IBM has announced several new clients deploying cutting-edge smart building solutions built on the IBM Cloud using Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. The new contracts have been signed with Sodexo, Karantis, R +V Versicherung and HUF Haus.
"Buildings have long mimicked living organisms – plumbing circulates through the walls, wires innervate every room, and concrete and beams provide skeletal support – but until recently, buildings lacked the most critical body part: a brain. The IBM Cloud is the cognitive centre that enables buildings we live and work in to serve our needs in new and unprecedented ways," commented Bret Greenstein, global vice president of Watson Internet of Things (IoT) at IBM.
Sodexo has selected IBM Maximo to transform its worldwide asset management function, and to meet the diverse needs of a wide array of client facilities and demographics, spanning offices, hospitals, research centers, schools and factories. IBM Maximo provides Sodexo with real time data analysis and optimization across 2.5 million assets, making it easier to streamline global operations. Building an asset management program around Maximo will layer further agility and flexibility into Sodexo's existing IBM Maximo asset management as-a-service solution.
"At Sodexo, we are highly focused on the consumer journey, ensuring an optimal environment for consumers at all service touchpoints, and always looking for new ways to improve upon their quality of life through our facilities management capabilities," Keith Hamer, vice president, asset management and engineering, Sodexo. "Through IBM Maximo, we are now able to deliver a better, connected workplace, which links these advanced technologies to the everyday consumer experience, from walking in the building to going to lunch to when they leave the facility." German pre-fabricated home manufacturer, HUF Haus, and IBM have partnered to create the first house in the world that learns from its occupants. Based in the HUF Haus model house park in Hartenfels, Germany, the smart bungalow named "Ausblick", understands its residents through their interactions. Thanks to a network of sensors, data is collected in the IBM Cloud, analyzed by the Watson IoT platform and transformed into insights about residents' behavioural patterns. HUF Haus uses Watson Assistant, IBM's digital assistant to ensure the home and its occupants can interact together in a natural way. Through voice commands, facial recognition and understanding residents' behavioural patterns, the HUF Haus learns how to optimise comfort for the occupants and adapts to changing living or working situations. For example, the light in a home office can be switched on at a certain time or a PC can automatically be booted up based on the occupants' daily work schedule. Residents always have control over the commands, which can be overwritten or reset at any time, for example via a touch display or by voice command.
"We are a family-owned company with a 105-year old home-building pedigree, but we recognize that the learning house is the future," said Georg Huf, managing partner of HUF Haus. "With IBM we have found a renowned partner who accompanies us on our journey into the new age of living. Homes are getting smarter, and our customers take it for granted that the Internet of Things plays a large part in that transformation. With our self-learning show house "Ausblick" we are setting a new megatrend in the entire construction industry."