Better wireless technology helps us play more games and stream more movies on our smartphones, but Qualcomm's executive vice president, Matt Grob points to another area for its use. The tech innovator talked shop as a digital panelist for a new White House Google Hangout series "We the Geeks."
From the comfort of his computer chair, Grob listed off the many niche uses of mainstream cellular networks.
"...To really connect up lots of devices, health care devices, energy-monitoring devices to improve the efficiency of the grid, connect to vehicles to improve their performance and also safety…" he said.
Grob's words were streamed live on the White House homepage, and moderators took questions via Twitter to put some of today's leading innovators on the spot.
Grob was among those fielding inquires about the future of science, technology and innovation.
Like the intersection of wireless technology and healthcare.
"We do know that if you look forward and you do some calculations on the number hospital rooms and the population, and also the effect of being able to diagnose and reduce the latency -- the amount of time between diagnosis and treatment -- all of those things point to a strong application of wireless to really improve the whole healthcare system," Grob said.
He pointed to Qualcomm's tricorder challenge, which calls on the public to invent a mobile health gadget based on the one from Star Trek.
"The end goal is basically to greatly improve or revolutionize diagnosis and wireless medicine with this device," he said.
Grob's remarks were part of the first "We The Geeks" series, which aims to highlight the future of science, technology and innovation.
