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technology
The elevator
that reads
your mind
While everyone talks about the
Internet of Things, few have put it
into practice. That could change with
the ‘telepathic elevator’ that uses big
data to enhance People Flow – the
winning concept from Streamr that
won KONE’s first hackathon.
TEXT
ANN TÖRNKVIST
PHOTO
KARL VILHJÁLMSSON
A
s participants shared the floor with top KONE
executives, representatives of heavyweight
companies such as IBM and ABB exchanged
ideas with start-up entrepreneurs – all while
the 15 teams competing in KONE’s first
hackathon got to work. The three-day event was a petri
dish of sorts, where theoretical innovation could flourish in
a hands-on environment.
“I’d dare say the hackathon was even better than I’d
expected,” says
Samu Salmelin
, KONE Head of Services
and Solutions R&D, about the event held in Hyvinkää at
KONE People Flow Center this March.
Salmelin says KONE could not, despite its substantial
investment in R&D, be expected to cover all new
technology with potential application for its People Flow
concept.
“There are just so many new areas that are part of the
digital transformation,” he says. “We can’t have them all
in-house, which is why hackathons are such a great forum,”
Salmelin adds.
“Novelty is the
whole point of a
hackathon.”
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