New Smart Laboratory

Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire have started work on a new Smart Laboratory to host the latest engineering and digital technology to train future students, which will open on the College Lane campus in late Autumn this year.

Johann Siau, the developer of the University's Intelligent Home, and a team are creating a laboratory to house smart sensors, smart devices, gesture and brain sensors and a whole host of engineering and digital technology. The Smart Laboratory will be a facility to train students in the latest technologies and for use as a venue for further research with industry.

The Laboratory will make it possible to perform tasks using various mobile devices, gesture recognition and brain waves to control devices (e.g. lights, door locks) of a person's home; monitor home energy usage; communicate between home and car, and have vehicle-to-vehicle communication so that early warning systems and accident reconstruction technologies can be researched and developed.

"The Smart Laboratory provides opportunities for students and companies to showcase their projects and products," said Siau. "We will use it to train a new breed of engineers and students in the area of smart and converging technologies."

The University is currently commissioning the work for the facility and there are opportunities for businesses to get involved and showcase their technology in the Laboratory. The project is already supported by BRE (Building Research Establishment), Samsung and Microsoft, together with research partners at the Centre for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (CEES) at University of Sheffield with several other major companies interested in taking part.

Any business or related organisations interested in discussing this further should contact Johann Siau at: j.siau@herts.ac.uk.

A video walk through of the facility can be accessed at: go.herts.ac.uk/smartlab

BRE (Building Research Establishment) www.bre.co.uk