Well Living Lab | Powering Pioneering Health Research with IBM Cloud and IBM Watson Technologies
To provide Well Living Lab researchers with advanced analytics and cognitive tools, Delos and Mayo Clinic sought cloud-based technology and guidance from an IT leader. Tapping in to IBM® Bluemix® and IBM Watson™ services, the Lab will analyze vast amounts of structured and unstructured data to deliver invaluable insight into the effects of indoor environments on human health.
Business challenge
To provide Well Living Lab researchers with advanced analytics and cognitive tools, Delos and Mayo Clinic sought expert guidance and cloud-based technology from an IT leader.
Transformation
Working with an IBM Bluemix Garage team, the Well Living Lab will tap in to IBM Bluemix and IBM Watson services to analyze data from lab sensors, wearable technology and unstructured feedback.
Results
- Advancing insight into the effects of indoor environments on human wellness with first-of-its-kind research
- Improving health with evidence-based findings that will drive new solutions for better living and working environments
- Innovating a new model for research with cognitive technology to analyze emotional nuance in participant responses
Business challenge story
Studying the effects of indoor environments
The Well Living Lab will perform research experiments in modules that simulate a wide variety of real-world environments, monitoring participants to understand the effects of light, temperature, sound and other key factors on performance and wellness. To mine and analyze the vast amount of complex structured and unstructured data its studies will produce, Delos and Mayo Clinic needed to team with IT experts offering cutting-edge cloud-based technology.
“Delos is generating massive amounts of data to measure the impact of the built environment on occupant health,” says Peter Scialla, Chief Operating Officer for Delos. “We were looking for a technology partner to deliver a flexible development platform through the cloud, as well as higher value cognitive services that would provide insights we have yet to fully realize to improve indoor environments.”
Transformation story
Teaming with IBM to power the Lab
The Well Living Lab team determined that IBM offered the technology and guidance its project required. “We felt like, from the beginning, IBM really understood the value of what we were doing and the importance of health and wellness in the built environment,” says Scialla. “And we got excited about the capabilities that Bluemix and Watson would bring to the table.”
An IBM Bluemix Garage team is helping Well Living Lab researchers map the technology environment, determining which IBM Bluemix and IBM Watson™ services it will incorporate. “We’re looking to create applications on Bluemix that enable our scientists to do groundbreaking research,” says Scialla. “And with Watson, we want to understand emotional nuance in speech and behavior.”
Results story
Optimizing buildings for health and wellness
IBM technology will help the Well Living Lab deliver advanced insight into the role indoor environments play in overall well-being. “We’re combining building science and medical science in a way that’s never been done before,” says Scialla.
In addition to widely publishing its findings, the Well Living Lab will work with industry leaders to bring solutions to market for creating better indoor environments. “The outcome of the Lab’s studies will be new ways to design and optimize buildings for human health and wellness,” says Scialla. “We’re really excited to collaborate with IBM on the Lab and to use technology like Watson to expand its impact around the world.”
About Well Living Lab
Located in Rochester, Minnesota, the Well Living Lab is the first scientific research center to conduct exclusively human-centered studies investigating the impact of indoor environments on health and well-being. The Lab brings the healthcare expertise and world-class research capabilities of Mayo Clinic together with the knowledge of wellness in the built environment offered by pioneering wellness real estate and technology firm Delos.
Solution components
