Multimedia sensor networks are now widely deployed for emerging applications mediating the interactions between humans and machines. In these new applications exploration and interaction are not only by end-users alone but also actively implicate environments generally consisting of a large number of devices (robots, surveillance devices, sensors and so on) each of which has diverse characteristics and interacts selectively in dynamic manner. It is generally high-speed computerized network sustaining these environments.
Sensor-based multimedia applications rely on distributed system for collecting and exchanging device data. However, these systems are still emerging and they have a lack of customizability for data collection and management. They also don't scale to a large number of devices because large volumes of raw data are transferred without query-type optimization. Such systems require distributed multimedia systems, visual interfaces and visualization to support it, and one major application is in distance education.
Sensor-based applications lead to Environment-Aware Software Engineering (EASE). It can be regarded as a generalization of the iterative model: The software life cycle is iterative, but can move upward or downward into another software life cycle due to changes in the environment. The recognition of environmental changes can be accomplished by the Slow Intelligence technology.