We live in an era of relentless and accelerating change, driven by demographic, social and economic developments. Every day, more and more of us consume the planet's limited natural resources. Our impact on the planet is increasing due to urbanization, energy consumption, waste production, etc., and this impact is not without consequences. Pollution levels are increasing in our environment, with corresponding effects on our health and well-being. From clouds of smog in cities to pollution of our drinking water to simply being denied enough peace to sleep soundly at night, human activity has a huge impact on us and our planet . Major changes in the way we work and live over the last century mean that we also lead a much more sedentary lifestyle. This has led to an increase in public health problems, such as obesity, arteriosclerosis, cancer, chronic liver diseases and other lifestyle diseases. Increasing life expectancy is placing greater pressures on our healthcare systems as the world's population continues to age. Governments are being forced to cut programs such as home health care assistance to reduce growing costs. The current model is simply not fit for the future. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay We also need to shift our fundamental approach to healthcare from a reactive model to one focused on wellness. Here the emphasis is on keeping people healthy for as long as possible at the lowest cost to the system. It's important to provide people with actionable information about their health and the factors that influence it, positively or negatively. Systems that provide easy access to data on exercise, diet, ambient environment, etc., as well as intelligent data processing and presentation, are essential to supporting sustainable behavior change. It is a world full of challenges and in need of solutions to solve major global problems. Technologies such as sensors can provide us with the tools needed to help us address many of the important global challenges of the 21st century. Sensors play a vital role in many modern industrial applications, including food processing and daily monitoring of activities such as transportation, air quality, medical activities. therapeutics, and many more. While sensors have been around for over a century, modern sensors with integrated information and communications technology (ICT) capabilities – smart sensors – have been around for just over three decades. Remarkable advances have been made in computing capabilities, storage, power management and a variety of form factors, connectivity options and software development environments. These advances have occurred alongside a significant evolution in detection capabilities. We have seen the emergence of biosensors that are now found in various consumer products, such as pregnancy, cholesterol, allergy and fertility tests. The rapid development and commercialization of low-cost microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors, such as 3D accelerometer sensors, features LCD displays for integration into a diverse range of devices from cars to smartphones. The sensorsAffordable semiconductors have catalyzed new areas of ambient sensing platforms, such as those for home air quality monitoring. The diverse range of low-cost sensors has promoted the emergence of ubiquitous sensing. Sensors and sensor networks can now be worn or integrated into our living environment or even into our clothing with minimal impact on our daily lives. Data from these sensors promises to support new paradigms of proactive healthcare with early detection of potential problems, e.g. risk of heart disease (high cholesterol levels), liver disease (high bilirubin levels in the urine), anemia (ferritin level in the blood), etc. Sensors are increasingly used to monitor everyday activities, such as exercise, with instant access to our performance through smartphones. The relationship between our well-being and our surrounding environment is changing. Sensor technologies now allow ordinary citizens to obtain information about air and water quality and other environmental issues, such as noise pollution. Sharing and socializing this data online supports evolving concepts of LCD citizen sensing. As people contribute their data online, crowdsourced maps of parameters such as air quality over large geographic areas can be generated and shared. While all of these advances are remarkable and contribute significantly and positively to the lives of many people, a word of caution is also in order. As Richard Feynman points out, reality must take precedence over public relations. Sensors should not be seen as a panacea for all our problems. Rather, they should be seen as extremely useful tools. As always, the right tool is needed for the right job and, like any complex tool, sensors and sensor systems have their strengths and weaknesses. It is essential to carefully tailor the sensor and its operational characteristics to the use case of interest. A Brief History of Sensors The emergence of the first thermostat in 1883 is considered by some to be the first modern sensor. Since then, countless forms of sensors have emerged, based on a variety of principles. The first sensors were simple devices, measuring a quantity of interest and producing some form of mechanical, electrical, or optical output signal. In the last decade alone, computing, ubiquitous communications, web connectivity, smart mobile devices, and cloud integration have enormously enriched the capabilities of sensors. Sensing in healthcare has, until recently, been limited primarily to use in hospitals, with limited adoption outside of this environment. Technological developments and care models support adoption by patients, home care providers, public authorities and individuals who want to proactively manage their health and well-being. For example, the biosensor concept was first proposed by Clarke and Lyons in 1962. The glucose biosensor concept was brought to commercial fruition in 1975 by the Yellow Springs Instrument Company. Biosensors have evolved rapidly in the years since, becoming a multi-billion dollar industry. They are now found in a wide variety of health-related over-the-counter applications, such as home testing for AIDS or pregnancy, and allergy detection, to name a few. More recently, the.