Re: [via Web of Sensors Community Group]

On Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 1:39 PM, Peter Waher wrote:
> Hello Arthur
> 
> My points of view on the difference:
> 
> A semantic sensor network is a network of sensors which you connect into a Grid, using semantic technologies (RDF, SPARQL, etc.). I.e. you'll be able to query the grid of sensors, and work with linked data. A semantic sensor network does not necessarily need to be published on the web or using web technologies (not even HTTP, could be XMPP for instance). Semantic technologies forms part of what some call web 3.0. Often, communication with a single sensor, or group of sensors from a single vendor using a single technology is not as interesting as the connected information of sensors with linked data concerning the environment.
With all due respect, I don't agree that a "semantic sensor network" needs to be defined in terms of semantic web technologies. You can have a perfectly "semantic" network without the use of those technologies.   

However, if the Semantic Sensor Network CG wants to exclusively focus on the application of Semantic Web technologies to constructing semantic sensor networks, then that gives us a good point of difference/departure. The Web of Sensors CG can focus on a more generalized framework that does not rely on Semantic Web technologies (unless there is a demonstratively beneficial reason to do so that would benefit the Web at large). 
> The aim of Web sensors is a little more unclear in my eyes, even though it sounds interesting: Perhaps one of its goals may be to develop API's for communicating with sensors on a web platform (browser or server-side APIs?). Surely will be useful for app-developers and web-developers wanting to communicate with sensors.

Yes, that is exactly correct. Once we can actually talk to sensors in the browser, then we can start to network then together into "semantic" networks. But the first step is just to be able to talk to them "natively", which currently we don't have a means to do through Javascript.

Received on Wednesday, 22 February 2012 14:09:13 UTC