These are the areas we operate in:
Food and NutritionOur aim in this research area is to help users through technologies to better manage their health and support them in making healthier lifestyle choices, especially in reference to the most basic everyday needs: eating, working, taking medication, and staying physically and mentally fit. New generation automatic food dispensers, interactive cooking assistants and innovative shopping carts can indeed sustain users but only if designed according to a model for the management of information and user profiles that is ethical and that can ensure users’ trust by protecting their privacy.
Exercise and Physical Activity
Miniaturized and wearable technologies and biomedical sensors able to collect individuals’ biological data, as well as personal devices such as smartphones, tablets, game consoles and smart TVs, are increasingly more common. With advanced Apps and highly usable user interfaces, these products enable users to access information in a mixed media and personalized manner. Interactions with these technologies, combined with preventative medicine, allow users to become active contributors to their state of health and well-being, by instilling consciousness and motivation towards a healthy and active life. Personalized and profile specific services, as well as motivational strategies for the pursuit of regular and balanced physical activity, are the foundations upon which our research team works.
Energy and the Environment
An organic approach to the efficient management of energy has the potential of offering high quality solutions only if easy to comprehend and is supported at each and every level. This implies a strong interaction between producers and distributors of energy, service and telecommunications suppliers, components and systems manufacturers, regulations entities, and above all end users (both residential and business) who must self-regulate their behaviors, actions and consumption habits.City of the Future Living Lab’s intention is to study, develop and deploy HW/SW technological innovations that can enable an efficient, effective and eco-sustainable management of energy, whilst creating synergies between different fields of energy management involving Smart Grid and Demand-Side Energy Management Systems.
Mobility and Transportation
The greatest challenge increasingly dense cities face is the mobility of individuals and goods, for which they have to find innovative and eco-sustainable solutions. With its 300.000 square meter scientific park, large underground parking lot, private light rail line and 25.000 individuals who visit the site daily, City of the Future Living Lab is the ideal location where to experiment services able to improve the flow of people and the movement of patients, visitors, employees and students across the entire urban transportation system. Application for mobile devices and interactive kiosks have been considered valuable touchpoints for the distribution of services through which users can gain useful information, manage ones day, and find ways to best use up one’s free time in a constructive and enjoyable manner.
Education and Entertainment
Entertainment, amusement, and cognitive stimuli are as important as the acquisition of knowledge, learning and education. A number of services are being tested in our pediatric department with the aim of finding the optimal way to meet children’s play and recreational needs whilst offering them educational instruments and notions. An Internet of Things platform and contextualized information are able to technologically support these services and make their use as dynamic and personalized as possible. The analysis of the socio-emotional well-being generated by these services involving different touchpoints (such as an interactive TV and totem, as well as friendly robots), is leading to the development of news means of communication including cartoons, videogames, and interactive and fun ways to order meals. These are able to motivate and engage children in a completely new manner, helping them to live in a less stressful way their hospital experience.
Tourism and enhancement of local heritage
The realm of services for tourism is evermore demanding both in the real world as well the digital one, manifesting a growing need for continuously concrete ways to enhance the value of local heritage, as well as tourists’ increasingly high expectations. City of the Future Living Lab has chosen the bicycle as a vehicle for the enjoyment of local heritage for its flexibility, ease of use, low environmental impact and economic convenience. Promoting cyclists’ mobility through services and technologies committed to making cycling secure and fully integrated with public transportation, ensures citizens greater mobility and access to a wide range of different services and social interactions. Websites (such as www.vainbici.it) and device applications have been designed to offer information on the world of the bicycle via audio and video media, including itineraries for tourists as well as experts, maps, topographic profiles, localization of tourist services or information on local cultural and social initiatives.
