We studied 12 smart city projects in Amsterdam, and –among other things- analysed their upscaling potential and dynamics. Here are some of our findings:First, upscaling comes in various forms: rollout, expansion and replication. In roll-out, a technology or solution that was successfully tested and developed in the pilot project is commercialised/brought to the market (market roll-out), widely applied in an organisation (organisational roll-out), or rolled out across the city (city roll-out). Possibilities for rollout largely emerge from living-lab projects (such as Climate street and WeGo), where companies can test beta versions of new products/solutions. Expansion is the second type of upscaling. Here, the smart city pilot project is expanded by a) adding partners, b) extending the geographical area covered by the solution, or c) adding functionality. This type of upscaling applies to platform projects, for example smart cards for tourists, where the value of the solution grows with the number of participating organisations. Replication is the third and most problematic type of upscaling. Here, the solution that was developed in the pilot project is replicated elsewhere (another organisation, another part of the city, or another city). Replication can be done by the original pilot partnership but also by others, and the replication can be exact or by proxy. We found that the replication potential of projects is often limited because the project’s success is highly context-sensitive. Replication can also be complex because new contexts might often require the establishment of new partnerships. Possibilities for replication exist, though, at the level of working methods, specific technologies or tools, but variations among contexts should be taken into consideration. Second, upscaling should be considered from the start of the pilot project and not solely at the end. Ask the following questions: What kind of upscaling is envisioned? What parts of the project will have potential for upscaling, and what partners do we need to scale up the project as desired? Third, the scale-up stage is quite different from the pilot stage: it requires different people, competencies, organisational setups and funding mechanisms. Thus, pilot project must be well connected to the parent organisations, else it becomes a “sandbox” that will stay a sandbox. Finally, “scaling” is not a holy grail. There is nothing wrong when pilot projects fail, as long as the lessons are lessons learned for new projects, and shared with others. Cities should do more to facilitate learning between their smart city projects, to learn and innovate faster.
B4B is a multi-year, multi-stakeholder project focused on developing methods to harness big data from smart meters, building management systems and the Internet of Things devices, to reduce energy consumption, increase comfort, respond flexibly to user behaviour and local energy supply and demand, and save on installation maintenance costs. This will be done through the development of faster and more efficient Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence models and algorithms. The project is geared to existing utility buildings such as commercial and institutional buildings.
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a major problem. In the USA alone there are 15 million people with an AUD and more than 950,000 Dutch people drink excessively. Worldwide, 3-8% of all deaths and 5% of all illnesses and injuries are attributable to AUD. Care faces challenges. For example, more than half of AUD patients relapse within a year of treatment. A solution for this is the use of Cue-Exposure-Therapy (CET). Clients are exposed to triggers through objects, people and environments that arouse craving. Virtual Reality (VRET) is used to experience these triggers in a realistic, safe, and personalized way. In this way, coping skills are trained to counteract alcohol cravings. The effectiveness of VRET has been (clinically) proven. However, the advent of AR technologies raises the question of exploring possibilities of Augmented-Reality-Exposure-Therapy (ARET). ARET enjoys the same benefits as VRET (such as a realistic safe experience). But because AR integrates virtual components into the real environment, with the body visible, it presumably evokes a different type of experience. This may increase the ecological validity of CET in treatment. In addition, ARET is cheaper to develop (fewer virtual elements) and clients/clinics have easier access to AR (via smartphone/tablet). In addition, new AR glasses are being developed, which solve disadvantages such as a smartphone screen that is too small. Despite the demand from practitioners, ARET has never been developed and researched around addiction. In this project, the first ARET prototype is developed around AUD in the treatment of alcohol addiction. The prototype is being developed based on Volumetric-Captured-Digital-Humans and made accessible for AR glasses, tablets and smartphones. The prototype will be based on RECOVRY, a VRET around AUD developed by the consortium. A prototype test among (ex)AUD clients will provide insight into needs and points for improvement from patient and care provider and into the effect of ARET compared to VRET.
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) involves uncontrollable drinking despite negative consequences, a challenge amplified in festivals. ARise is a project using Augmented Reality (AR) to prevent AUD by helping festival visitors refuse alcohol and other substances. Based on the first Augmented Reality Exposure Therapy (ARET) for clinical AUD treatment, ARise uses a smartphone app with AR glasses to project virtual humans that tempt visitors to drink alcohol. Users interact in a safe and personalized way with these virtual humans through phone, voice, and gesture interactions. The project gathers festival feedback on user experience, awareness, usability, and potential expansion to other substances.Societal issueHelping treatment of addiction and stimulate social inclusion.Benefit to societyMore people less patients: decrease health cost and increase in inclusion and social happiness.Collaborative partnersNovadic-Kentron, Thalamusa
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a pattern of alcohol use that involves having trouble controlling drinking behaviour, even when it causes health issues (addiction) or problems functioning in daily (social and professional) life. Moreover, festivals are a common place where large crowds of festival-goers experience challenges refusing or controlling alcohol and substance use. Studies have shown that interventions at festivals are still very problematic. ARise is the first project that wants to help prevent AUD at festivals using Augmented Reality (AR) as a tool to help people, particular festival visitors, to say no to alcohol (and other substances). ARise is based on the on the first Augmented Reality Exposure Therapy (ARET) in the world that we developed for clinical treatment of AUD. It is an AR smartphone driven application in which (potential) visitors are confronted with virtual humans that will try to seduce the user to accept an alcoholic beverage. These virtual humans are projected in the real physical context (of a festival), using innovative AR glasses. Using intuitive phone, voice and gesture interactions, it allows users to personalize the safe experience by choosing different drinks and virtual humans with different looks and levels of realism. ARET has been successfully developed and tested on (former) AUD patients within a clinical setting. Research with patients and healthcare specialists revealed the wish to further develop ARET as a prevention tool to reach people before being diagnosed with AUD and to extend the application for other substances (smoking and pills). In this project, festival visitors will experience ARise and provide feedback on the following topics: (a) experience, (b) awareness and confidence to refuse alcohol drinks, (c) intention to use ARise, (d) usability & efficiency (the level of realism needed), and (e) ideas on how to extend ARise with new substances.
