Overview

The workshop on Pervasive Radars (PerRad) aims to foster interdisciplinary discussions and present cutting-edge research at the intersection of pervasive computing and radar sensing. As handheld and tiny radars, ranging from mmWave and UWB radars to acoustic handheld devices, are increasingly being adopted for ambient intelligence, human-centric sensing, and environment monitoring, this workshop seeks to address the critical technical challenges that come with deploying and leveraging these sensors in pervasive settings.

Vision

A fundamental challenge lies in the adaptation of radar-based sensing systems to the highly dynamic and heterogeneous environments typical of pervasive computing scenarios. Radars must operate reliably in the presence of dense multipath propagation, non-line-of-sight conditions, and dynamic occlusions introduced by human activities and moving objects. Effective signal processing, including real-time clutter removal, spatial filtering, and data fusion, remains a key area requiring further exploration.

Resource efficiency is another critical issue. Pervasive radars often operate in power-constrained or mobile environments, such as handheld devices, drones, or smart vehicles. Minimizing energy consumption while maintaining high-resolution sensing performance necessitates novel trade-offs between sensing fidelity, computational cost, and communication overhead. Furthermore, integrating radar sensors with other modalities (e.g., vision, inertial, acoustic) requires cross-modal data alignment and low-power fusion algorithms that respect real-world energy constraints. Robustness and adaptability of radar sensing algorithms are equally important. Existing solutions often assume idealized laboratory conditions, whereas real-world deployments face unpredictable user behaviors, rapidly changing scenes, and diverse radar form factors. The workshop will discuss advances in self-calibration, adaptive beamforming, and context-aware radar operation to ensure reliable performance in these complex environments.

An emerging and crucial aspect of radar sensing in pervasive applications is the privacy and security of radar data. Unlike traditional camera-based sensing, radars are typically viewed as less invasive. However, the fine-grained data they collect, such as human gestures, occupancy, and even vital signs, raises privacy concerns if mishandled. The workshop will address methods for privacy-preserving radar data processing and secure data sharing, while also discussing adversarial risks such as spoofing attacks or sensor misuse. Another technical challenge is standardization and interoperability. With the proliferation of commercial and academic radar devices—often built on different platforms and operating bands—there is a need for standardized APIs, data formats, and edge-processing frameworks that enable seamless integration into pervasive computing infrastructures.

Lastly, deployment and scalability are practical concerns that bridge research and application. The workshop will provide a platform for discussing the challenges of integrating radar-based systems into larger smart environments, including edge/cloud deployment, real-time data streaming, and robust connectivity across diverse radar nodes. By focusing on these technical issues, the PerRad workshop will advance the conversation around radar-based sensing as a key enabler of future smart environments, and stimulate collaboration between researchers working on radar hardware, signal processing, pervasive computing, and data privacy/security.