Advances in embedded systems, wireless networking, and sensing capabilities - supported by Federal investment in the last 20 years - have transformed the way we collect and respond to information gathered from the physical world. Sensors are increasingly an integral part of our daily lives. For example, the modern automobile is composed of hundreds of small processors and sensors all seamlessly coordinating with each other in the background to enable efficient operation of the car, but more importantly, to provide critical safety capabilities (anti-lock braking, traction control, collision avoidance, etc.). Once luxury features, many of these are now mandated ("standard") in cars. In this way, the car is illustrative of a world in which computing is becoming "invisible" - sensing and providing feedback to control systems to operate behind the scenes, while still providing just enough information back to the human.

With the advent of low-cost embedded sensing platforms, such a vision is being extended to many other parts of our lives, including energy and resource management, health care, and home safety. For example, the Microsoft Kinect, which was originally intended as a gaming platform, is having huge impact in areas such as smart home sensing and surgical robotics.

In another example, there has been significant work in the development of a new generation of electricity, water, and natural gas measurement systems that are low-cost, easy-to-install, and, most importantly, capable of providing information on consumption down to the individual appliance or devices. The aim is to provide high granularity resource sensing systems for homes and businesses that will fundamentally transform how end uses of electricity, water, and natural gas are understood and studied and, ultimately, how those resources are consumed. A common approach to resource management is viable: a retrofit solution of monitoring side-effects of resource usage that are manifest throughout a home's internal electricity, plumbing, or gas infrastructure through the combination of clever sensing and machine learning. Sensing this information presents an enormous benefit to various stakeholders including residents, utilities and policy makers. Households can now better understand their consumption practices, determine easy and cost-effective measures to increase their energy efficiency, and ultimately reduce their overall consumption. Even a 10 to 15 percent reduction in electricity use across U.S. homes would be substantial, representing nearly 200 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. It is advances in sensing and embedded systems that are making this vision a reality.