HotSense

Thermal is the new visual—with privacy. As smart systems move ever deeper into our homes, hospitals, factories, and cities, the demand for privacy-preserving, spatially rich, and context-aware sensing has never been greater. HotSense @ UbiComp/ISWC 2026 is the second dedicated workshop to explore the full stack of thermal sensing and computing, bringing together researchers from mobile computing, embedded systems, HCI, computer vision, robotics, and AI to chart this fast-emerging frontier.

From gesture recognition to depth estimation, from indoor localization to human-machine interaction, from health monitoring to emergency response, thermal sensing offers a powerful yet underexplored modality for ubiquitous computing. With increasingly accessible and compact sensors (e.g., FLIR, Melexis, Meridian), researchers are deploying thermal systems where traditional vision and RF sensing fall short, whether in low-light, occluded, or privacy-sensitive environments.

HotSense @ UbiComp/ISWC 2026 offers a timely, interdisciplinary venue to shape the future of thermal computing:

• Share cutting-edge results and platforms
• Spark dialogue between ubiquitous computing, wearable systems, HCI, and vision communities
• Build a global research network around thermal sensing

At its core, HotSense aims to catalyze a vibrant research community around thermal perception and computation—one that spans algorithms, hardware, systems, and real-world applications.

Thermal sensing is hot! Join us at HotSense @ UbiComp/ISWC 2026, and help redefine how intelligent systems perceive and interact with the physical world—with thermal.

HotSense 2026 aims to gather the growing community around thermal sensing and computing to share advances, identify open challenges, and accelerate real-world impact.

We invite original research papers, position papers, and early-stage exploratory work on the design, implementation, analysis, and application of thermal sensing systems for ubiquitous and wearable computing.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Core Perception & Vision

• Human Sensing: Gesture, activity, and 3D pose recognition using thermal data.
• Spatial Awareness: Thermal localization, tracking, depth estimation, ranging, 3D reconstruction, and thermal world models.
• Robotic & Autonomous Systems: Robotic perception and navigation augmented by thermal vision, including low-altitude UAV systems.
• Material & Object Intelligence: Material sensing and object classification using distinctive thermal signatures.

AI, Models & Data Analytics

• Generative AI: Thermal image synthesis and generative models.
• Advanced Learning Paradigms: Multimodal learning, cross-modal alignment, and foundation models for thermal perception.

Systems & Hardware

• Hardware Innovation: Novel thermal sensors, optics, metamaterials, and metasurface designs.
• Embedded Systems: Low-power, resource-constrained architectures for edge-based thermal sensing and computing.

Applications & Deployments

• Smart Environments: Thermal sensing for building occupancy, smart cities, and energy efficiency.
• Health & Well-being: Applications in digital health, clinical monitoring, and assistive technologies.
• Immersive Tech: Thermal sensing for Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Reality (AR/VR/XR).
• Safety & Logistics: Emergency response, search and rescue, and industrial monitoring.
• Real-World Deployments: Challenges, case studies, and lessons learned from large-scale thermal sensing systems.

Submission Instructions

• Originality: Submissions must be original, unpublished work, and not under review elsewhere.
• Format: Papers should be submitted in PDF format, be no longer than 5 pages excluding references, and follow the UbiComp/ISWC 2026 templates and formatting instructions.
• Review: Submissions will receive a single-round, lightweight review focused on relevance, novelty, discussion value, and clarity.
• Presentation: Accepted papers will be presented via lightning talks and posters.
• Publication: Accepted papers will be published in the UbiComp/ISWC Adjunct Proceedings and ACM Digital Library.

Submission Website: TBD