Kun Qian

Perception of human beings has evolved from natural biosensor to powerful sensors and sensor networks. In sensor networks, trillions of devices are interconnected and sense a broad spectrum of contexts for human beings, laying the foundation of Internet of Things (IoT). However, sensor technologies have several limitations relating to deployment cost and usability, which render them unacceptable for practical use. Consequently, the pursuit of convenience in human perception necessitates a wireless, sensorless and contactless sensing paradigm. Recent decades have witnessed rapid developments in wireless sensing technologies, in which sensors detect wireless signals (such as acoustic, light, and radio frequency) originally designed for data transmission or lighting. By analyzing the signal measurements on the receiver end, channel characteristics can be obtained to convey the sensing results. Currently, significant effort is being devoted to employing the ambient Wi-Fi, RFID, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and television signals for smart wireless sensing, eliminating the need for dedicated sensors and promoting the prospect of the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT). This book provides a comprehensive and in-depth discussion of wireless sensing technologies. Specifically, with a particular focus on Wi-Fi-based sensing for understanding human behavior, it adopts a top-down approach to introduce three key topics: human detection, localization, and activity recognition. Presenting the latest advances in smart wireless sensing based on an extensive review of state-of-the-art research, it promotes the further development of this area and also contributes to interdisciplinary research.

Perception of human beings has evolved from natural biosensor to powerful sensors and sensor networks. In sensor networks, trillions of devices are interconnected and sense a broad spectrum of contexts for human beings, laying the foundation of Internet of Things (IoT). However, sensor technologies have several limitations relating to deployment cost and usability, which render them unacceptable for practical use. Consequently, the pursuit of convenience in human perception necessitates a wireless, sensorless and contactless sensing paradigm. Recent decades have witnessed rapid developments in wireless sensing technologies, in which sensors detect wireless signals (such as acoustic, light, and radio frequency) originally designed for data transmission or lighting. By analyzing the signal measurements on the receiver end, channel characteristics can be obtained to convey the sensing results. Currently, significant effort is being devoted to employing the ambient Wi-Fi, RFID, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and television signals for smart wireless sensing, eliminating the need for dedicated sensors and promoting the prospect of the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT). This book provides a comprehensive and in-depth discussion of wireless sensing technologies. Specifically, with a particular focus on Wi-Fi-based sensing for understanding human behavior, it adopts a top-down approach to introduce three key topics: human detection, localization, and activity recognition. Presenting the latest advances in smart wireless sensing based on an extensive review of state-of-the-art research, it promotes the further development of this area and also contributes to interdisciplinary research.

Imperial-Time-Order is an engagingly written critical study on a persistent historical way of thinking in modern China. Defined as normalization of unification and moralization of time, Qian suggests, the imperial-time-order signifies a temporal structure of empire that has continued to shape the way modern China developed itself conceptually. Weaving together intellectual debates with literary and media representations of imperial history since the late Qing period, ranging from novels, stage plays, films, to television series, Qian traces the different temporalities of each period and takes “time” as the analytical node by which issues of empire, nation, family, morality, individual and collective subjectivity are constructed and contested.