Cisco Sense

Innovation through IoT

In this case, we want to investigate how we can use the extracted data from IoT devices for the creation of innovative solutions for students and employees of the University of Amsterdam. More specifically, could the university exploit these data sources to improve/ease the teacher – student interaction?

Setup:
1. Office buildings collect over 1M data points every day across siloed systems, we collected and visualized these data streams in a cloud based Cisco “Sense” layer.
2. Build a simple API for the network owners so they can use the data streams in their applications.

Some examples of innovations that have been developed in this setup:

– The usage of the real-time locations of students and employees and building utilisation to manage crowd control and emergency systems in case of a fire. Sensors influence the air vents to direct the airflow and remove it from the building at the side where the least people are present, reducing the overall exposure to smoke. The system also closes the doors at certain points to create a smoke navigation route based on the location of the crowd. Besides protecting the students in case of an emergency and critical parts of the building, having a (more) sophisticated emergency system and escape plan also reduces insurance costs for the university.

– Sending special offers to students nearby the UvA restaurant about product promotions and discounts, in order to stimulate them to buy the leftovers at the end of the day.

– Check-in during workgroups in the UvA app. This saves paper, time and creates a basis for interactive learning, which can be location based and only for the students attending the lectures.