Foundational elements of next generation cyber physical and IoT frameworks for distributed collaboration

This paper discusses the foundational elements for Next Generation frameworks based on the emerging principles and technologies in the context of distributed collaboration in two diverse fields (manufacturing and surgery). The Next Generation `smart' collaborative frameworks discussed in this paper are influenced by several emerging fields and technologies; these include Advanced Virtual Reality and Haptic (Touch) based technologies to support collaborative interactions among distributed users along with emerging practices based on Internet of Things (IoT), Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), Cloud Computing and Future Internet networking approaches. The foundational elements revolve around 3 key facets of Information Centric Engineering (ICE) which include Modeling, Simulation and Exchange (MSE) of Information. We discuss the creation of such IoT based cyber physical frameworks using these MSE elements for two of these domains: one is advanced manufacturing; the other is the field of medical surgical training. The design of such IoT based Cyber Physical frameworks is discussed along with implementation aspects of two advanced Test Beds.