This University is Very Smart

Curtin University deploys sensors and analytics to create smart campus.

16:26 08 May 2017

Curtin University has announced its plans to transform its 300,000 square metre campus into a “smart” one using sensors and analytics technology from Hitachi. It is now looking to IoT to gather information on building trends, course attendance, and study patterns in order to determine how to improve student and staff experiences.

 

Keith Roscarel, director of public safety and smart cities at Hitachi Asia Pacific, said: "It's about optimising their infrastructure. It's about creating a repeatable framework that doesn't require new aspects and forms of technologies to be introduced over time."

 

Last month, Curtin University has confirmed it will invest in facial recognition technology.

 

Roscarel explains: "A lot of education is taking place online and it's very easy to see who's coming online, who's actually seeing the livestream, who's watching a recording of a lecture. But it's becoming less and less easy to understand who's actually turning up to the lecture,"

 

"Especially in the first year, if anyone's not attending for whatever reason -- it could be an academic issue, it could be a socialisation problem -- it gives the university the opportunity to understand who may potentially be at risk or if there is some issue that needs to be addressed.

 

"The cost of a student over three years is quite significant, so for someone to go through the enrolment process and drop out has quite a large impact."