Participatory sensing: applications and architecture

Participatory sensing is the process whereby individuals and communities use ever-more-capable mobile phones and cloud services to collect and analyze systematic data for use in discovery. The convergence of technology and analytical innovation with a citizenry that is increasingly comfortable using mobile phones and online social networking sets the stage for this technology to dramatically impact many aspects of our daily lives. Participatory sensing can serve as a powerful "make a case" technology to support advocacy and civic engagement. It can provide a framework in which citizens can bring to light a civic bottleneck, hazard, personal-safety concern, cultural asset, or other data relevant to urban and natural-resources planning and services, all using data that are systematic and can be validated (http://whatsinvasive.com.) The same systems can be used as tools for sustainability. For example, individuals and communities can explore their transportation and consumption habits and corporations can promote more sustainable practices among employees (http://peir.cens.ucla.edu and http://biketastic.com.)