CASE STUDY
A revised room booking system will attempt
to direct people to the most appropriate
rooms, employing wayfinding technology
built around Aruba BLE Beacons and Wi-Fi
positioning to locate the individual’s mobile
device. A smartphone app will tell users if
a room is busy and use Augmented Reality
imaging to direct them to the nearest empty
alternative. Smart lighting will alert users
when a meeting is coming to an end. Being
wireless, the building’s facility management
team can make the physical changes to
rooms, without the need to call in IT.
“We can do more to understand how the
building is being used,” Ogura said. “Do we
need smaller rooms, fewer chairs, shorter
meeting times? The building can help us.”
Linked to the metrics on room occupancy,
maintenance and cleaning schedules can
also be optimised. Rooms which have not
been used can be left alone, while those
used more frequently may be cleaned and
inspected more frequently.
Ogura’s team is also testing a smart
defibrillator prototype using Aruba Asset
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INTELLIGENTCIO
WE HAD THREE AIMS: TO USE THE
EDGE AS A LAB TO TEST NEW IDEAS;
TO SHOW CLIENTS THAT WE ‘DO’
RATHER THAN TALK; AND TO INSPIRE.
THE EDGE IS ALL ABOUT THE ART
OF THE POSSIBLE.
Tags, with employees able to locate the
device through an app. The test results are
being shared with Deloitte clients, with
the possibility of extending this to fire
extinguishers and first aid kits.
In addition, Deloitte is working with a
tech partner to create a sensor capable of
detecting human silhouettes. If an individual
has booked a meeting room but no one is
detected there, they can be messaged to take
action to either release the room or other
alternatives. Meanwhile, lights and other
resources in the room can be switched off.
Ultimately, Ogura said, the aim is to have
all these features available through a single
application and the role of the network, both
wired and wireless, is critical in ensuring data
is properly captured, analytics are available
and services are delivered to the end-users.
“Developers use the term ‘smart buildings’
but most buildings are really not that smart,”
Ogura said. “We want to change that. With
the data we’re generating at The Edge we can
open up the whole construction and property
management chain. This smart building can
inform the R&D across the whole industry.” n
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