In a conversation with a colleague last month they mentioned the potential impact of AI on estate data, something they thought I might be interested in, in relation to my long history with the intelligent campus.
At the recent HE Transformation Expo in Birmingham I was talking to my fellow presenters and they also mentioned this.
So, where to start, well I did a quick Google search and this article came up in my search results: Oxford Brookes University expertise in AI helps Blenheim Palace.
An artificial intelligence project, developed by experts at Oxford Brookes University, is helping one of Oxfordshire’s most prestigious tourist attractions enhance its customer service and visitor experience.
As I read through the article it reminded me much of what I have written on the smart campus and intelligent campus landscape and potential.
The system uses data from digital sensors located around the Blenheim Estate that monitor everything from footfall and ticket sales to retail and catering sales.
In the original guide to the intelligent campus, I wrote about intelligent catering.
Certain times are likely to result in high demand at campus cafes and food outlets, such as lunchtime, but within those times there is flexibility to respond in different ways, or indeed encourage students to arrive at a different time. By using timetabling or event data, increased flow of people to the cafes could be predicted, and real time information on actual location and flow can reinforce and clarify the expected demand.
In the article on Blenheim Palace it says:
“Analysis of the data, using AI, enables managers at Blenheim Palace to make better predictions about footfall. They know, for example, that in two-days-time they can expect a certain number of visitors and plan their staff and catering accordingly.”
I also wrote about people flows and footfall in one of the many use cases we published.
Pedestrian flow could affect the time for journeys between classes, waiting times at cafes or sudden changes in how busy the library is. Location trackers such as used by mobile phones can provide data on flow, and also people counters, such as using video systems, can be placed around campus to collect data on the numbers of people in that location at any time. Such data can have a number of applications, including combining with other contexts to improve services.
In the article they talk about how they created an app.
They also developed an app called What’s Open When (WOW) that tells the operations team at Blenheim Palace in real-time which parts of the Palace and Estate are open, where it is busy and where it is quieter.
Does this kind of technology have an application for the university estate? It’s almost reassuring that this kind of thing is happening, it actually helps with the evidence base to support universities in thinking more creatively about the use of their estate.
When I started the intelligent campus work back in 2016 I wrote this on the now defunct Intelligent Campus blog.
We need to know and understand what you see for the future of university and college campuses. Tell us what you think about how universities and colleges can exploit the potential of the internet of things and artificial intelligence.
Over the last nine years I have seen many developments in this space and I have seen many practical applications of the developments in technology and artificial intelligence in enhancing the campus experience for students.