internet again.

The International Center for Advanced Internet Research (iCAIR) is developing the “3rd Generation Internet,” which will transmit huge amounts of information at the speed of light.

“Currently you’re using a type of Internet that’s just text and graphics,” said iCAIR Director Joe Mambretti. “But the computer can do so much more.”

Introduced a decade ago, the Internet’s “1st Generation” allowed information to travel in packets through phone lines along a widely distributed network. The “2nd Generation,” using broadband channels instead of phone lines, improved the speed and quality of transfers.

And I-3G will perform thousands of times faster than that, at literally the speed of light. iCAIR is developing ways to send information as beams of light by breaking them up into colors and using each color as a channel.

This instantaneous transmission will perform functions from retrieving every TV show ever recorded to conducting meetings between multiple parties in scattered nations. Another revolutionary aspect of I-3G is its ability to transmit 3-D images.

“Look at a cell. If it’s a picture in a book, you can’t get inside it,” Mambretti said. “But if you take that picture and put it into a computer, you can go inside it to look at the molecules.”

With its detailed imaging, I-3G can create virtual environments, which, with help from surround-screen and surround-sound, simulate every aspect of reality. Such technology will be useful in a variety of fields, from molecular modeling to urban planning to education.

“Imagine a course in classics,” he said. “Instead of just talking about the era, you press a button and the whole world of ancient Greece comes into life … It’s not going to replace teaching, but it’s certainly a supplement.”

Derived two years ago, I-3G is in the early stages of development. While some elements are undergoing research, others have been put into production. Last year iCAIR helped the NU Radiology Department perform the world’s first multicast, transmitting 3-D images to more than 200 doctors in 30 countries for diagnosis.

Backed by the National Science Foundation, iCAIR also is working in conjunction with a number of prominent organizations, including NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy.

“Generally the technology first goes to large government agencies, then it will go to large and small corporations,” Mambretti said, adding that the public will have to wait a few years before being able to access it in their homes. But right now NU can take comfort in housing one of the nation’s premier computer research institutions.

“NU was a pioneer in developing the 1st- and 2nd-Generation Internet,” Mambretti said. “The nice thing about NU is that (I-3G) is going to appear here first.”

When its time comes, Mambretti said, I-3G’s reach won’t be limited to personal computers.

“What you want is to have information at your specific time and place, and that’s what we’re moving towards,” he said. “It’s not just computers, but your car, your house, your phone. The Internet will be everywhere.”

Given the dominance that iCAIR predicts, the challenge now is to fortify the Internet.

“Because the Internet will be so important, it will definitely have to be more secure and more reliable,” Mambretti said. “We’re certainly working on that.”

So until students can download songs, movies or TV shows in any form, at any time, in any language, they can enjoy in their dorm rooms a technology similar to what I-3G will offer.

“NUTV,” Mambretti said. “It’s a little bit of the world of the future.”

Campus Reporter Jean Luo is a Medill junior. She can be reached at [email protected].