The Future of Data Collection Using Smart Devices

George Yu, PhDCEO / Variable, Inc

Why do we measure?

Town X Town Y

So that we can all talk about the same thing

What is measurement accuracy and precision?

The Digital Revolution

Temperature SensorAnalog

~100CAccuracy: +/- 5C

Analog to DigitalConverter

100.12567C

The World of Sensors is Changing

Sensors

Digitizers

+ Digital Sensors

ComputersEmbedded Systemsw/ Wifi

Internet of Things (IoT)

• Connected collecting

• Infinite data points

• Centralized data in the cloud

IoT for the masses

First came the government and

enterprise based IoT

Nest thermostat

Netatmo Weather

StationNODE

IoT devices are now widely available for consumers

Mobile Centric Sensing

Sensors+

1.5 Billion smartphones in the world by end of 2013

Smartphone Sensors

Trend of putting sensors in smartphones

Accelerometer

Gyroscope

Magnetometer

Barometer

Temperature

Humidity

Proximity

Light sensor

GPS

Cameras

Microphone

Samsung Galaxy S4

Smartphone as a sensor hub

• Mobility

• Low power consumption

• Low cost

• Allow user interface with data and device

Activity tracker

Soil moisture

Body weight

Blood pressure

NODE

9 DOF motionTemperatureHumidityPressureAmbient LightSurface ColorChemical GasesRadiationBarcodeRFID

Sensors are everywhere

Cheap sensor system

Data Cloud

100.25687C

Accuracy of +/- 5C sensor

We assume data is accurate at 100.25687C

Date Time Temp

05/09/2013 09:48:20.19 100.25687

05/09/2013 09:49:21:87 99.881234

05/09/2013/10/2013

09:50:21.55 98.77421

05/09/2013 09:51:29.28 103.91876

Improper use of sensors

Metal OxideCarbon

Monoxide sensor

Inaccurate sensorprone to bias from

temperature, humidity,

and other gases

On/Off Logic

High resolutiondigitizer

Many poor sensors ≠ good data

•Garbage in garbage out

•A lot of garbage in is still just a lot of garbage out

•A lot of poor sensors means it is harder to extract information

How to get good sensor data?

•Many sensors are not independentGet sensor data in multiple dimensions in context of sensor attributes

Metal OxideCarbon

Monoxide sensor

Temperature

Humidity

Pressure

H2

Know your sensor - know your data

•Your data are just as good as the sensor that measured themBig Data - Small Data - care about good data!

Future of Data Collection

•Rise of mobile sensing data

•Multi-dimensional sensor data

•Sensor accuracy matters