Before becoming a new hotspot in 2015, it is necessary to understand what this new concept means and what its relationship is with other Internet concepts.
In April 2013, the German government officially launched the “Industry 4.0” strategy at the Hannover Industrial Fair, aiming to enhance the competitiveness of German industry and seize the initiative in the new round of industrial revolution.
The German academic and industrial sectors believe that the concept of “Industry 4.0” is the fourth industrial revolution led by intelligent manufacturing or revolutionary production methods. This strategy aims to transform manufacturing into intelligence by fully utilizing information and communication technology and virtual systems in cyberspace—information physical systems (Cyber-Physical Systems).
Germany’s Industry 4.0 does not explicitly state its relationship with the Internet; simply put, countless industries have been impacted by the Internet wave, and the Internet has begun to transform industrial manufacturing.
In a paper on the evolution of the Internet published in 2007, we proposed that “the Internet will evolve towards a direction highly similar to the human brain; it will possess its own visual, auditory, tactile, and motor nervous systems, as well as its own memory nervous system, central nervous system, and autonomic nervous system, meaning that the Internet is forming an Internet brain,” and we illustrated the following future structure of the Internet:
In 2014, we used this diagram to analyze the relationship between the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, and the Internet:
1.The Internet of Things is the sensory nervous system of the Internet brain. This is because the Internet of Things emphasizes the concept of sensor perception, and it also possesses functions such as network transmission, information storage and processing, and industry application interfaces. Moreover, it often shares servers, network lines, and application interfaces with the Internet, enabling communication between people (Human to Human, H2H), between people and things (Human to Thing, H2T), and between things (Thing to Thing, T2T), ultimately merging human society, information space, and the physical world (human-machine-thing) into one.
2.Cloud computing is the central nervous system of the Internet brain. In the architecture of the Internet virtual brain, the central nervous system unifies the core hardware layer, core software layer, and Internet information layer to support and serve various virtual nervous systems of the Internet. From a definitional standpoint, cloud computing aligns closely with the characteristics of the central nervous system of the Internet virtual brain. Ideally, sensors from the Internet of Things and users of the Internet interact with cloud computing through network lines and computer terminals, providing data to cloud computing and receiving services from it.
3.Big data is the foundation for the wisdom and consciousness of the Internet, as well as the source of the arrival of the Internet dream era. As the Internet brain matures, virtual reality technology begins to enter a whole new era. Unlike traditional virtual reality, this new era is no longer just the overlay of virtual images and real scenes (AR), nor is it merely the display of three-dimensional images on a large screen (VR). It is increasingly intertwined with big data and artificial intelligence, using vast amounts of data to enable artificial intelligence to serve virtual reality technology, allowing people to experience a sense of reality and interactivity, creating an illusion in the human brain, and interacting sensory perceptions such as vision, hearing, smell, and motion with the Internet dream system, generating a dream-like experience in a waking state (Realdream).
We can also see that Industry 4.0 or the industrial Internet is essentially the budding of the motor nervous system of the Internet, where the central nervous system of the Internet, that is, the software system in cloud computing, controls the production equipment of industrial enterprises, household appliances, and office devices through intelligentization, 3D printing, wireless sensing, and other technologies, transforming mechanical equipment into tools for the Internet brain to reshape the world. At the same time, these intelligent manufacturing and smart devices continuously feed big data back to the Internet brain for decision-making by the central nervous system of the Internet.
Overall, Western companies and theorists continuously propose new Internet concepts, which are still relatively fragmented. However, in essence, whether it is the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, mobile Internet, or Industry 4.0, they are all part of the future development of the Internet. They play different roles.
As China becomes increasingly advanced in the Internet field and combines with China’s advanced manufacturing industry, the development of the Internet motor nervous system is bound to surpass Germany and even catch up with the United States. Currently, the narrative in public opinion that Germany’s Industry 4.0 will outpace China, and that Industry 4.0 will replace platforms like Taobao and Tmall, is clearly unrelated and filled with suspicion of hype.
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