Monday 03. 25. 2019
Athens of Tomorrow, Today Vol 2: 8 New IoT Solutions

Can we automate waste collection and management? Create the right environment for students and teachers and facilitate interaction between classes? Can we educate students on the optimal use of resources and energy through a simulation game of a  space colony? Enrich the experience of Athenians and visitors with a tech “glove” – ​​a portable interactive device? Can we transform Athens to an open-air museum, unfolding hidden stories and myths through AR apps – platforms? Can we use technology to prevent emergencies, such as floods, through an “smart” systems for wells?

The answers are within the IoT solutions of the new ADL teams. Discover Athens of tomorrow, today:

City Museum

The City Museum team is developing an application that aims to highlight the historical momuments of Athens. City Museum’s goal is to give prominence to those monuments which are very close to us but their historical value is not very well-known. Using Augmented Reality, City Museum aims to share stories, but also to provoke an imaginary time travel through different historical eras. At the same time, the user is encouraged to create his own content regarding the monument and share it with others. In this way, the visitor experiences an emotional bonding with the monument and comes closer to the history of Athens.

FREATiot

The FREATiot team implemented a tech solution that enables the City of Athens to oversee the condition of the Athens’ shafts in order to know their current status, like a failure of the water to flow into the main conduits and if there is a need for human intervention to clean them. The main objective is to anticipate and prevent problems that citizens face in their daily lives due to these phenomena.

The solution consists of two parts, the node located inside the shaft, which, with the help of sensors, will enable it to communicate its status, by using COSMOTE’s NB-IoT technology. The second part includes an online platform where the administration officers and the cleaning services of the Municipality will be informed about the status of the wells and will know if, and which one is facing a flow problem. Αs such, they will be able to proceed accordingly with the required actions.

GarCTOS Garbage Collection and Transportation Optimization System

Given the problem Athens is facing with a large amount of waste, GarCTOS team is creating a “smart” system for the collection and transportation for urban waste. These garbage collection big data will be utilized using IoT technology and intelligent engineering learning algorithms.

The impact of the GarCTOS system focuses on enhancing the environmental awareness of citizens, optimizing the use of available resources and the flexibility of the municipality of Athens, the flexibility for the municipal cleaning services and the viability of the city thanks to the highest quality collection service and transport of urban waste.

ΙntelliWaste

Athens is positioned low in waste recycling rankings (Eurostat 2016), only 17% is recycling, the IntelliWaste team is focusing on developing an integrated solution for mechanical sorting and management of recyclable materials using artificial intelligence systems.

After placing the waste into the bin, through an internal camera, the disposed waste (glass, metal, plastic, paper) is automatically evaluated (AI – Machine Learning) based on its material. Hence, each object can be categorized with image classification techniques, and then be directed to predetermined sub-bins according to their category, while the ones that are plain waste are discarded in a separate sub-bin.

MaGOS

So far, Virtual Reality devices have been able to unlock the elements of vision and hearing. The “MAGOS” team, is however unlocking another sensation, that of touch. They have created a prototype “glove”, a portable technology interactive device that tracks hand and finger movement in a modern augmented / virtual reality environment.

ΜaGOS will work with an Athenian museum to develop a VR application where visitors will have the opportunity to experience a unique interaction with selected exhibits, linking the virtual and of mixed reality. Interacting with with the exhibits in a virtual environment, make a tour of the ancient world, or process an exhibit. In this context, it can either create a 3D image or compose an exhibit from the beginning.

Narratologies

Narratologies is a creative platform that exploits Internet of Things (IoT) technology, smartphones and physical installations to highlight cultural content in Athens through interactive activities.

The idea focuses on the dynamics of public space and the stories or myths behind it. Points of interest within the city acquire a digital substance that remains in constant interaction with their physics by inviting the passerby to approach and activate them through QR codes and smart sensors, revealing the secrets, uncovering the stories waiting to be told.

In addition, the team will create a platform that will enable less-tech-savvy creators to carry out their own “smart” cultural interventions.

sCoolSense

sCoolSense is a platform of interconnected objects, software programs and services that allows the acquisition of data from the inside and outside of school buildings, with the main purpose of updating and monitoring air quality, environmental, brightness and energy consumption parameters. By focusing on environmental protection and energy use, the students will be are fully informed about classroom conditions while parents will have an important information tool.

As a result of sCoolSense, the city’s technical service will be able to make energy comparisons between premises in the same buildings and even more comparative assessment between school complexes to prioritize technical maintenance and reconstruction work (saving resources, measurable results).

SpaceStudents

SpaceStudents is a phygital strategy game with live action role-playing elements, where the environmental education and the sustainable student behavior are enhanced through a playful scenario of living in a space colony. Students participate in the experiential game through their attitudes and actions within the school, which will be enhanced with IoT technologies and equipment that informs them with the information they need to track their course as if they were living in a space colony.

The main technological background of the game will be a platform which distributes information with the use of IoT. According to the game, there will be specific real-world micro-missions to assigned to each school/class, focused on improving specific environmental indicators, while their overall performance will be supervised and compared with other users.

In this way, children are learning to protect their school as a “space ecosystem” embodying the roles of settlers-astronauts. SpaceStudents intends to foster environmental awareness among students and teach them that rational energy and resource management, waste recycling, biodiversity protection are energies essential for the survival and perpetuation of human civilization rather than optional activities.

It is expected that SpaceStudents will be the first scalable and technologically augmented game based on space exploration that aims to help children realize the importance of individual and collective responsibility and cooperation for the protection of the environment and the sake of the common good.

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