The use of smartphone in the 21st century

Smartphone devices are nowadays common affordable devices not only for communication purposes but also for determining the user’s position, for sending emails, managing digital agendas and to allow internet access. Starting from last decade, they become interesting instruments also for engineering and biomedical applications, thanks to their high diffusion. In 2018, 66% of individuals in 52 key countries owned a smartphone, with an increment of about 3% in only one year. This fact permitted the rapid development of apps for different goals, starting from precise positioning both in outdoor and indoor scenarios, to the 3D reconstruction of the environment using images up to driving evaluation purposes or healthcare and biomedical engineering applications. This chapter resumes the main research fields where smartphone devices are considered, providing the main references. It also introduces and briefly describes the contributions contained in this book, guiding the reader through the logical structure of the book in order to point out new possible studies and future perspectives in different reserch fields.