What is a Living Lab?

A living Lab is a data-intensive infrastructure for scientific experiments on and observation of human subjects in interaction with technology, coextensive with the everyday work and living environments of those subjects.

Why the Atlas Living Lab?

Research and development of intelligent technologies and services for health, wellbeing and sustainability is an integral part of the TU/e and European research agenda. To tackle the challenges in these fields, researchers increasingly look into intelligent and networked technologies that are embedded in our built environment. The long-term patterns of use and the effects on people, for example on health, wellbeing, social interaction and energy use, can best be researched meaningfully in the real, live world. The Atlas building offers a unique environment for research, with its large scale, its focus on sustainability, its place in the TU/e community, and its intelligent lighting infrastructure.

Ambition

The goal is to make the Atlas Living Lab into a best practice for indoor Living Labs, that respects the interests of its residents and offers researchers and students new possibilities to tackle their research and development challenges. Results of the work in this Atlas Living Lab should contribute to making the Atlas Building and other office buildings safer, more comfortable, healthier and more energy-efficient.

Who can make use of the Atlas Living Lab?

Any group at TU/e can apply to do research in the Atlas Living Lab. All research projects will require a full proposal that need to be approved by the ethical committee, and other relevant parties. Contact the labcoordinator at atlaslivinglab@remove-this.tue.nl for information on the possibilities.

Description of the infrastructure

The Atlas Living Lab infrastructure spans the 4th to 11th floor of the Atlas Building, excluding the toilets, technical spaces and emergency stairs. The Living Lab infrastructure is based on the Philips Connected Office lighting system. This basic infrastructure consists of the following elements:

• An IP based network infrastructure, part of the TU/e internal network
• Dimmable Philips LED luminaires that are IP addressable
• Sensors that capture information that in itself is anonymous and not uniquely identifying. The initial set of sensors is embedded in the luminaires and measures occurrence of movement (yes/no) in a range of approx. 2m by 3m for small movements (at a desk) and approx. 3m by 5m for large movements (walking).
• Control software: Philips Connected Office software allows monitoring of luminaires and sensors and control of dim levels of individual luminaires. The software also includes an Application Programming Interface, that allows other applications to read and control the hardware.
• The Atlas Living Lab server that extracts research data from the system and that runs applications made for projects in the Atlas Living Lab.
• The Atlas Research Database. This database stores data from the Atlas Living Lab.
• Information signs about Living Lab research at every entrance leading up to the Atlas Living Lab.
• The research infrastructure offers the possibility for including new sensors and controlling other building systems like heating.

Privacy and use policy

Running a living lab in the Atlas building requires careful attention to privacy and other rights of the building users. We have created a Data Use Policy in close discussion with building users and representative bodies such as the Faculty Counsels ID and IE&IS and the University Counsel. The result is a detailed Data Use Policy that has been approved by the University Board and University Counsel in Februari 2019. You can download it here: Atlas Living Lab Data Use Policy 

A more general, and easier to read, document describing our approach to privacy and the ambitions of the Living Lab can be found in our Guiding Principles document, available here: Atlas Living Lab Guiding Principles.