Next generation of optical fibre sensors: new concepts and perspectives

Fibre sensing has reached an interesting turning point today: a clearer assessment about promises that were really held and those that failed to convince can be envisioned. A choice of key fibre sensing techniques will be reviewed and a critical discussion about their real impact will be presented. The promising potentialities of distributed sensing in its different flavours will be addressed, without omitting perspectives on other major techniques, such as Bragg gratings and chemical sensors.