Making sense of Quantum Sensing
What is Pre-Innova
Pre-Innova refers to forms of research and development that exist prior to innovation in the conventional sense. It describes work that is still too exploratory, conceptually open, and closely entangled with fundamental science to be meaningfully discussed in terms of products, markets, or deployment pathways.
The concept was articulated and documented in depth in the book Making Sense of Prenovation, a playbook based on an extensive landscape study of emerging scientific domains. The book brings together interviews, analytical frameworks, and methodological reflections to describe how such early-stage research can be mapped and interpreted without forcing premature innovation narratives.
Building on this foundation, Pre-Innova emphasises orientation and collective sense-making rather than prediction or impact assessment. It provides shared tools and reference points that help actors across academia, industry, and policy engage with research fields that are still in the process of becoming.
Quantum sensing: the invisible foundation of all quantum technologies
Sensing is not an equivalent pillar, but the enabling infrastructure that supports quantum computing, communication, and simulation.
On Landscaping
R&D landscaping is defined as a practice aimed at providing visibility into emerging structures, rather than producing a definitive map. The emphasis is on the mapping process rather than the final outcome.
The project is documented as a public lab journal, showcasing hypothesis adjustments, question refinement, and ongoing revisions. It is led by KTH Innovation, in collaboration with the university library and the LinkedScholar team, using scientific publications as a starting point.
The resulting landscape is always provisional: a snapshot intended to guide discussion.
Landscaping as an iterative process
01
Data Collection
02
Initial mapping
We introduced our inaugural product to critical acclaim.
03
Analysis
Our reach extended to new international markets.
04
Discussion
05
Assumption review
06
Remapping
“The field is defined both by words and by actual working relationships.”
From Bibliographics to Bibliometrics
The landscaping effort begins with the scientific literature, not because it captures everything that matters, but because it provides a stable trace of how the field currently describes itself. Broad searches in Web of Science are used to prioritise coverage over precision, resulting in a large and deliberately inclusive corpus of publications.
In parallel, an actor-based approach traces publication networks outward from researchers already active in the field. The convergence and divergence between these two approaches reveal how quantum sensing is shaped both by shared language and by collaborative practice.
To enable deeper analysis, the corpus is transferred into Bibmet, a bibliometric database developed at KTH. This allows publications, topics, institutions, and collaborations to be analysed at finer granularity. The result is not a final classification, but a structured and inspectable working surface that evolves as understanding develops.
Layers of Structure in Quantum Sensing Research
Going Sub-Symbolic
Much of what connects research in quantum sensing lies below the level of explicit language: shared experimental techniques, mathematical habits, and tacit intuitions about what constitutes a meaningful problem. These forms of proximity are often recognised by practitioners before they are reflected in terminology or disciplinary labels.
To access this layer, the project complements bibliometric analysis with sub-symbolic methods based on computational models of similarity. By representing publications as embeddings, it becomes possible to explore the field as a topology rather than a taxonomy—revealing clusters, continuities, and fractures that cut across conventional boundaries.
Sub-symbolic analysis does not replace traditional methods. Instead, it adds depth and texture, allowing the landscape to be explored from multiple perspectives and keeping it open to emerging structures that have not yet fully taken shape.