  Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) are considered one of the key
disruptive technologies towards future 6G networks. RISs revolutionize the
traditional wireless communication paradigm by controlling the wave propagation
properties of the impinging signals as required. A major roadblock for RIS is
though the need for a fast and complex control channel to continuously adapt to
the ever-changing wireless channel conditions. In this paper, we ask ourselves
the question: Would it be feasible to remove the need for control channels for
RISs? We analyze the feasibility of devising Self-Configuring Smart Surfaces
that can be easily and seamlessly installed throughout the environment,
following the new Internet-of-Surfaces (IoS) paradigm, without requiring
modifications of the deployed mobile network. To this aim, we design MARISA, a
self-configuring metasurfaces absorption and reflection solution, and show that
it can achieve a better-than-expected performance rivaling with control
channel-driven RISs.
