Digital Innovation Magazine - August 2018

August 2018

Data Relish

E XC LU S I V E

Food Waste

3D printing in a bid to salvage our leftovers

In conversation with company Director, Jen Stirrup

GPU Giant

NVIDIA adds nine AI containers to its cloud

Lebara’s Group CTO Torsten Minkwitz talks AI, digital transformation and customer experience

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elcome to our August edition of Digital Innovation Magazine. It’s been another busy month for the team here at Digital Innovation, with exciting interviews from key industry insiders, as well as a great line-up of fascinating tech features to satisfy your appetite.

First up is our report on Formula 1 selecting Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its official cloud and machine learning provider (p6).

It will be interesting to see how this latest partnership will help boost the sport over the coming months.

The first of our interviews sees Lebara’s Group CTO, Torsten Minkwitz, in the hot seat, discussing the company’s future following its recent takeover (p16). According to Torsten, digital transformation is the way to go!

It was also a pleasure to chat with Jen Stirrup, director at Data Relish. Jen is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to all things data. She answers some of our biggest tech questions over on page 36.

Plus, we present the latest data centre news (p46), a discussion of 3D printing’s role in reducing food waste (p52), as well as a peek at IKEA’s new AR app that allows you to drop virtual furniture into your home (p60)!

Editor Anna McMahon

Managing Director Danielle Harris

editorial@digitalinnovationeu.com

d.harris@digitalinnovationeu.com

Senior Digital Designer Daniel May

Managing Director Tom Barnes

design@digitalinnovationeu.com

t.barnes@digitalinnovationeu.com

+44 (0) 203 890 1189 enquiries@digitalinnovationeu.com All rights reserved. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of material published in Digital Innovation Magazine. However, the company cannot accept responsibility for the claims made by advertisers or contributors, or inaccurate material supplied by advertisers.

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NVIDIA’s n supercomputin

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Formula 1’s cloud provider, AWS

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16 Lebara’s Group CTO, Torsten Minkwitz 4

nine AI ng containers Data Relish’s Director, Jen Stirrup

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IKEA’s new AR app, IKEA Place

3D printing’s role in reducing food waste 5

C L O U D U P D AT E

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Formula 1’s innovative technology for optimising performance has been given a further boost by selecting Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its official cloud and machine learning provider.

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FORMULA 1 IS MOVING OF ITS INFRASTRUCTURE DATA CENTRES TO AWS, A ON AWS’S MACHINE LEAR ANALYTICS SERVICES TO A AND DIGITAL TRANSFORM

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he move will involve a variety of products, including Amazon SageMaker, to help improve digital broadcasts, and enhance race strategies and data tracking.

These will be put to task by Formula 1’s team of data scientists against more than 65 years of race data to make predictions for upcoming races. For example, Formula 1 data scientists will be able to predict when the window of opportunity is opening and closing for teams Amazon SageMaker is a fullyto pit their cars for maximum managed machine learning service advantage, as well as determine that enables everyday developers the best timing for changing tyres. and scientists to easily build and deploy machine learning models, Pete Samara, Director of Innovation AWS Lambda, AWS’s pioneering and Digital Technology at event-driven serverless computing Formula 1, said, “For our needs, service, and AWS analytics services AWS outperforms all other cloud — to uncover never-before-seen providers, in speed, scalability, metrics that will change the way reliability, global reach, partner fans and teams experience racing. community, and breadth and

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THE VAST MAJORITY FROM ON-PREMISES AND STANDARDISING RNING AND DATA ACCELERATE ITS CLOUD MATION STRATEGY.

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“FOR OUR NEEDS, AW ALL OTHER CLOUD PRO SCALABILITY, RELIABIL PARTNER COMMUNITY DEPTH OF CLOUD SERV

PETE SA AND DIG

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WS OUTPERFORMS OVIDERS, IN SPEED, LITY, GLOBAL REACH, Y, AND BREADTH AND VICES AVAILABLE”

AMARA, DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION GITAL TECHNOLOGY AT FORMULA 1

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CLO

“FORMULA 1’S YEARS O DATA ANALYSED AGAINS THAT IS COLLECTED IN EV MACHINE LEARNING, STR SERVICES WILL UNCOVER INSIGHTS THAT WERE UNI

MIKE CLAYVILLE, VICE PRESIDENT, W 12

depth of cloud services available.

By leveraging Amazon SageMaker and AWS’s machine learning services, we are now able to deliver these powerful insights and predictions to fans in real time. We are also excited that the Formula 1 Motorsports division will run High Performance Compute workloads in a scalable environment on AWS. This will significantly increase the number and quality of the simulations our aerodynamics team can run, as we work to develop the new car design rules for Formula 1.”

OUD

Formula 1 is not the first customer to cite machine learning as a key component in its digital transformation programme.

In May, Ryanair announced it was going all-in on AWS, arguing that greater data insights and better customer experience through machine learning were vital in the company’s decision-making.

AWS Elemental Media Services has also been selected to power Formula 1 video asset workflows, enhancing the viewing experience for its 500 million fans worldwide.

By streaming real-time race data to AWS using Amazon Kinesis, Formula 1 can capture and process key performance data for each car during every twist and turn of the Formula 1 circuits with unmatched accuracy and speed. Then, by deploying advanced machine learning via Amazon SageMaker,

OF VALUABLE HISTORICAL RACE ST THE REAL-TIME INFORMATION VERY RACE USING AWS’S REAMING AND ANALYTICS R NEW RACING METRICS AND IMAGINABLE IN THE PAST”

WORLDWIDE COMMERCIAL SALES AT AWS 13

WATCH HOW CAN BENEFI

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W AWS IT YOU

Formula 1 can pinpoint how a driver is performing and whether or not drivers have pushed themselves over the limit. By sharing these insights with fans through television broadcasts and digital platforms, Formula 1 aims to improve the fan experience, allowing them to delve deep into the inner workings of their favourite teams and drivers.

Mike Clayville, Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Sales at AWS, said, “Leveraging the cornucopia of services offered by the world’s leading cloud, Formula 1 will engage with its growing global fan base in unique ways. Formula 1’s years of valuable historical race data analysed against the real-time information that is collected in every race using AWS’s machine learning, streaming and analytics services will uncover new racing metrics and insights that were unimaginable in the past. And, with AWS Elemental Media Services, they will engage their audience through truly differentiated experiences that will thrill generations to come.”

For further information, visit www.aws.amazon.com

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B U S I N E S S I N T E RV I E W

n e t s Tor kwitz Min

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A NEW ERA Torsten Minkwitz, Group CTO at mobile provider, Lebara, says the company’s future is looking positive.

Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Danielle Harris

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Lebara has grown to become one of the larger companies selling prepaid mobile phone services since its humble beginnings 17 years ago.

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ocusing on what they call the global citizen, aspiring people moving to a new country, the aim is to provide attractive rates, international calls and data plans as the mainstay of their business.

Having been taken over last September by Swiss investor, Palmarium, a new executive

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management, with a vast amount of experience in digital transformation, is driving the company forward, as Lebara’s Group CTO, Torsten Minkwitz, explains, “The new management team at Lebara has turned around the offering, with a shift from the classical side, moving more towards data services. We have new structures in place, and our

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Trusted Software Development Partner Since 2002 N-iX is an Eastern European provider of software development outsourcing services.

We partner with technology businesses globally to create innovative products and help companies implement technology transformations.

Dedicated Development Team Software QA & Testing

Software Product Development

Technical Support

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Global Sourcing Association recognized cooperation between N-iX and Lebara as a category finalist for Digital Transformation Project of the Year at GSA UK 2017 Awards

The ongoing partnership with N-iX is a critical strategic relationship and has allowed Lebara to decrease time to market, reduce cost and improve the technical capability that we have�

Torsten Minkwitz, Group CTO, Lebara

contact@n-ix.com +380 322 295 767 n-ix.com

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“We are working with some development teams from our partner, N-iX, to redo our backend. We are not a massive company, with large teams of people analysing, so we have to make our machines work harder”

brand has been given a refresh.

You can already see the new look on the web and our app, and it will make its way into many of our shops. Another big gamechanger is the opportunity for our customers to switch to 4G at no extra cost, which, of course, people are adopting.”

necessary step for its customer base, which is digital-savvy.

Torsten said, “Classical SMS is no longer sufficient. Although we have maintained this offering, we have added to it, with a more useful app for our customers. It’s about making the customer experience easier, in real-time, and more immediate.

We have also digitised a lot of our retail channels, where we

The direction of the company to become more digital is a 21

“The new management te around the offering, with side, moving more tow

Torsten Minkwitz, L

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eam at Lebara has turned a shift from the classical wards data services�

Lebara’s Group CTO

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have thousands and thousands of retailers selling our products at different capability levels. At the click of a button, you can now purchase SIM cards, buy vouchers, or top up your phone.”

According to Torsten, there is a lot happening at Lebara HQ, with management working hard to take steps in adopting a revolutionary approach and bringing new capabilities. Torsten added, “We don’t want to make changes that will take two years to implement.

We want to bring the benefits

earlier, and for our customers to notice the difference when they are using our products. Every month, they will see new changes.”

With an emphasis on the omnichannel customer experience, the customer is at the centre of all these changes that are taking place.

Torsten said, “The way people work with their various providers means

Digital continues to disrupt different industries at a constant pace, the paradigm of value that technology delivered is evolving from cost to superior customer experience, new revenue channels, and hidden cost take-out opportunities.

Discovering New Opportunities Delivering Business Outcomes Keeping Future Ready

SASKEN DIGITAL

P R O P E L L I N G V A L U E C R E AT I O N

New revenue channels | Innovative business models | Evolving eco-systems Expand revenues | Drive efficiency in cost & operations | Enhance customer experience Manage Scalability | Proact to technology shifts | Experiment and fail fast

For the past 30 years, Sasken is enabling world’s leading companies to create value through innovative use of technology.

Sasken Digital’s professional services are built around delivering custom built scalable and reliable next-gen Digital solutions in the areas of:

USA | UK | FINLAND | GERMANY | JAPAN | INDIA | CHINA PLATFORMS

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WWW.SASKEN.COM

IoT

ANALYTICS

MOBILITY

BLOCKCHAIN

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“We will be able of our custom with the right i pro

Torsten Minkwi

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e to satisfy the needs mers and retailers, intelligence to do it ofitably”

itz, Lebara’s Group CTO

they expect all channels to work the same way. When they sit at home using their laptop or mobile phone, they want the same experience in both. If not, it confuses the customer and makes it difficult for call centres to answer customer questions, so they may not be able to reach a conclusion on the next step effectively.”

Lebara is already using AI and advanced analytics-based business decisioning in some corners of the business to be more responsive to their customers’ needs, while also ensuring that they are running a profitable business. Torsten explains, “We are working with some development teams from our

partner, N-ix, to redo our backend.

We are not a massive company, with large teams of people analysing, so we have to make our machines work harder. In this way, we have already worked with our partner, Sasken, to optimise the interface between ourselves and the carriers whose networks we use, guided by machine learning. This prediction method saves us money, and allows better customer offers.”

Further optimisations in other areas are scheduled to take place, both internally and externally, over the coming months. Taking a holistic view, the machine does the learning, thus optimising several parameters. Torsten concluded, “I think what’s important on our journey is having the capabilities and flexibilities from AI, whilst also optimising our technology cost.

There is no point having an old system doing old stuff! To this end, we will be able to satisfy the needs of our customers and retailers, with the right intelligence to do it profitably.”

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A RT I F I C I A L I N T E L L I G E N C E

GPU giant, NVIDIA, has added nine AI supercomputing containers to its cloud.

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eflecting the growing demand for AI computing power and NVIDIA’s desire to supply it, a spokesperson for the company said, “Over the past three years, containers have become a crucial tool in deploying applications on a shared cluster, and speeding the work, especially for researchers and data scientists running AI workloads.

These containers make deploying deep learning frameworks — building

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blocks for designing, training and validating deep neural networks — faster and easier.”

NVIDIA’s increased push of GPU accelerated high performance computing and AI is in answer to a call for it from hardcore engineers running huge workloads that use machine learning to crunch through mathematical operations for training models or running stimulations. Developers can write their programmes in their framework of choice and then deploy the model on the shared clusters, so their models can run faster, as they don’t need to install all the necessary different libraries

and back-end programmes to deploy their models.

Machine learning is highly demanding and NVIDIA has different names for its new containers, which are optimised for specific tasks. CHROMA is optimised for maths and physics models, AMBER is optimised for molecular simulations, and CANDLE is optimised for cancer research. A spokesperson for NVIDIA said, “Since November’s Supercomputing Conference, nine new HPC and Visualization containers — including CHROMA, CANDLE, PGI and VMD — have been added to NGC. This is in addition to eight containers,

“SINCE NOVEMBER’S SUPERCOMPU CONFERENCE, NINE NEW HPC AND VISUALIZATION CONTAINERS — INCLUDING CHROMA, CANDLE, PGI A VMD — HAVE BEEN ADDED TO NGC” 32

CEO Jensen Huang

UTING

AND DEEP LEARNING

HPC APPS

HPC VISUALIZATION

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OPTIMIZED DEEP LEARNING SOFTWARE FIND OUT MORE

ENHANCED HPC VISUALIZATION FIND OUT MORE

POWERFUL HPC APPLICATIONS FIND OUT MORE

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including NAMD, GROMACS and ParaView, launched at the previous year’s Supercomputing Conference.”

NCG also comes with different packages that are suited to various applications. The container for PGI compilers available on NGC is designed to help developers build HPC applications targeting multicore CPUs and NVIDIA Tesla GPUs, while PGI compilers and tools will enable development of performance-portable HPC applications using OpenACC, OpenMP and CUDA Fortran parallel programming.

Users clearly see the value of NGC containers, with over 27,000 now registered to access the NGC container registry. Containers enable researchers to test models effectively, as they can run their experiments on different systems and check if they get the same results for their simulations. And the need for containers isn’t limited to deep learning, either.

NVIDIA said that supercomputing has a “dire” need to simplify the deployment of applications across all the segments, as almost

all supercomputing centres use environment modules to build, deploy, and launch applications.

A spokesperson said, “This is a time-consuming and unproductive approach which can take days, making it unproductive for both the system administrators and the end-users.

The complexity of such installs in supercomputing limits users from accessing the latest features and enjoying optimised performance, in turn, delaying discoveries.”

Containers are apparently a great alternative because installations are eliminated, which means no one has to keep track of or be concerned about breaking the environment module links. Users simply pull and run the container to deploy an application in minutes, compared to waiting for days for the advisory council to agree on an install and go through the actual process.

This also means system administrators can focus on mission critical tasks, rather than servicing and maintaining applications.

For further information on NVIDIA, visit www.NVIDIA.com 35

B U S I N E S S I N T E RV I E W

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OFF THE

RECORD We spoke to technology advocate, Jen Stirrup, Director at Data Relish, about the latest trends in data technology.

Written by Anna McMahon • Produced by Tony Barnes

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JEN STIRRUP IS A WELL-KNOWN BU INTELLIGENCE AND DATA VISUALIS EXPERT, PEER-RECOGNISED AS ON THE TOP 100 MOST GLOBAL INFLU TWEETERS ON BIG DATA TOPICS.

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er company, Data Relish, offers organisations the ability to make their data work for them, delivering tailor-made solutions to meet the objective and drive success for their customers. In this way, Jen’s niche skillset enables organisations to improve their processes and make the job easier. Here Jen answers some of the big questions organisations are asking when it comes to their data.

Q. How do technology decisionmakers make the right decisions for technology purposes to support a business need?

A. At the moment, I am finding that vendors are increasingly telling

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organisations what to do, so they come to me because I am not selling a specific promotion. It’s all about what is right for the individual customer. Organisations need to be honest about what they are trying to achieve. Technologists are always keen to use the latest and greatest technology to fulfil their intellectual curiosity, but this approach is not in the business’ best interests. There needs to be a process of prioritising.

If the answer is always yes, you lose focus. Businesses should not be afraid to say no if something is not on their flightpath. CEOs and CTOs need to ask themselves what their motivation is, where their business value lies, and consider the risks of not doing something. It is all about the lens

USINESS SATION NE OF UENTIAL

Jen Stirrup @jenstirrup 39

“I AM SO PASSIONATE ABOUT TEAM – IT MEANS THAT THE BUSINESS VOICE IS HEARD. A SUCCESSFUL TEAM IS DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE, WITH DIFFERENT VOICES ALLOWING YOU TO LOOK AT WHAT YOU ARE BUILDING THROUGH DIFFERENT LENSES. FOR ME, AN AGILE APPROACH GIVES SMALLER DELIVERIES BUT FEELS FASTER, SO PEOPLE DON’T LOSE FOCUS. IN ACCEPTING AN AGILE METHODOLOGY, YOU AS A TEAM MEMBER CAN CONTRIBUTE MORE, ENSURING A SUCCESSFUL SOLUTION AT THE END OF IT” JEN STIRRUP

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Jen receiving the PASSion Award in 2012 for services to the technical community

through which they are looking at the problem. They need to think about what they are trying to achieve and be clear on the technology. There are lots of voices when we make a technology decision, so we need to adopt a business objective to cut through it all.

Q. There is so much confusion surrounding the terminology in AI discussions. Could you offer an explanation of these?

A. People are often confused about what the terms mean. AI is essentially the use of reasoning in computer programming. It is human-inspired intelligence in computing. There are two different types of AI. We have the public perception of AI that we see in Hollywood films, using robots.

In the strain of AI, the objective is to build humanlike robots called AIs. This is distinct from Applied Artificial Intelligence, where we

imbue computers with one aspect of humanlike intelligence. This is all about putting one aspect of human thinking into a computer for a business or consumer purpose, and doing it very well. For example, Alexa or Cortana, where we have one aspect of AI done very successfully.

But, what organisations don’t realise is that they don’t all need to adopt this approach. It is hugely important to try not to do too much.

Q. What is Open Source Technology? Does it help digital transformation?

A. Open Source Technology is community-driven technology, which is not owned by anyone specifically.

Much of it comes from academia, where a programme has been written for a specific purpose and posted on the internet. The community has the option of changing it and adding in new functionality. This technology therefore moves faster, but it is not necessarily better.

Q. Should organisations use a Hybrid approach instead?

A. In my opinion, enterprises want a mix of Open Source and Hybrid.

Together, the combination drives digital innovation. Open Source is fast, useful, built for a specific purpose, 41

with an active community of real voices, but there is a fear in terms in terms of how users can get help.

Hybrid offers greater freedom and flexibility. Businesses need to not only switch the light on, but ensure that it is working.

Q. What are the trusted sources of Open Source software?

A. Those that have been through their own internal testing are trusted sources. You need to be so careful about which packages you are choosing.

Q. How do you start to build a team for a successful implementation?

A. I am so passionate about team – it means that the business voice is heard. A successful team is diverse and inclusive, with different voices allowing you to look at what you are building through different lenses. For me, an agile approach gives smaller deliveries but feels faster, so people don’t lose focus. In accepting an agile methodology, you as a team member can contribute more, ensuring a successful solution at the end of it.

A strong customer and business

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voice are essential in determining what the customer wants.

Q. Is Big Data almost passé now?

A. A few years ago, people wanted Big Data projects, so much so that we have come to expect an aspect of it. People are taking it for granted and moving on with the newest technology.

Q. How do organisations know if they have a Big Data problem that needs to be solved?

A. Organisations are too often focused on the size, which is not indicative of whether it is quality data. It is about the shape not the size. Is it the right data you are collecting, and how fast is it arriving in your data store?

Q. Is Blockchain a new fad or a lasting solution?

A. Blockchain is the next new thing – the industry is excited about it, but it is not quite sure how to use it. As soon as people come to understand it, we will have moved on to the next new thing. That said, it will have its place and is likely to pop up now and again when it can be used to meet a particular objective.

WATCH: POWER BI AND DATA VISUALISATION FOR THE CEO

Q. How do I get started with digital transformation using Business Intelligence and Predictive Analytics?

A. To get started, you need to find a business problem that requires a solution. People are using AI for one of three things – to improve a process, reduce costs, or improve customer satisfaction. If you first consider the

business, you can then look to find out whether there is an AI solution.

Q. What happens if you have too much data, but not enough information?

A. This is a problem for every organisation on the planet. They need to look at all of the data they are using, not forgetting the little

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“THE KEY IS TO KEEP CHECKING THE MODE ONCE A MONTH, FOR THE MODEL IS NEVER – IT IS CONSTANTLY M

JEN ST

data, such as Excel spreadsheets as reference data to better understand others. There is no use in focusing only on the big data – we produce much of it, and we need to first understand how clean it is. Organisations exist in a complex world, affected by internal pressures, external factors, political agendas, and legal requirements.

Their aim is to turn their data into information, putting the business back at the forefront.

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P GOING BACK AND EL WITH NEW DATA – R EXAMPLE. THIS WAY, SIGNED OFF AS SUCH MOVING FORWARD”

TIRRUP

Q. Once you have succeeded in getting buy-in for your project, how can you increase the likelihood of success?

A. It is back to the agile methodology again. If we check in with the customer and keep them constantly updated with a customer representative who understands the customer voice and has an ongoing role of feeding back, we can respond better to their needs.

Q. How do you know when your AI model is ready?

A. The key is to keep going back and checking the model with new data – once a month, for example.

This way, the model is never signed off as such – it is constantly moving forward.

For further information on Data Relish, visit www.datarelish.com

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US company, First Advantage, opens Amsterdam data centre to adhere to GDPR.

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In a direct response to the imp of the European Union s Genera Protection Regulations (GDPR), Advantage has announced deta of a new data centre, strategic located in Amsterdam.

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ith its headquarters in Atlanta, the Symphony Technology Group company that provides background solutions for employers around the globe, says the new data centre launch is to put their customers’ minds at ease.

First Advantage Chief Infrastructure Officer and Executive Vice President, Nick Grecco, said, “We listened to the needs of our clients, especially given their growing concerns over EU-regulated data privacy and compliance. After considering a number of countries, our decision to locate our new

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data centre in The Netherlands was driven by its exceptional power infrastructure and business-friendly environment.”

The new data centre is, the company asserts, a ‘state-of-theart facility’ that adheres to all the points of GDPR. First Advantage’s platform collects data on millions of job candidates, making the security of the information essential. The company says that the new facility will enable First Advantage to meet the everincreasing demand for its screening services while maintaining the

position al Data First ails cally

Our Enterprise Advantage global platform automatically routes data for US candidates to our US data c entre and holds customer data for all other countries in our new state-of-the-art EU data centre in Amsterdam Suzanne Mastrofski - Executive Vice President of Global Clients & Strategy EMEA 49

Enterprise Advantage is First Advantage s broad coverage model that can centralise or regionalise consistency of screening processes and programme visibility 50

safety of its data in compliance with the recently imposed GDPR privacy regulations.

asking permission, while other companies have simply begun to refuse access to EU IP addresses.

Executive Vice President of Global Clients & Strategy EMEA, Suzanne Mastrofski, added, “Our Enterprise Advantage global platform automatically routes data for US candidates to our US data centre and holds customer data for all other countries in our new state-of-the-art EU data centre in Amsterdam. This enables our clients to have the confidence their data and that of their candidates is secure, protected to the highest standards, and complies with GDPR.�

Enterprise Advantage is First Advantage’s broad coverage model that can centralise or regionalise consistency of screening processes and programme visibility. Tailored to the requirements of each enterprise, it includes worldwide background screening, criminal background checks, identity verification, drug screening and finger-printing services with multilingual ordering capabilities and a built-in compliance engine.

Enterprise Advantage integrates with many popular applicant tracking systems (ATS).

Of course, there is ongoing confusion surrounding GDPR, with several companies still collecting data of EU citizens without

More information can be accessed here: www.fadv.com

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3D PRINTING

3D printing is increasingly being used in European sustainability efforts, with the latest research aiming to reduce the amount of wasted food worldwide.

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It is said that one third of all food is wasted, and 3D printing is playing a role in looking at new ways to help lower this amount.

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arlier this year, Dutch 3D printing service bureau, Oceanz, helped 3D print some of the components for Noah, the world’s first circular car made entirely from recyclable materials. And the company is now teaming up with Cooperative DOOR, an independent growers association of fruiting vegetables in The Netherlands, to investigate the possibilities of 3D printing vegetables.

printing market. It is clear that we all will be dealing with 3D printed food in the future.”

There has been plenty of research into 3D printing food recently, especially in The Netherlands, with 3D printed dishes including chocolate, pizza, pancakes, and even gluten-free and vegetarian options. It’s even possible to create personalised food by adding flavours and nutrients based on people’s preferences, DNA profile Erik van der Garde, CEO of Oceanz, and phase of life. With the latest said, “Many 3D food printing partnership between Oceanz and projects now have a certain ‘fun Cooperative DOOR – which has element’, but, in the end, we head 42 members who grow the likes off to a professional 3D food of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers

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and aubergine – a conversation has been properly started regarding 3D printed vegetables, and the first results of the joint investigation will be announced very soon.

With the end goal of 100% use of food products and no waste, that’s a pretty tall order. In order to process the volumes to the maximum and work towards 100% use of the produced product volumes, Cooperative DOOR has set out various projects to reduce food waste from primary production, starting with dry tomato wedges for use in the catering industry. Martijn Kesteloo,

Cooperative DOOR’s Business Development Manager, explained, “With rejected tomatoes, (we) created a base for tomato spread, and to take it a step further, the investigation to find new ways of 3D printing food. With the use of 3D printing, Cooperative DOOR wants to realise one of their sustainability goals.”

Plenty of work in the field is already being done concerning the technological possibilities of 3D food printing. At the moment, it is possible to print with materials like sugar mixtures, chocolate, or a purée of different ingredients.

The next task will involve creating

“With rejected tomatoes, (we) cr tomato spread, and to take it a s investigation to find new ways o

Martijn Kesteloo, Cooperative DOOR’s Business Development M 56

Will 3D Printing Change Everything?

reated a base for step further, the of 3D printing food�

Manager 57

“The waste recovered in the form of biological n but before that, it can ca Marina Ceccolini 58

complex and unique forms.

3D printing already offers the possibility to produce valuable and high quality food concepts.

In addition to the possibility of printing various forms, a product will also need to be able to combine other desired characteristics. These complex structures and textures will lead to unique taste experiences.

Over in Italy, designer, Marina Ceccolini, inspired by the rigidness of a dehydrated tangerine peel, has created her own potential 3D printing material called AgriDust.

Marina’s AgriDust is made from wasted foods found in her local landfill including coffee grounds, peanut shells, orange and lemon peels, tomato skins, and bean

pods. Held together with potato starch, the compost is put through a paste extruder to produce a material that has the potential to be 3D printed into new objects. In doing so, the 64.5% waste/35.5% binder composition could also limit the planet’s plastic waste, helping to keep our eco credentials intact.

Marina said, “The waste recovered in this way will return in the form of biological nutrients to the earth, but before that, it can carry out other functions. Now, most fruit and vegetable waste is not used as compost, and unfortunately it is easier to throw the waste in a landfill than in a compost bin. This technique can retrieve the value of the food, and the idea is to take it forward with an expert in this sector.”

this way will return in nutrients to the earth, arry out other functions” 59

AU G M E N T E D R E A L I T Y

FUTURE

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E LIVING

IKEA’s Place app uses AR to give users the option of visualising what certain furniture would look like in their own homes.

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IKEA’S EXTERNAL FUTURELIVING LAB, SPACE10, WHOSE MISSION IS TO DEVELOP AND DESIGN NEW, SUSTAINABLE WAYS OF LIVING, CONTINUALLY MAPS OUT HOW WE CAN EXPECT TO BE LIVING IN THE NEXT 10 TO 15 YEARS.

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ne such recent development is its new AR app, IKEA Place, which was launched on iOS at the end of last year, and is now available on Android. The app allows customer to drop virtual furniture into their own homes and view it through their smartphone camera – one of the first apps to take advantage of ARKit, Apple’s AR framework that lets developers use the smartphone’s motion sensors and cameras to overlay digital elements on the real world.

but it wasn’t the company’s first foray into AR. Bas van de Poel, a creative strategist at SPACE10, said, “IKEA was really one of the first companies to be experimenting in augmented reality. Way back in 2013, before Pokémon Go brought AR to our smartphones en masse for the first time, IKEA released an app that gave an early hint of what IKEA Place would later become.”

For IKEA Catalogue to work, you had to have a copy of the paper IKEA catalogue, where certain items were marked with an orange label. After Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, described scanning a labelled page, users then IKEA Place as the future of shopping, had to place the physical catalogue 62

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on the floor wherever they wanted to drop their virtual furniture. The physical catalogue worked as a kind of size guide, so any of the few hundred items that were available when the app launched were the right size when recreated virtually.

At the core of Catalogue was IKEA’s secret weapon – a vast database of 3D models of almost every single item the company sells. Michael Valdsgaard, digital transformation lead at IKEA, said, “We have a lot of experience creating 3D models and making them look real.”

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IKEA’s designers create models as they develop new pieces, and the majority of the catalogue is put together using these photorealistic product models, instead of real photographs.

So, when IKEA heard about the launch of ARKit at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference last summer, the company knew it already had the 3D models required to populate the app, along with access to the toolkit needed to build the thing and put it on people’s

“OVERNIGHT, SOMETHING WE HAD BEEN CURIOUS ABOUT – AUGMENTED REALITY – BECAME A REALITY FOR HALF A BILLION PEOPLE” Kaave Pour, SPACE10’s co-founder

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phones. Guillaume Charny-Brunet, co-founder of SPACE10, added, “Overnight, something we had been curious about – augmented reality – became a reality for half a billion people.”

able to load the item of furniture over a 4G connection. Right now, Place contains 3,200 separate items, although IKEA hopes it will eventually include more than 10,000 products from its catalogue.

To make the models work within the app, each had to be squeezed down to a file size of less than 1.5 megabytes. This meant a careful balancing act of reducing the size whilst making sure the detail and texture of the model remained.

Too little detail, and the illusion of placing a real item in AR would be shattered. Too much detail, and the app simply wouldn’t be

For Charny-Brunet, it was critical that the Place app didn’t just give a vague idea of what a piece of furniture would look like in a room, but came as close as possible to the real thing. He said, “It’s about reducing the risk that’s inherent with any home improvement you make.”

Through a combination of room scanning and 3D modelling, each

“EVENTUALLY, IKEA MIGHT BECOME AS MUCH A TECHNOLOGY COMPANY AS IT IS A FURNITURE SELLER”

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piece of furniture in Place is almost perfectly in proportion with the real world, and the SPACE10 team is slowly rolling out even more new features within the app. One such development is visual search, which allows a user to scan an item in the real world using their smartphone camera, and offers up a selection of similar products from the IKEA catalogue.

crazy amount of commercial things with the data, but I’ve instructed the company to delete it.”

SPACE10’s co-founder, Kaave Pour, added, “We truly believe that it’s going to be a competitive advantage to behave ethically.” He’s already experimenting with ways to add features to Place that don’t revolve around selling furniture.

The team would also like to integrate more AI into the app, This could also potentially be a powerful source of data, letting IKEA giving users the option of selecting look inside its customers’ homes for a budget and having an assistant the first time. Valdsgaard said, “We want to help you, but we don’t want to intrude on you. We could do a

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offer suggestions about how they should furnish their room. But, for the time being, there are more prosaic problems to deal with – like walls. The current version of ARKit has no problem scanning floor surfaces, but because most walls are painted white, it struggles to detect them. This means users can’t hang anything on their walls in AR, something that the app’s designers would like to make possible in later versions.

With SPACE10’s work into how IKEA will help shape our lives and living rooms in the future, the firm is researching co-living, reimagining the food that IKEA might serve in its restaurants, and working out what will happen to IKEA stores when more people have easy access to 3D printers. Eventually, IKEA might become as much a technology company as it is a furniture seller.

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