Smart City Experience Centre contains a number of robots and applications of AI to demonstrate how the technology can complement consumers’ every day lives rather than competing, with the objective being to reduce anxiety and improve adoption rates. Building on the international robotics competitions and robot trials sponsored and hosted by centre:mk, the initiative seeks to position Milton Keynes as the UK’s number one location in which new technologies can be tested and refined in a real-world environment. This is currently one of the biggest barriers to the sustainable implementation of technology in key sectors such as healthcare and transport.
ESG
Smart City Experience Centre launched at centre:mk this November, unveiling a unique store focused on breaking down the barriers and accelerating the early adoption of digital technology. Located on Crown Walk, the Smart City Experience Centre offers shoppers the chance to experience and interact with robots and digital technologies.
Highlights in the Smart City Experience Centre include Pepper, a robot designed to provide information and infotainment solutions to visitors in a highly interactive humanoid form, and a robotic dog conceived to serve as an alternative to real animals, such as for surveying particularly inaccessible areas of buildings or supporting the emergency services. These complement an autonomous bus trial operated by StreetCav that begins testing in the city in December, with service trials set to begin later next year.
Kevin Duffy, centre:mk’s Centre Director, commented: “Located at the heart of centre:mk in Milton Keynes, a city with a reputation for embracing innovations and the early adoption of new technologies, the Smart City Experience Centre puts robotics and AI front and centre to our 22m annual footfall. It will reach more people in a week that other traditional locations would need three months to achieve.
“The centre allows members of the public to explore new technologies, be excited by the potential that they represent and engage in a way that breaks down traditional barriers and perceptions really quickly. At the same time, the exepreince will provide the companies behind the innovations with highly valuable user feedback. We are very proud to be at the heart of this important win-win initiative.”
Cabinet Member for Economy, Sustainability and Innovation at Milton Keynes City Council, Cllr Shanika Mahendran, said: “We’re really proud to be part of this exciting project, which brings together cutting-edge smart city technologies in one place. It’s not always easy for everyone to understand how advances in tech benefit our communities, but this is our priority as a council in our smart city work. The MK Smart City Experience centre gives residents the opportunity to see first-hand the work we’re doing with partners to ensure that smart city tech benefits all of society.
MK Smart City Robotics Competition 2023
Visit the Smart City Experience Centre
Located on Crown Walk
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