alsoSensory

alsoSensory is a framework and ecosystem for multimodal sensing and processing intended to support AI systems, robotics, and proof-of-concept products. It standardizes interfaces for a broad range of sensing modalities, including cameras, microphones, haptic devices, thermal sensors, and physiological signals, enabling coordinated data collection and analysis.

Central to alsoSensory is a sensor abstraction layer, a multimodal fusion engine, and a privacy and policy module. The sensor layer provides uniform data streams and time stamps from diverse hardware. The fusion engine aligns streams in time and space, enabling downstream models to reason about combined perceptions. The architecture is designed to be extensible, allowing new sensor types and models to be integrated with minimal overhead.

Development and scope: The concept emerged in the early 2020s through collaboration among researchers in human-computer interaction, robotics, and artificial intelligence. It has been applied in academic prototypes and industry pilots to study how systems can respond to complex, multimodal inputs.

Applications include autonomous robots, augmented and virtual reality experiences that respond to user actions and state, assistive technologies that interpret user needs from multiple cues, and experimental interfaces for cognitive science. A visualization and tooling layer supports debugging and model benchmarking.

Limitations and challenges: Real-time multimodal processing demands substantial compute and bandwidth. Data governance, privacy, and consent are active concerns. Interoperability across devices and standardized benchmarks remain ongoing goals. AlsoSensory represents a federated, evolving approach rather than a single, monolithic solution, reflecting the broader trajectory of multimodal AI research.