I believe the concept of Mesh VR Sensors will be the future of IoT…

As more and more intelligent IoT devices hit the market I find myself wondering. That usually isn’t a good thing when I wonder. In this case I suspect it isn’t a good thing.

Intelligent sensors can act on data received and modify the future collection of data based on the received information. I think combining the concept of a VR Mesh© sensor system with intelligent sensors will become the next big IoT thing.

Mesh sensors are capable not only of acting as a single sensor but also acting as a collective sensor. That concept is a game changer in the end because not only do you get the information expected but also see the ripple of that information in the overall view. I call it a VR mesh© in that it becomes a viewable VR that adds the human ability to track to the mix. The concept of adding VR simply allows the human to see, track and decide quickly. Computer and automated systems can act independently but in the end you need a human for that final decision.

That market mix that becomes mesh sensors will change a lot of things. For example you can using mesh sensors get a much better picture of the impact of a storm or natural disaster. By watching the sensors go off-line you quickly see where the surge of a storm is or where the problem areas are going to be. It allows the deployment of emergency crews more effectively. Be in the places people will need help.

Now the next tier beyond intelligent sensors is creating an intelligent mesh. Like the storage arrays that appeared a few years ago, an intelligent mesh would support fault tolerance and automatic rerouting within the mesh itself. This means that given a disaster large enough to impact the full mesh, the information would still get out.

It brings up the concept then broadly of where IoT information ultimately lives. On the sensor, in the mesh or into the presentation layer? In the end the answer isn’t completely clear yet. It does however lend itself to presenting an interesting concept.

The impact of IoT sensor information

1. This information requires immediate human interaction/decision

2. This information requires review but no immediate interaction

3. This information should trigger the smart sensor to continue gathering the original data but to now also modify and gather additional data.

Map that information then to the device you are using to receive that information and suddenly you have the mesh in front of you. (and around you, behind you etc.). You can being to ascertain the impact of the information you need against the information being provided.

The rationale behind my belief in the vast potential of IoT VR Mesh has to do with the reality of sensors. Ultimately smart sensors will dominate the market. The sensor will become an array. More than one sensor data type collected to prevent someone from overloading the intelligent sensor. Light shined directly into a video camera causes it to lose images. But if you include an infrared camera, or have a video mesh then attacking any one sensor is useless. The mesh allows the deployment of multiple sensors in a space. You can also include motion, infra-red, carbon dioxide or other atmospheric changes and it becomes really hard to overwhelm the sensor.

Building a mesh sensor network would also involve considering the reality of the network. You would probably want to have multiple points of data ingress and egress. You would probably want to create a dual if not triple mesh. Where you have Bluetooth BLE connectivity, Wi-Fi connection and cellular connectivity for the various sensors. That way the very act of jamming a mesh creates an alert for the sensors monitoring the actual mesh. Data resilience, providing information in the manner that it is relevant (see above) to sensors intelligence to gather additional data or in the end to humans to make a decision.

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Scott Andersen

IASA Fellow