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The "Five Senses" of IoT: Sensor Application Categories, Hot Research Directions, and Future Trends
In the IoT era, sensors are the "five senses" of all things.
When discussing the Internet of Things (IoT), the part often overlooked yet most critical is the front-end perception capability. Humans rely on eyes to see the world, ears to hear sounds, skin to feel temperature, nose to smell, and tongue to taste—these senses collectively form our complete perception of the external world. Similarly, in IoT systems, sensors play an almost identical role: they are the system’s data entry points, the only channel to "perceive the world".
Without high-performance, reliable, durable, and low-power sensors, even the most advanced communication protocols, edge computing, and AI algorithms remain theoretical.
By 2026, with the full-scale deployment of 5G-A, 6G pre-research, AIoT, and national strategies such as smart manufacturing, smart cities, and carbon neutrality, sensor technology has become one of the core variables determining whether IoT can truly scale.
Two Basic Categories of Sensors
Based on working principles, mainstream sensors can be clearly divided into two categories:
1. Physical Sensors
Mainly detect physical quantities such as force, light, sound, electricity, heat, magnetism, and radiation. They are the most widely used and form most of the “muscle” of the IoT perception layer.
Common subcategories include:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Mechanical | Pressure, torque, acceleration, displacement, vibration, flow, hardness, density |
| Optical | Visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, imaging, fiber optic sensors |
| Acoustic | Sound waves, ultrasound, infrasound |
| Electrical | Current, voltage, electric field, resistance |
| Thermal | Temperature, heat flux, thermal conductivity |
| Magnetic | Magnetic field strength, magnetic flux |
| Radiation | X-ray, gamma ray, beta ray |
(Image description: Collection of various physical sensors, from micro MEMS accelerometers to industrial-grade pressure transmitters)
2. Chemical Sensors (Including Biosensors)
Primarily detect chemical components, gas concentrations, ions, humidity, and biomolecules with high selectivity. They are indispensable "chemical noses" in environmental monitoring, healthcare, and food safety.
Typical examples:
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Gas Sensors | VOC, CO, CO₂, NO₂, CH₄, O₃, etc. |
| Humidity Sensors | Relative humidity |
| Ion Sensors | pH, specific ion concentrations |
| Biosensors | Blood glucose, lactate, cardiac biomarkers, pathogen antigens |
(Image description: Array-style gas sensor module compared with wearable continuous glucose monitoring sensor)
Top Five Research and Industry Hotspots for Sensors in 2026
1. Ultra-Low Power Wireless Sensors and Long-Life Self-Powered Technology
In outdoor, pipeline, bridge, high-altitude, or mine scenarios where wiring or battery replacement is difficult, power consumption is always the primary challenge.
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Energy harvesting (vibration, thermal, light, RF) + supercapacitor/solid-state thin-film battery combination
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Sub-threshold circuit design + event-driven wake-up mechanism
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Extremely lightweight protocol stacks (based on 6LoWPAN, Matter, Thread)
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Goal: Single sensor operates 5–10 years maintenance-free
2. High-Performance MEMS and Advanced Micro/Nano Fabrication
MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) sensors have evolved from consumer electronics to industrial, medical, and aerospace applications.
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3D/heterogeneous integration (Silicon + III-V materials + 2D materials)
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Atomic-level precision fabrication (EUV lithography, atomic layer deposition ALD)
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On-chip AI accelerators for edge feature extraction and anomaly detection
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New sensitive materials: Graphene, MXene, perovskites for ultra-high sensitivity gas/pressure sensing
3. Reliability Leap in Wireless Self-Organizing and Mesh Networks
Applications such as V2X, drone swarms, post-disaster emergency communication, and underground inspection require decentralized, self-healing, rapidly reconfigurable networks.
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AI-assisted routing and topology optimization (deep reinforcement learning)
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Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) combined with deterministic wireless access
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Blockchain-based distributed identity and data trust
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Multi-hop low-latency transmission (target <10ms)
4. AIoT Era: Computing Power Moving to the Edge and Sensor Nodes
Sensors are no longer dumb endpoints but micro-computing nodes with basic intelligence.
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Tiny neural networks (TinyML) running on sensors
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Event-triggered AI inference, waking the main link only on anomalies
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Sensor-level federated learning to protect privacy while achieving collective intelligence
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Multi-modal fusion (temperature + vibration + sound + gas) for edge-side prediction
5. Domestic Sensor Chip Production and Supply Chain Autonomy
Due to international situations, domestic production of high-end analog chips, MEMS processes, sensitive materials, and packaging/testing has accelerated.
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High-precision MEMS pressure/inertial sensors
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Industrial-grade infrared imaging chips
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High-performance SiPM/SPAD for LiDAR
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Third-generation semiconductors (GaN, SiC) RF front-end and power devices
Conclusion: Perception Determines the Upper Limit of Intelligence
No matter how powerful the cloud computing, how fast 5G/6G is, or how intelligent AI models are, without sufficient, reliable, and low-cost "senses" to perceive the world, everything is just a castle in the air.
In 2026, IoT is moving from "connectivity of all things" to "intelligent and perceptive connectivity of all things." The starting and ending point of this transformation lies in the small sensor chip.
As long-term practitioners in the IoT perception field, Nexisense firmly believes: whoever masters the next-generation high-performance sensors holds the key to the smart world of the next decade.
