  The meta-material sensor has been regarded as a next-generation sensing
technology for the battery-free Internet of Things (IoT) due to its
battery-free characteristic and improved sensing performance. The meta-material
sensors function as backscatter tags that change their reflection coefficients
with the conditions of sensing targets such as temperature and gas
concentration, allowing transceivers to perform sensing by analyzing the
reflected signals from the sensors. Simultaneously, the sensors also function
as environmental scatterers, creating additional signal paths to enhance
communication performance. Therefore, the meta-material sensor potentially
provides a new paradigm of Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) for the
battery-free IoT system. In this article, we first propose a Meta-Backscatter
system that utilizes meta-material sensors to achieve diverse sensing
functionalities and improved communication performance. We begin with the
introduction of the metamaterial sensor and further elaborate on the
Meta-Backscatter system. Subsequently, we present optimization strategies for
meta-material sensors, transmitters, and receivers to strike a balance between
sensing and communication. Furthermore, this article provides a case study of
the system and examines the feasibility and trade-off through the simulation
results. Finally, potential extensions of the system and their related research
challenges are addressed.
