Guest Editorial Special Issue on Next Generation of Sensors and Technologies for Human–Machine Interaction

As the field of human–machine interaction (HMI) continues to evolve, sensing technologies play an increasingly important role in enabling seamless and intelligent interaction. This Special Issue on “Next Generation of Sensors and Technologies for Human–Machine Interaction” highlights recent advances in sensor technologies, sensing systems, and intelligent data processing for emerging HMI in robotics, healthcare, smart environments, and wearable computing.

The Special Issue attracted strong interest from the research community. After rigorous peer review, 59 of 110 submissions were accepted. The contributions span key directions in modern HMI sensing technologies, including three review articles (one by guest editors) that provide overviews of emerging trends. Specifically, 18 articles focus on human activity and behavior sensing, eight on vision and environmental perception, six on wearable and physiological sensing, four on tactile and haptic sensing, and 20 on general advances in sensor technologies and systems for HMI.

Specifically, a significant portion of the articles focuses on sensing systems for human activity understanding and anticipation, presenting methods for capturing and interpreting motion, gestures, and behavioral patterns. Another group explores wearable sensing and physiological monitoring technologies for health monitoring and personalized healthcare. Several contributions investigate tactile sensing, haptic technologies, and immersive interaction systems, highlighting the growing importance of multimodal sensing in enhancing interaction performance. Additionally, some articles address scene understanding, visual sensing, and environmental perception, enabling machines to better understand their surroundings. Other works present advances in sensor architectures, signal processing, and intelligent sensing frameworks, improving accuracy, efficiency, and robustness through integration with AI and data-driven methods.

Taken together, the articles in this Special Issue illustrate the rapid progress in sensor technologies that support next-generation HMI systems. Emerging trends include the integration of multimodal sensing, AI-enabled sensor data processing, wearable and embedded sensing platforms, and sensor-driven interaction for robotics and smart environments. These developments are expected to play a key role in enabling more intuitive, adaptive, and human-centered technologies in the coming years.

The guest editors would like to express sincere gratitude to all authors who submitted high-quality work to this Special Issue, as well as to the reviewers who dedicated their time and expertise to ensure the quality of the published articles. Special thanks are also extended to Leigh Ann Kattenhorn, Eileen McGuinness, Shivani Chauhan, and the editorial office for their support throughout the review and publication process. The guest editors also appreciate Marco Jose Da Silva, Special Issue Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Sensors Journal, for addressing their queries and ensuring the success of this issue.

DOI 10.1109/JSEN.2026.3678737