Sensing the sensor web

The maturity of pervasive computing and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) enables the development of smart environments in many scenarios, including surveillance and environmental monitoring. Extensive research efforts are being undertaken in sensor perception, data capture, management and interpretation. Such developments are a prerequisite for paradigms such as pervasive sensing and crowd-sourcing services. For mobile users, the issues of dynamic sensor discovery, data interpretation and visualization must be addressed if such services are to be realized in practice. This paper explores the genesis of a generic framework for heterogeneous sensor access and data visualization in remote contexts.