The U.S. government and technology companies have reached an agreement which will open up more spectrum for wireless communications. It is already easy and inexpensive to set up wireless networks, and most new computers now come with the necessary hardware. Therefore, there is no reason that new educational or museum projects can not be wirelessly connected to eachother and/or the Internet.

Trend: Cameras Everywhere

Japan's NTT has enabled an obvious merger of technologies: Linking a mobile phone with a broadband-connected computer to create a simple videophone system. The latest generation (3G) phones from NTT all come with a digital camera built in, so it is a simple step to use it as a video input device. Other new phones (T-Mobile, for example) allow users to snap stills and send them instantly over the cellular network. Apple has recently released free software to very simply broadcast video from a computer over the Internet.

This continues the general trend toward cameras being absolutely ubiquitous, meaning not only that you will be watched and recorded wherever you are, but that individuals will be able to record anything, anywhere. In museums and in classrooms, visitors and students will be able to simple and discreetly send pictures and live video. This will happen no matter what steps institutions take to thwart it, so it is in their best interest to plan for it in advance, and take advantage of it. Pair a webcam with simple motion-tracking software such as EvoCam or something slightly more advanced such as TrackThemColors.