VTT Impulse 1/2016

1/2016 PAVING THE WAY FOR

ROBOTIC CARS

SCIENCE Portable microspectro­meter devices

TECHNOLOGY A new golden age for raw materials

BUSINESS Millions in savings in Hornet maintenance

VTT

1/2016 56 EIT Raw Materials Colocation centre: Industrial internet and digitalization are shaking up the mining industry.

66

44 52

Senior Scientist Outi Mäkinen: It is rewarding when your own know-how can help develop a solution for a customer.

”What needs to change is the desire for growth, which is not one of our strengths.”

JARI GUSTAFSSON, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy

Photo: UPM

Photo: Anton Reenpää

The use of plant proteins will be diversified and food industry by-products will be utilised.

EDITORIAL “During times of change, it is important to crystallize people about purpose and goals.”

Antti Vasara President & CEO

The creative force of change management

T

he same rules apply to change management as to business management in general. Know your customer, create a strategy that sets you apart, set ambitious goals, motivate and justify, and make people your primary focus. Profits and performance are created by people, not processes or systems that often dampen creativity. improve an information-intensive centre of innovation that is already well-functioning and full of strong expertise, creative problem-solvers, and international and dedicated individuals, but which needs a little ‘oiling of the wheels’? Will it help to explain that the world around us is changing rapidly and we need to deliver our expertise to customers faster? We want to have a positive impact on our customers and the owner – Finland.

there. VTT aims to be the best possible partner for its customers in creating new innovations based scientific and technical know-how.

Our recipe for success includes clearing away internal obstacles and ensuring that the right people are in the right positions where they feel appreciated and can give of their best. In this way, the full range of their highly-motivated expertise can be converted into a huge resource that gets results.

HOW CAN YOU

during times of change, it is important to crystallize people about purpose and goals. If people understand why something is important and where we are headed, they will seek creative solutions on how to get I THINK THAT,

of change management also apply at national level. Finland is going through a structural change, in which innovation, competitiveness and reform will form the basis of our recovery. Having the right resources in the right places and regarding people as individuals rather then costs is the key to uniting them behind the changes under way.

We will keep VTT on an upward trajectory by joining forces with the customer and innovating. Let’s do the same thing at national level, too.

THE RULES

Antti Vasara President & CEO

VTT Impulse 3

Contents

1/2016

STARTERS A glimpse of the future.............................. 6 In focus...................................................... 8 President & CEO Jaakko Eskola Recovering from the recession............... 12 Permanent Secretary Jari Gustafsson

Photo: Arto Wiikari

Column..................................................... 17 Director, Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA, Matti Apunen

60 SCIENCE Science news ..........................................................18 More than just silicon..............................................20 Head of Microsystems Research area Philippe Monnoyer Can we measure the performance of smart cities?..................................26 Research Professor Miimu Airaksinen The world through the eyes of consumers ............34 Senior Scientists Janne Laine and Johanna Närväinen 4 VTT Impulse

“If Finland’s innovation machinery is not working properly and our research institutions’ resources are cut, we cannot be competitive globally.”

JAAKKO ESKOLA President & CEO, Wärtsilä Corporation

8

Photo: Finlayson

20

“We have developed a technology that can be used to build sturdy spectrometers for mass production.”

PHILIPPE MONNOYER Head of VTT´s Microsystems Research area

TECHNOLOGY Technology news .............................................................42

73

At the digital forefront of mining .....................................44 Industrial Internet and digitalisation boost the mining industry.

The rise of robotic cars....................................................48 Vehicles are rapidly becoming more technologically advanced thanks to digitalisation.

Using personal know-how to promote the common good.............................................52 VTT’s Tommi Ekholm, Katri Kallio and Outi Mäkinen.

Health benefits and efficiency without sacrificing food quality.....................................................56 Making use of vegetable proteins and food side streams.

48

Towards new worlds ........................................................60 Commercial applications for virtual and augmented reality.

BUSINESS Technology news..............................................................64 Cleaner urban transport...................................................66 UPM and VTT pilot buses running on wood-based diesel.

Turbine blades bring millions in savings ........................70 Research into high pressure turbine blades brings savings.

LED foils, from the people’s lamp to aircraft...................73 Foils can be coupled with sensors and controlled wirelessly.

56

“We have lived wastefully, and this also applies to our food.

KAISA POUTANEN Research Professor, VTT

Intelligence for machines.................................................76 SMACC aims to boost Finnish manufacturing industry.

A mobile laboratory for farmers.......................................80 GrainSense’s device reveals the quality of grain in an instant.

Growth from the international arena 84...........................84 Entrepreneur and business angel Sauli Törmälä speaks out.

VTT Impulse 5

Cyber​ security requires more than just technological competences While attacks on information networks are becoming more common, the proliferation of such networks is posing cyber security challenges of its own.

Text Juha-Pekka Honkanen

I

n a research project completed in January, VTT and Cyberlab Ltd explored the level of Finnish cyber security expertise and the related short-term needs. VTT Research Scientist Anna Leinonen notes that it is easier to bring society grinding to a halt than before, due to its greater dependence on technology.

“We refer to this as hybrid warfare. The global situation and relations between the major powers have reached the stage where we can expect instability to increase,” she says.

Leinonen and her colleagues do not engage in predicting future technology trends – their work has a broader, social and societal focus.

They chose stakeholder workshops as their research method; in these, representatives of the business community, research sector and public administration examined the future within their own reference groups.

“The importance of leadership skills was one of the interesting issues raised in the

6 VTT Impulse

business community workshop. Managers are not necessarily aware of the pressure points in cyber security. On the other hand, the critical nature of civic awareness and orientation in information security was raised,” Leinonen recalls.

Security requires able management This means that cyber security requires a critical attitude and knowledge in support of decision-making. Senior Scientist Antti Pelkonen points out that the report highlighted the importance of a vision that extends beyond technical expertise. As digitalisation progresses, the need for cyber security is becoming more pervasive in society.

“Strategic management and leadership of cyber security, as well as the related legal and financial expertise, are needed,” he states.

The companies gave a clear signal that talent is in short supply. Pelkonen notes that six out

A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE

of ten of the company representatives said that there was a shortage of talent.

“Companies and public sector actors had already been experiencing problems in recruiting, which shows that a skills shortage is already with us.”

Pelkonen refers to F-Secure as the best known Finnish pioneer in this area. He adds that mobile information security expertise can be found in both the private and research sectors, particularly Nokia. He regards cryptology expertise as being at a very high level in the research sector, but notes that it is dependent on just a few researchers.

“In Finland, the research side has been growing strongly but within narrow areas at the highest level, which are often dependent on individual researchers or research groups.”

On the other hand, Pelkonen notes that a relatively large number of people are employed by cyber security companies in Finland. These include successful growth companies with clear strengths. Pelkonen believes that cyber security involves a commercial and economic dimension, as well as public safety.

“This is a fast-growing sector internationally, in which Finnish companies have many opportunities,” says Pelkonen.

Top expertise resting on just a few shoulders World-class research in the sector is often limited in scope and the overall volume remains relatively small. Pelkonen calculates that Finland has around a dozen or so professors specialising in cyber security.

However, research is being conducted on a broader scale in practice.

“The field is connected to a variety of research interests, which means that the work of many research groups and professors involves cyber security in one way or another. On the other hand, more could be done to boost research volumes and multidisciplinary research,” says Pelkonen.

Anna Leinonen notes that the foresight workshops also highlighted the need to take a holistic approach. Information security has traditionally been a separate product, such as a firewall or anti-virus software. Players from the sector have now suggested that systems should be made safer from the outset. Technological development could also involve risks which cannot be fully anticipated.

“As cloud services become more common, ensuring the protection of privacy could become problematic and the intelligence of products based on IoT solutions is so low that they may have no spare capacity for the implementation of information security.”

Finland has skill gaps as well as high cyber skills. We know how to develop technologies, but not how to sell or buy them.

“The management side is affected by a lack of understanding of the risks involved, while the skills gap in the public sector lies in procurement. Technical expertise is also needed in purchasing, so that rational objectives are drawn up when planning the tendering stage,” says Leinonen.

Leinonen points out that the innovative purchasing principle should be applied in cyber security tendering processes.

“This would also provide references for companies. However, buyers will need certain skills when formulating calls for tenders, which include the idea of developing something new as well as just buying something.”

Pelkonen calls for a type of cyber security leadership which dovetails a diversified strategy with multi-disciplinary skills. However, Leinonen observes that the roots of multi-disciplinary skills lie in familiar ground. She points out that a blend of mathematical and technological expertise forms the basis of the business sector in Finland.

“We need to secure such expertise if we want to succeed in the sector. Technological knowhow has been traditionally strong in Finland, but it could rapidly disappear if education is starved of resources,” Pelkonen says.

VTT Impulse 7

“Wärtsilä’s research and product development are driven by energy efficiency, gas, and digitalisation.

Finland is an important product development hub for us,” says Jaakko Eskola.

8 VTT Impulse

IN FOCUS

JAAKKO ESKOLA FROM WÄRTSILÄ

”The ability to

reinvent yourself is vital to success.”

Wärtsilä, one of Finland’s leading industrial high-tech companies, has faced all the major challenges of the global economy in recent years.

Text Esko Lukkari Photos Tommi Tuomi

W

ärtsilä’s three business segments – Marine Solutions, Energy Solutions and Services – compete against the best engineering companies in the world.

Their competitors include GE, Siemens, Caterpillar, Rolls-Royce, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, MAN and Alstom, as well as many local companies in different countries.

Wärtsilä has been innovative in transforming and redirecting its business – which is why it has succeeded.

Wärtsilä has a turnover of just over EUR 5 billion, a staff of just under 19,000, and it operates in 70 countries. The company’s turnover has grown by a fifth in the last five years.

Jaakko Eskola (57), who has headed the company since November of last year, has been with Wärtsilä for 18 years. He was promoted to president and CEO of the Group from his previous position as the director of marine solutions and a substitute for the former president and CEO Björn Rosengren. Now Wärtsilä has a Finnish CEO once more.

According to Eskola, success requires investment, pioneering, and innovative new products.

“Customers do not come to us with a shopping list of X, Y and Z. We need to be proactive and

develop our products in collaboration with our customers,” he explains.

Concerns over cuts to research funding Eskola joins the long line of business managers who are worried about cuts to public-sector research and product development appropriations.

Having been a research scientist at VTT for a year himself, Eskola sees cooperation with Tekes, VTT, and universities as vital for the company.

“If Finland’s innovation machinery is not working properly and our research institutions’ resources are cut, we cannot be competitive globally. Co-operation with different companies and partners in Vaasa is also important for us, as the area is home to a unique cluster of mechanical and electrical engineering competence,” he says.

Last year, Wärtsilä made it to the Guinness World Records book with its new Wärtsilä 31 engine.

“It is the most efficient four-stroke diesel engine in the world and more environmentally friendly than its competitors, plus a great example of Finnish know-how,” Eskola explains.

In medium-speed engines, Wärtsilä’s market share of 50–60 per cent makes it the leading company in the world. Multi-fuel engines are becom-

→

VTT Impulse 9

ing more common, and renewable fuels are playing an increasingly important role.

A couple of decades ago, the company also invested in large, low-speed two-stroke engines, but they were not a hit. The strategy was revised, and the line of business outsourced to a joint venture of Wärtsilä and the China Shipbuilding Corporation.

Markets and the fear of change Wärtsilä has revised its product portfolio as the market has evolved. Engines now only represent a third of its marine segment. Propellers, pumps, automation systems, exhaust gas cleaners, ballast water management systems, and ship design account for two thirds of the segment’s turnover.

Wärtsilä invested in a propulsion system testing unit in Järvenpää in 2013.

“A considerable proportion of our propeller product development takes place in Finland, and VTT has been an important partner for us in that respect. Vaasa is the R&D centre for our engine manufacturing business, and we intend to bring more of our engine product development to Finland in the future,” Eskola says.

Wärtsilä is used to rapid changes in the Marine Solutions market. Demand for offshore solutions – one of Wärtsilä’s strengths – was still growing rapidly in the early 2000s, when oil prices were high.

“Now there is hardly any demand for offshore solutions. We used to have hundreds of orders for vessels per year, while the number of orders has been a few dozen in recent years and we are yet to get a single order this year,” he explains.

Wärtsilä became interested in building exhaust gas cleaning systems for ships a few years ago, but Eskola admits that demand has not yet met expectations.

Many ships are now running on cheap diesel. However, there is still a possibility that the market will mature as environmental standards become stricter.

Ballast water cleaning systems for ships is an interesting new product. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is expected to make a decision

“WE ARE ALWAYS REEVALUATING THE ADEQUACY OF OUR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT BUDGET. A FEW YEARS AGO, WE INVESTED HEAVILY IN NEW PRODUCTS THAT ARE NOW ON THE MARKET.” 10 VTT Impulse

on ballast waters on the basis of the Paris Agreement before the end of this spring.

“They could be big business, if only the IMO would make its decision. There are 40,000 ships in the world but also at least 50 companies that can offer some kind of way to clean ballast waters,” he says.

Fewer new ships will be constructed this year than last year, and the number last year was lower than the year before. The slowing down of world trade and the lengthening of the life of old ships are hurting the shipbuilding industry.

Wärtsilä is still a shipbuilding company, even though it no longer builds ships.

“We have put together a package for actual shipbuilding companies that incorporates our Marine products and our ship design service. That is why we are also able to offer what we call an integrated bridge for ships,” Eskola says.

According to Eskola, in the future, it will be possible to operate ships with fewer or no crew members. The military sector is also interested in Wärtsilä’s knowhow in the remote operation of ships.

At the heart of an energy revolution Wärtsilä’s second product segment, Energy Solutions, which is slightly smaller than the Marine sector, is literally in the heart of the world’s energy revolution.

The world is moving away from fossil fuels, and investments in renewable energy already account for 80 per cent of all energy investments.

Wärtsilä manufactures and also often runs diesel and gas plants, many of which provide load-following capacity for wind and solar power plants. The company has already raised its market share in power plants of less than 500 MW to just over 10 per cent.

“There is a lot of growth potential for us in that in the future,” Eskola says.

Wärtsilä is also involved in the solar power business. The company is currently working on its first solar power project in Jordan, which involves annexing a solar power plant to a 250 MW diesel generator.

Wärtsilä builds large solar power plants of more than 10 MW as well as hybrid power plants, which combine diesel engines and solar panels. Wärtsilä is the first company to offer large-scale hybrid power plants.

Wärtsilä expects the annual sales of its solar power business to reach EUR 300 million by 2020.

The company’s power plants are often built next to large wind farms and solar farms to provide immediate access to load-following capacity. Among the most notable competitors for Wärtsilä’s power plants are turbine power plants, which are at their best in producing base load power.

Can the move away from fossil fuels threaten Wärtsilä’s diesel and gas power plant business?

“I doubt it. Or at least not for several years yet.

There has been talk of stopping the use of oil for a

“We have a long-established and fruitful partnership with VTT. I am also familiar with VTT myself, as I worked there for a year,” says Jaakko Eskola.

long time, and the sulphur and carbon dioxide emissions from gas are considerably lower. Moreover, there is still a lot of gas left around the world,” Eskola says.

Renewable energy and energy storage Wärtsilä is interested in energy storage, not just to provide load following capacity, but also because there are already ships that run completely on electricity.

“We definitely want to be involved in enabling more efficient use of renewable energy and the development of energy storage,” Eskola says.

Wärtsilä is one of the leading providers of maintenance services in the world. Its Services segment already accounts for 44 per cent of the company’s turnover. The percentage jumped up four percentage points last year.

And what significance does the industrial internet have for the company’s service business?

“We have been providing remote maintenance services analogically for 20 years. Digitalisation, real-time control, and efficient data analyses have now also been added to our services,” Eskola explains.

Unlike Kone, one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry, for example, Wärtsilä does not provide maintenance for its competitors’ engines and equipment.

“Our own products account for more than 90% of our maintenance business. It is a strategic choice. It ensures that our customers come to us for their new purchases and parts in the future as well,” he says.

Last year, Wärtsilä acquired the German MSI, which specialises in digital automation, navigation and electrical systems for ships as well as dynamic location services.

“This means that we are no longer just providing remote maintenance but are able to collect information about the engines and propellers of our customers’ ships all over the world in a new way. I can even access the data on my personal computer,” Eskola says.

A pioneer in research and development Wärtsilä spent 2.6 per cent of its turnover, i.e., EUR 132 million, on research and development last year. The company’s R&D budget has been among the top three in Finland for years.

Although Wärtsilä’s turnover has increased, its R&D spending has remained almost unchanged. Why? “We are always re-evaluating the adequacy of our R&D budget. A few years ago, we invested heavily in new products that are now on the market,” Eskola explains.

One of the most exciting of Wärtsilä’s new R&D projects is Hercules 2, which received almost EUR 17 million from the EU’s Horizon 2020 funding instrument last October. The aim is to build a ship engine that runs on biomass, waste, and gas-based mixtures over the next three years.

The project is coordinated by Wärtsilä and the University of Vaasa, and the project team consists of 11 businesses, VTT and Aalto University.

The company is also exploring the potential of 3D printing in the production of parts. To this end, it has joined a project led by VTT and Aalto University.

“We can have hundreds of millions of euros of our capital tied up in materials and equipment at any one time. If even a few per cent of that could be released with the help of new manufacturing technology, the impact would be substantial,” Eskola explains.

VTT Impulse 11

son of the s f a t s u G i r a y ecretar y J Permanent S loyment and the Econom mp Ministr y of E

Old and new workhorses

AS RECESSION BEATERS 12 VTT Impulse

Jari Gustafsson returned to Helsinki last autumn, after nine years in London, Japan and Beijing. He visited Finland several times when living abroad and was not always heartened by what he saw. Finland was more prosperous when he left.

Text Tiina Huokuna Photos Tommi Tuomi

VTT Impulse 13

P

ermanent Secretary Jari Gustafsson of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy wants to see rapid growth replace the current economic slump, which began in 2008. Old and new opportunities are arising based on digitalisation.

Gustafsson is sitting in his legendary office at Aleksanterinkatu 4 in Helsinki. He became Permanent Secretary at the beginning of October 2015.

During our interview, as March was giving way to April, the spring sun shone brightly after the dark winter. There are also signs of better days in the national economy. Gross domestic product rose by a percent in 2015. There are other positive signs, such as the recent SME barometer. Housing construction has also begun to turn around. However, unemployment continues to weigh Finland down. ”On the other hand, growth figures like this, of half to one percent, are not signs of a rosy future. This is low growth by European standards and means that the gap with Finland’s reference countries is growing. Still, the figures do suggest that the worst is over,” says Gustafsson.

strengths.” Finnish companies have experienced difficulties in growing, although there are signs of a rosier future among firms collaborating with VTT and Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation. One reason for this is the smoother flow of information. ”Small companies cannot keep track of everything going on around them,” Gustafsson says.

Companies of all sizes are needed in order to sustain budding growth. Gustafsson believes that there is nothing to be gained from categorising companies into important and less important firms. ”Slush is an example of the young people from whom we can learn at least the right attitude. While SME entrepreneurs remain the centre of our attention, the importance and role of large companies as drivers of growth has changed in nature rather than disappearing.”

One potential means of creating growth and investments would be to change the mindset.

Innovation should be regarded as an investment in future returns rather than a cost. In addition, scientists, the public administration and businesses could improve their mutual communication by engaging in closer dialogue.

Working on your strengths The road to recovery and faster growth lies through areas of previous strength for Finland.

For example, Finland has a skills base in the digital sector. New innovations will partly come from familiar areas. VTT’s Bioruukki piloting facility is one possible source of innovation. ”It is hard to imagine where growth will come from if not from there. The basic issues haven’t changed. Maybe what needs to change is the desire for growth, which is not one of our

Clean biomarkets VTT Bioruukki in Espoo is a piloting centre which promotes the use of biomass and develops bioenergy and biochemical-based production methods. Companies can run pilots in the Bioruukki processing facilities, dispensing with the need for their own equipment. New technologies will bring the forest and chemical industries closer together.

In addition to the bioeconomy, cleantech is being studied at Bioruukki. Cleantech is one of

14 VTT Impulse

”WHILE SME ENTREPRENEURS REMAIN OUR FOCUS, THE IMPORTANCE AND ROLE OF LARGE COMPANIES AS DRIVERS OF GROWTH HAS CHANGED IN NATURE RATHER THAN DISAPPEARING.”

the key projects of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy and features in Gustafsson’s own career history. His perspective on this was crystallised by two years in Beijing and other parts of Asia. ”Plenty of new growth sectors will become more important whether we are involved or not. The only question is how we can get on board and share in this. That is why it is good that we have strengths that we are supporting with our own choices,” he says.

As the Finnish ambassador in Beijing, Gustafsson could observe Finnish companies on the clean technology market.

”A company manufacturing indoor air purification equipment is a good example. Only three percent of Chinese households whose indoor air can be cleaned have such devices.

The peak year for China’s air-pollution climate commitments is 2030, so the market has existed for quite a while. This is just one example. For a number of reasons, China is a pioneer which is imitated by other Asian countries.”

Gustafsson believes that demand is rising slowly in different parts of Asia. ”Indonesia, for example, is waking up to investments of this kind. Jakarta has a population of 15 million and little attention has been paid VTT Impulse 15

”Digital technology is powering development in many sectors.

We have only seen the very beginning of the Internet of Things. Revenue models are being sought: the role of organisations like VTT and Tekes is to act as a communication channel for this,” says Jari Gustafsson.

to air pollution. All major cities in Asia are in the same situation. Like demand, expertise is no hindrance to cleantech companies. The problem is our capacity for risk-taking and desire to scale up to genuinely large markets.”

Water, education and health technology While pondering these issues in his office, the Permanent Secretary cites the old adage that at times you can be too close to an issue. He praises a presentation in which a medical training package had been turned into an export product. ”Digital services have outperformed traditional sectors in the export markets. Why not sell training packages of this kind instead of bringing students here?”

Among the various public services, Gustafsson is also thinking of health technology and the environmental business. ”We have the world’s best water utilities but, with a few exceptions, no private companies operating on the open market. We are one of the great Nordic welfare states, but not one of the countries that have turned this strength into a business,” Jari Gustafsson says.

16 VTT Impulse

”THE BASIC ISSUES, OUR TRADITIONAL STRENGTHS, HAVEN’T CHANGED. WHERE WILL GROWTH COME FROM, IF NOT FROM THERE?”

COLUMN

Matti Apunen Director Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA)

“The Finnish economy is a chronically ill patient, whose condition will no longer be improved by lying in bed.”

A birthday gift from us to ourselves

T

he figures make grim reading. The state will axe a total of 1.2 billion euros overall from education and research by 2019. That means a reduction of around 9 percent compared to last year.

At the same time, the state is sitting on a huge pile of money. Finland is not hopelessly poor, but joylessly stingy. The country treats its economy like a piggy bank, lacking imagination and over-rating the wisdom of doing nothing.

I am inclined to believe that the Finnish economy is a chronically ill patient, which can only improve its condition by getting onto its feet. But what would constitute an energetic, reasonably rapid solution with a dash of creativity?

You’ve probably guessed already. We need to look for it in those large piles of money.

“Let’s put our balance sheets to work,” says Prime Minister Juha Sipilä. This is absolutely right and this would be the time and place to do it.

The Finnish state has exceptionally large assets by international comparisons. In a recent report titled ‘Lazy Giant’, Hannu Leinonen, retired chief editor of the Finnish business publication Kauppalehti, estimated that the state could find 20 billion euros simply by privatising and selling off companies under its ownership.

There are many reasons why reducing state ownership would be desirable. It is crazy that the state is bearing the risks of individual companies instead of overseeing the market. Business risks should not be covered by taxpayers.

Even if we do not sell off all of our stateowned assets, the state could monetise around three billion euros of its holdings relatively painlessly. This would avoid the need to weaken its portfolio of strategic holdings.

My suggestion would be as follows: Build a new Sitra (the Finnish Innovation Fund) quickly.

It could be a fund set up in honour of the forth-

coming centenary of Finland’s independence, whose proceeds would be directed at meeting the needs of research and higher education.

This would not add up to selling off the family silver, but a more strategic allocation of the proceeds from state holdings. If the commercialisation of research and innovation is as valuable as is claimed, why not give ourselves a hundred-year birthday gift in this form?

Creating such a fund would pose no political problems. Since universities form part of the fiscal accounts, it would not breach the EU rules on public finances: transferring assets only registers in this sense when they constitute an increase in expenditure.

The autonomy of universities and research institutions is illusory in part. They have decision-making power over their own affairs, but without better funding they are autonomous on paper only.

If the initial capital for the fund were around 2.5 billion euros and we assumed a return on that of around four percent, it would mean a 100 million euro shot in the arm for research.

With this, we could buy equipment or knowhow, state-of-the-art instrumentation for engineers, or world-class researchers to propel our universities forwards.

To ensure that the money does not sink into the bottomless pit of general expenses, it should only be disbursed in return for major structural reforms. Finnish universities are currently full-service supermarkets, with frequent overlaps in teaching and research based on inadequate resourcing.

Our universities will only succeed against the international competition if they are clearly divided into research and teaching universities – the latter are no less valuable than the former.

In other words, what if we provided a EUR 100 million carrot to try out a clearer division of tasks – an arrangement which has borne fruit in the market economy over the last two or three hundred years?

VTT Impulse 17

SCIENCE

VTT’s specialists turn science into technology

Controlling friction

Making use of willow VTT AND AALTO UNIVERSITY investigated how willow biomass can be utilised

more efficiently. When processed correctly, willow is eminently suitable as a source of sugar in the production of ethanol. The lignin fraction formed as a by-product of the ethanol process and the fibres and compounds of willow bark are suitable for the manufacture of environmentally friendly chemicals and bio-based materials.

Global demand for the plant-based ingredients of environmentally friendly chemicals and renewable fuels is growing, as the world endeavours to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, find substitutes for oil-based components, and produce renewable energy. Thanks to its fast growth rate, willow can provide an answer to these challenges, but only little use has as yet been made of willow as an industrial raw material. In addition to affordability, willow has many benefits compared to other forestry- or agriculture-based ingredients: For example, willow can be grown in areas that are prone to flooding and have low nutrient levels, i.e., in areas that are not suitable for forestry or agricultural purposes, and as it grows, willow makes efficient use of nutrients, which helps to lower nutrient levels in water bodies in agricultural and peat production areas.

A dissertation by VTT’s Research Scientist, MSc (Tech) Timo J. Hakala demonstrates that water-based lubricants have potential in industrial boundary lubrication applications in the food processing, textile and health technology industries, for example.

Hakala’s dissertation in materials science, which is called “Waterbased boundary lubrication with biomoleculecular additives on diamond-like carbon and stainless steel surfaces” was reviewed last January at Aalto University in Espoo.

His dissertation is available online at http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/

It has been estimated that

30%

of the world’s energy is used to overcome friction.

Friction and wear result in significant economic losses every year.

More than 50 million years of age MSc (Agr. and For.) Lotta Purkamo wrote her dissertation on the microbial communities found in groundwater in the bedrock of Outokumpu, the oldest of which have lived in isolation for more than 50 million years. The results can be used to evaluate the effects of microbes on industrial processes that make use of Finland’s bedrock as a depository or a source of raw materials and energy.

18 VTT Impulse

Photo: VTT

SCIENCE

New uses for lignin in food products LIGNIN IS FOUND in the cell walls of plants, and it is an

exciting area of research, for which VTT is developing new applications, such as the use of lignin in food products.

Based on a doctoral dissertation by VTT’s Research Scientist Piritta Niemi, colon microbiota can partially metabolise lignin.

Her research also suggests that even a high lignin content in dietary fibre does not prevent colon microbiota from playing their important role of converting carbohydrates into shortchain fatty acids.

In Niemi’s dissertation, lignin-rich fractions were enzymatically fractionated from BSG (brewers’ spent grain) and the fractions were used to investigate the interactions between lignin and colon microbiota in an in-vitro metabolic colon model. Based on the findings, colon microbiota can at least partially metabolise lignin.

More than 30 million tons of BSG are produced in the world every year as a by-product of the brewery sector.

BSG, which is food-grade material, is mainly used as a feed additive for ruminants. In addition to dietary fibre, it contains around 20 per cent protein, which means that it could be put to more valuable use than in feed – for example, in food applications.

The dissertation also examined whether high lignin content suppresses the microbial conversion of carbohydrates by colon microbiota, or the growth of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium bacteria, which are generally considered to be beneficial. In the colon study, no signs of suppression of microbial carbohydrate conversion by a high lignin content (20–40 per cent) in fibre were detected. Neither did a ligninrich growth substrate inhibit the growth of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium bacteria.

With respect to lignin, in the future it will also be important to study the bioactivities of the metabolites observed in Niemi’s dissertation and whether they have potentially healthpromoting effects. It is likely that lignin has more importance as a constituent of dietary fibre than has been realised up to this point.

PIRITTA NIEMI VTT’s Research Scientist, MSc (Tech.)

Piritta Niemi defended her dissertation “Enzymatic fractionation of brewers’ spent grain and bioconversion of ligninrich fractions in a colon model in vitro” at Aalto University in April 2016.

Her dissertation is available online at: http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/science/2016/ S124.pdf.

VTT Impulse 19

MORE THAN

silicon In a few years, there will probably be more devices connected to the internet than there are people on Earth. And this is an extremely cautious estimation. As the number of devices grows, there will be more and more demand for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and sensors.

Text Philippe Monnoyer

20 VTT Impulse

FIGURE 1.

ables new businesses and new business models: this is digitalisation.5,6 This will affect productivity,7 healthcare, safety, smart homes…. everything. It should significantly increase the global economy.

The connected things (from smartphones to cars, production machines, and homes) and people are the internet of everything (IoE).

Silicon technology in VTT Our silicon microfabrication cleanrooms are based in Espoo, Finland, in a national infrastructure called Micronova.8 Aalto University also uses the infrastructure. Companies use the facilities for their R&D and/or production.

VTT Ltd has developed a few silicon competitive technologies.

SCIENCE

A

fter the industrial revolution1 of the 18th and 19th centuries, where manufacturing processes changed with machines and steam power, came the second industrial revolution with electrification of production lines, telephone, telegraph, expanding railroad networks, paving the way to globalisation.2 We are now in the third industrial revolution3, the information age or digital revolution, based on transformations such as the transistors, computers, internet, smartphones….

With a typical size of a few square millimetres and a selling price well below one euro for most of them, these MEMS and sensors make small and affordable what was before expensive and big.

Famous examples are accelerometers (e.g. for airbag control in cars), pressure sensors, gyroscopes, microphones, magnetometers, humidity sensors, micro-mirrors (e.g. for digital video projection), radio-frequency filter for communications, inkjet heads, micro-pumps.…

From the technical conference held by the MEMS & Sensors Industry Group in Munich this March 4, we learn that future and emerging MEMS and Sensors are now believed to be gas sensors (CO2, CO, Ammonia, SOx, NOx, VOCs), particle sensors, automotive sensors like imaging or MEMS mirrors for LIDAR but also medical and healthcare sensors like non-invasive glucose sensors for diabetes, breath analysis, smart pills, sensors on skin, low power gyroscopes (< 1 µA), sensors for home monitoring and miniaturised spectroscopy.

Sensing devices generate data. A lot of data.

The value is in the data, and its exploitation en-

Microspectrometers We are surrounded by an extraordinary amount of visual information. That is way more than our brain can process. And this is only for the visible part of the wavelength spectrum. Spectrometers analyse the light emitted, reflected or absorbed by objects and allow to determine their nature. They are expensive, big and fragile. But what if they were cheap, small and robust?

VTT invested in total more than 200,000 hours of research on the miniaturization of that technology, from ultraviolet to thermal infrared. Today we have a technology that allows to fabricate handheld microspectrometers solutions that are robust and can be mass manufactured. Moreover, we developed hyperspectral imaging devices, in which each pixel is a microspectrometer.

Micronova facilities near Helsinki.

VTT Impulse 21

Photo: Ilkka Pölönen, Anna-Leena Erkkilä

FIGURE 2. Mapping of the cyanobacteria in the lake Lohjanjärvi. Project

HSI-stereo in collaboration with University of Jyväskylä, FGI, Luode consulting, Lentokuva Vallas.

That generates a new family of imaging spectral sensors for a myriad of applications and new businesses in health, agriculture, pollution and environmental monitoring, defense, chemical analysis, industrial production monitoring, archeology – only the imagination is the limit.

Everything has a spectral signature, and if we add the time dimension, no problem, hyperspectral video is also possible. If we add image analysis and machine learning, the imagination goes wild.

Let’s take a few examples of realisations: In spring 2016, the Aalto 19 nanosatellite will be launched by SpaceX10 with one of our hyperspectral cameras on board (400 nm–1,100 nm, 5–10 nm resolution). That will be the first Finnish satellite and our first test in space. Much closer to the ground, unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) (Figure 3), drones, quadcopters, pseudo satellites, can carry hyperspectral imagers for many applications.

In the project HyperGlobal (Tekes) on offshore hyperspectral imaging, the remote sensing of sulphur oxides (SOx) pollution from ships is targeted. More stringent regulations on SOx emissions can only be forced though efficient monitoring technology as they increase the costs by billions of euros for the shipping industry.

As for the environmental monitoring let’s take two Finnish examples. The blue-green algae in lakes and pest insects detrimental to the forests.

Blue-green algae or cyanobacteria releases cyanotoxins that are poisonous for animals and humans. In Finland, famous for its lakes, every summer, the presence of the blue-green algae is monitored by local sampling to inform people.

Another method that has been tested is lake area mapping from a plane with a hyperspectral camera. In Figure 2 we see an example with the lake 22 VTT Impulse

FIGURE 3.

Test hyperspectral imagers on-board of a drone used in the project HSI-Stereo (Tekes).

Lohjanjärvi taken from 2,000 m altitude. The high concentration of cyanobacteria is observed on the North-East part of the lake near the city center. The mapping instead of sampling is more powerful to understand the phenomenon and have a global view.

In the forests, there are sometimes pest insects, like the bark beetle, that affect trees, with environmental and economical impact. It is possible to map the trees affected by it with hyperspectral cameras. With the hyperspectral camera technology developed at VTT, this was realised on Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) by Näsi et al.11 in the MMEA research programme, coordinated by Cleen Ltd. in co-operation with FGI (Finnish Geospatial Research Institute) and the University of Helsinki. This is a very promising technology for preventing and monitoring bark beetle outbreaks.

In the health field, we developed a camera able to assess the skin field cancerization in seconds.12 We also developed a camera for the hyperspectral imaging of the eye retina with a potential in helping diagnosis in oxygen saturation, retina structure, glaucoma and diabetes.13 Other devices were made like a hyperspectral microscope, chemical imagers, a wireless microspectrometer in the cover of a phone for CO2 monitoring, and recently an hyperspectral system on an iPhone camera. You can read more on our spectral sensing technology.14 Others use hyperspectral imaging for Archeology,15 biodiversity quantification and nature management.16 If you have insights on the possible exploitation of spectral information I invite you to contact us. We probably can tailor a camera for your specific business.

Infrared room temperature nanobolometers: we developed silicon based infrared nanobolom-

eters that, from our measurements on test structures, should eventually be one or two orders of magnitude more sensitive than the state-of-theart (resistive and thermoelectric). 17 The great sensitivity gain represents a key advantage for small aperture lower-cost optical systems and furthermore can be a lower cost alternative to other sensors above 5 µm wavelength.

Supercapacitors The internet of things or the wearable technologies rely much on the fact that the MEMS and sensors and their systems have very little energy needs or even are energy autonomous and still wirelessly connected. In many cases using and changing batteries is too costly. For these reasons, energy harvesting (from heat, vibrations, WiFi, sunlight….) and energy storage are important.

One way to store energy is to use supercapacitors. They can release energy very fast (e.g. for communication) and they can store a lot of energy per mass. A classic way to rank supercapacitors is to plot their performance in a Ragone plot18 where the power density is plotted versus the energy density. This illustrates how fast and how much energy is delivered per volume of supercapacitor. VTT’s supercapacitors and current state-of-the-art devices are based on porous silicon and a titanium nitride coating grown by atomic layer deposition.19 As supercapacitors are extremely thin, it makes sense to talk about energy per surface. In our case we reach power densities of ~50 mW/ mm2 or energy densities of ~2 mWs/mm2.

MEMS based CO2 and relative humidity sensor There is an increasing demand for sensors measuring the quality of our environment and typically the air we breathe. Some sensors are already on the market, the latest being the BME680 from Bosch.20 In VTT Ltd we

are working on a MEMS based solution that measures CO2 in air21 very fast and from small concentrations to much higher ones, like e.g. in exhaled breath. We now work on its stability versus temperature. If we succeed we believe this 1 mm2 active area MEMS sensor will give CO2 readings in less than one second and only consume a few mW during the measurement.

Given its size, this could become a very low cost CO2 sensor for consumer electronics. We also work on simultaneous measurements of relative humidity and CO2 using the same principles.

Silicon photonics We developed over the years a competitive silicon-on-insulator (SOI) micron-scale waveguide technology with unique properties like losses below 0.1 dB/cm, ultra-wide bandwidth (from 1.2 to 8 µm), small polarisation dependence and a bending radius of less than 10 µm with less than 0.1 dB/90° loss.

The know-how in this field allows us to offer high integration density on chips. Our traditional activities on passive components are now completed by active components and their integration towards cheaper, faster and more energy-efficient data communication. Other applications in biological or gas sensing and in the medical field are considered. You can read all the details in a former issue of this magazine.22 Manufacturing services Besides the contract R&D for customers, process development, IP licensing and participation in jointly funded research projects, VTT Ltd is offering silicon manufacturing services via its daughter company VTT MEMSFAB.23 Low volumes in the order of several tens of thousands of 150 mm wafer starts per year can be offered on given processes. After a process development is complete, production of our specialty MEMS, sensors and components or pilot production

Photo: Roope Näsi

FIGURE 4.

Visualization of classification results using FPI colorinfrared and RGB images on background.

VTT Impulse 23

OUR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS TAKE THE LEAD IN THE FUTURE NETWORKS AND RELATED HARDWARE, E.G. 5G.

PHILIPPE MONNOYER Philippe Monnoyer is the head of VTT’s Microsystems research area.

He got his DSc (Physical Chemistry) degree from the University of Namur in Belgium in 1998.

He has worked at the Liège Space Centre, Imec and Motorola (later Freescale Semiconductors) in a research alliance with ST Microelectronics and Philips (later NXP) in Crolles, near Grenoble in France. Monnoyer moved to Finland in 2007 and joined VTT, where his work focuses on MEMS technology. His research team’s most important research areas include microspectrometers, MEMS, radiation sensors, supercapacitors, infrared nanobolometers, and piezoelectric materials.

The research team is part of a VTT’s business area that provides technology from silicon to cloud, including printed electronics, sensor systems, metrology and health care applications, communication systems, and digital services.

24 VTT Impulse

can be performed for the customer. The key components can then be integrated in high added value instruments for target applications by partners or customers. Technology transfers are also possible. Typical examples for manufacturing can be radiation detectors, MEMS Fabry-Perot Interferometers, etc.

New businesses If we consider only the silicon activities, a few companies emerged from VTT. Among them we have VTT MEMSFAB23, Aivon,24 Advaplan (CMP services), Advacam25 (Large area photon counting radiation sensors and cameras), Spectral Engines (Spectral sensors)26 and Asqella (THz based security screening solutions).27 As VTT can vertically integrate its technology from the hardware to the cloud based service, more are expected in the future.

From silicon to cloud We have this slogan in our business area led by the executive Vice President Petri Kalliokoski.

Knowledge intensive products and services are our core business. Our asset in VTT Ltd is the ability to build vertical value beyond each special competence within a same institution.

For example, our unique roll-to-roll printed electronics lines28,29 and our silicon microsystems technologies are meant to explore lower cost hybrid flexible electronics. Our sensor systems experts further integrate components into solutions, devices and prototypes. Our communication systems take the lead in the future networks and related hardware, e.g. 5G. Finally health applications, accredited metrology30 (VTT Mikes) and digital systems and services complete the skillset to offer solutions for business and generate new economical value.

A recent example among many is how we combined our environmental metrology know how and hyperspectral technology. Initially we demonstrated the identification of materials from the record breaking distance of 1.5 km.31 The method called active hyperspectral detection (AHS) in the infrared uses a supercontinuum light source. Latest development of the technology under the TransSmart programme32 included significant miniaturisation of the system using MEMS Fabry-Perot technology and implementation of the latest supercontinuous laser. The AHS instrument was successfully tested in traffic conditions, spectrally resolving objects ahead of the driving vehicle.

Sources [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_ Revolution [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_ Industrial_Revolution [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Revolution [4] http://mtceu2016.memscongress.com/ breakoutsessions/ [5] http://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/ digitalization [6] http://www.vttresearch.com/Impulse/Pages/ Digitalisation-in-closing-the-gap.aspx [7] http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/visions/2013/V3.pdf [8] Street view https://www.google.fi/maps/@60.

1845479,24.8188365,3a,46.3y,296.53h,90.53t/da ta=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1saRxfdVeUG6nespjQnUeqjw!2 e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpano id%3DaRxfdVeUG6nespjQnUeqjw%26output%3 Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gp s%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100% 26yaw%3D49.058609%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i 6656?hl=en [9] https://wiki.aalto.fi/display/SuomiSAT/Summary Aalto-1 Spectral Imager has been built in an ESAStrin project “MEMS Fabry-Perot Interferometer Technology for Miniaturized Hyperspectral Imagers and Microspectrometers”, ESA contract number No. 4000106267/12/NL/CP. [10] http://www.spacex.com/ [11] Näsi, R., Honkavaara, E., LyytikäinenSaarenmaa, P., Blomqvist, M., Litkey, P., Hakala, T., & Holopainen, M. (2015). Using UAV-Based Photogrammetry and Hyperspectral Imaging for Mapping Bark Beetle Damage at Tree-Level. Remote Sensing, 7(11), 15467-15493.

[12] http://www.vttresearch.com/media/news/ vtts-hyperspectral-camera-shows-promisingresults-in-detection-of-skin-field-cancerization [13] Kaare et al., Development of tunable Fabry-Perot spectral camera and light source for

medical applications, AIP Conf. Proc. 1537, 231 (2013); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4809717 [14] http://www.vttresearch.com/Impulse/Pages/ Fabry-Perot-Interferometer-technologies.aspx [15] http://www.ted.com/talks/gregory_heyworth_ how_i_m_discovering_the_secrets_of_ancient_ texts [16] http://www.ted.com/talks/greg_asner_ ecology_from_the_air [17] U. Dillner et al., J. Sens. Sens. Syst. 2, 85 (2013).

[18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragone_chart [19] http://arxiv.org/abs/1603.00798 [20] https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/bst/ products/all_products/bme680 [21] Koppinen et al., A novel MEMS gas sensor based on ultrasonic resonance cavity, Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), 2014 IEEE International, pp 655–658.

[22] http://www.vttresearch.com/Impulse/Pages/ Small-is-big-growth-and-new-opportunities-insilicon-photonics.aspx [23] http://www.vttmemsfab.fi/ [24] http://aivon.fi/ [25] http://www.advacam.com [26] http://www.spectralengines.com/ [27] http://asqella.com/ [28] http://www.vttresearch.com/Impulse/Pages/ Pilot-plants-forge-innovative-ideas-into-businessactivities.aspx [29] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbD2nXJ 9PIc&list=UUsk0HC6ZHwPdbQwE8UWzW5A&ind ex=1 [30] http://www.vttresearch.com/Impulse/Pages/ By-measuring-you-can-improve.aspx [31] A. Manninen et al. Opt. Express 22, 71727177 (2014).

[32] http://www.transsmart.fi/transsmart/in_english

VTT Impulse 25

Smart cities, can the performance be measured?

Today 78 per cent of European citizens live in cities, and 85 per cent of the EUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s GDP is generated in cities. In addition, over 90 per cent of the innovations are generated in cities. At the same time over 70 per cent of all CO2 emissions are originated from cities. In order to avoid negative effects cities need to transform themselves into â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;smart citiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

Text Miimu Airaksinen

26 VTT Impulse

nearly 70 per cent of the world population will live in urban areas. High density city populations increase strains on energy, transportation, water, buildings and public spaces.1 Urban areas account for 70 per cent of current global CO2 emissions and hence heavily contribute to the threats of global climate change, while simultaneously being highly vulnerable to the impacts of it. This causes extensive challenges, for example regarding air pollution, congestion, waste management and human health.2 According to SBA3,4, sustainability is based on a principle where everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations. Sustainability is important to making sure that we have and will continue to have, the water, materials, and resources to protect human health and our environment.

The term ‘smart city’ often implies a usage of ICT solutions in the city.5 Some definitions use intelligent cities and smart cities as synonymous terms6 while others make a distinction.5 According to Malek7, the intelligent city refers to a city that has an information technology infrastructure. Often the ultimate objective of smart city is to be sustainable.8 Cities are also areas of creativity and of economic growth: the potential for exchanges, optimization and new solutions is unique and enormous. However, this transition process is progressing slow.9,10 As the EU has set its climate and energy targets for 2030 (EC 2014) there is an urgent need to develop smart solutions to overcome barriers and to address these challenges,11 and accelerate transition. Innovative approaches are needed to tackle problems related to overcrowding and jamming of infrastructures, energy consumption, resource management and environmental protection. The development of Smart Cities solutions is highly relevant in order to contribute to the climate targets established in the European 2030 Strategy and, beyond that to the European 2050 objectives.

There is a strong need for new, efficient, and user-friendly technologies and services, in particular in areas of energy, transport, and ICT with interoperable and integrated approaches: ‘smart’ solutions,

BY 2050, ALMOST 70 PER CENT OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION WILL LIVE IN URBAN AREAS.

Background and introduction Whereas more than half of the world’s population lives in cities, this rises to over two thirds in EU28 and the proportion is growing. Moreover, by 2050

VTT Impulse 27

SCIENCE

P

erformance analysis has become an important tool in planning and in project assessment, but also in assessing cities. The comparison of cities can support investors in their choice of location and also it can be an important guide for the cities to judge their strengths and weaknesses and to define their goals and strategies for future development and better positioning in the urban system.

The comparison and analyse of current smart city indicator frameworks showed clearly that the three sustainability pillars; people, planet and profit are widely used and adopted. However, this is not enough to determine the success of a smart city project. Success is also determined by how projects have been – or will be – realised in various contexts. The Governance of developing and implementing urban smart city projects is a determining factor for high scores in people, planet and prosperity indicators. Therefore CITYkeys framework has included a number of indicators to evaluate the importance of the city context and quality of the development and implementation process.

In addition the ability of individual smart city success stories to be replicated in other cities and contexts is important. Under the CITYkeys Propagation category, smart city projects are evaluated to determine their potential for up-scaling and the possibilities for application in other contexts.

Monitoring key performance indicators also enables optimized operation of different subsystems within a city (e.g. energy or mobility) by enlarging the efficiency of urban flows as energy resources and mobility, while minimising the environmental impact at the same time. A city monitoring system provides access to and exchange between data of different applications in an urban environment. In order to maximise the input from various subsystems in cities the systems should be based on standards and interoperable interfaces. Further, the monitoring systems can support also the optimal operation of cities with holistic city operating systems by enabling the collection and distribution of sensor data, analysis and visualisation.

INTELLIGENT URBAN ECOSYSTEMS

Communications

Value-driven Business

Technology

Collaboration

Smart Governance

Seamless Services COEXISTENCE Natural Environment

PROFIT = ECONOMY

PEOPLE = SOCIETY

Smart People

Built Environment

PLANET = ENERGY, RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT Figure 1.

Illustration of a typical frame work of smart city.

i.e. both highly efficient and sustainable on the one hand, as well as generating economic prosperity and social wellbeing on the other.

This is best achieved by mobilising all of a city’s resources and coordinating its actors using new technologies and forward looking joinedup policies.

Performance analysis has become an important tool in planning phase or in project assessment, but also in assessing cities. City rankings are popular today and they increasingly attract public attention. The comparison of cities can attract new resident citizens and support investors in their choice of location. In addition it can be an important guide for the cities to judge their strengths and weaknesses and to define their goals and strategies for future development and better positioning in the urban system. For proper comparison of cities appropriate evaluation mechanisms and indicators are needed. An indicator can be defined as “Anything used to measure the condition of something of interest. Indicators are often used as variables in the modelling of changes in complex environmental systems.”12 City administrations tend to use a diverse set of key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate the success of specific projects. These KPIs 28 VTT Impulse

may reflect the city’s environmental and social goals, as well as its economic objectives.13 Appropriate metrics need to articulate progress towards determined strategic goals aligned with the sustainability principles, which can then lead cities to develop indicators to measure success against the goals in each smart city characteristic. It has also been suggested that it is vital that metrics measuring success are connected to the vision and goals.14 Currently there are many initiatives by cities, companies, research groups, and authorities to create methodologies or frameworks for assessment of the sustainability or the environmental impact of a city. Recently, several standards have been developed using life cycle thinking to determine the environmental impact of ICT products, networks and services. There are also a number of initiatives where cities are to report their greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage.15 Most often in smart city assessment frameworks the classical people (society), planet (environment), profit (economy) classification is used (see Figure 1), or in some that classification is behind the framework. Typically the assessment frameworks have indicators in the categories of economy, people and living, and

governance and services. In addition almost all frameworks also have indicators related to environment, and these indicators consider mainly energy consumption, sustainability of buildings, carbon footprint, waste generation etc. Also smart mobility, transport and infrastructure are addressed in the systems but there the focus is somewhat different depending on the framework. The role of ICT as enabling technology is embedded in all main categories.

Key performance indicators There is a multitude of indicator sets in place, but only a few that are generally accepted. The result is that cities tend to use those that suit their purposes; and have significant difficulty in making a fair comparison between cities – and at times within their own city.

European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities8 seeks to support cities in becoming more energy efficient, using more renewable energy and saving greenhouse gas emissions by stimulating technological innovation, engaging citizens and providing innovative concepts, processes, methods and tools. To create transparency and build confidence, all such actions need to be quantifiable against clear baselines such that gains can be clearly evidenced – to city leadership and society. Measuring a city’s progress can raise societal awareness for a low-carbon lifestyle, support industry in identifying new business opportunities, and help city administration in coordinating and monitoring the transformation process. For this, a comprehensive indicator system, based as far as possible on real data, is needed.

Although there are many good indicator systems in place for cities, such as the Reference Framework for Sustainable Cities, Global City Indicators Facility, the European Energy Award and the like; there is no broadly-accepted indicator system that reflects the ‘smart city’ approach. Developing one would enable cities to self-evaluate and compare their progress.

This will require unambiguous operational definition of the term ‘smart city’ from which city indicators can be derived, and improved consistency and comparability of urban data among European cities. Greater acceptance is also required at city leadership levels to more openly report on progress against common agreed indicators.

A COMPREHENSIVE INDICATOR SYSTEM, BASED AS FAR AS POSSIBLE ON REAL DATA, IS NEEDED. In CITYkeys review of existing frameworks, it can be seen that the current smart city frameworks and KPIs have very wide range from very specific sectoral project based indicators to holistic and integrated citywide indicator frames. It can be seen that the good majority of mapped frameworks targets the scale of the entire city by using an integrated-holistic methodology and relevant indicators.

According to review16 of smart city indicator frameworks it can be concluded that the following categories are the most often used: Economy, People & Living, Governance & Services, Mobility & Transport & Infrastructure and Environment. ICT is embedded in each category. Typically in each assessment scheme the indicators are differently categorised in and therefore doing a clear division into the categories is rather difficult. The different categories are also often overlapping with each other; for example indicators in the Infrastructure category are often also related to environment and therefore overlapping with the Environment category. This highlights the importance of integrated approach.

Evidently environment and energy related indicators are among of the most important in respect of reducing CO2 emissions.17,18,19 Typically energy is assessed in respect of the efficiency of energy consumption, use of renewable energy or availability clean energy transport. Energy use is typically measured by energy consumption per GDP or per capita but also other types of indicators exist e.g. the deployment of smart metering by a percentage of households.

In most of the assessment schemes the indicators related to energy and migitation were well presented highlighting the importance of environmental issues, these are the typical VTT Impulse 29

ENERGY INTENSITIES HAVE PROBABLY BECOME THE MOST COMMON INDICATORS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY.

“planet” indicators referred in Figure 1. In addition the other two traditional sustainability pillars “people” and “property” were well covered. However, indicators describing multilevel governance or scalability or replicability of projects were non-existing. This is striking since multilevel governance is the crucial enabler for integrated solutions in cities. In addition scalability and replicability are important when considering the implementation and spreading viable solutions.

The CITYkeys assessment method and the indicators are to be used to evaluate the success of smart city projects and the possibility to replicate the (successful) projects in other contexts.

The success is determined by the transition across the entire ecological footprint of urban areas, simultaneously promoting economic prosperity, social aims and resilience to climate change and other external disturbances. Over the past decennia, the concept of sustainability – split up in the triple bottom line of social sustainability (people), environmental sustainability (planet) and economic sustainability (prosperity) – has become generally accepted in the development of indicator systems for national and regional urban development.20 The 3 Ps (people, planet, prosperity) have also gained considerable ground in company reporting.21 The extent to which smart city projects are able to have an effect on social, environmental and economic indicators forms the core of the evaluation. However, this is not enough to determine the success of a smart city project.

Success is also determined by how projects have been – or will be – realised in various contexts. The Governance of developing and

30 VTT Impulse

implementing urban smart city projects is a determining factor for high scores in people, planet and prosperity indicators.22 Hiremath et al. also notes that Governance has been established as one of the four pillars of sustainable development.17 Therefore we need to include a number of indicators to evaluate the importance of the city context (external factors) and quality of the development and implementation process (internal factors).

Finally, the ability of individual smart city projects to be replicated in other cities and contexts determines its ultimate effect in achieving European goals with regard to energy and CO2 emissions. Under the Propagation category, smart city projects are evaluated to determine their potential for up-scaling and the possibilities for application in other contexts.

Measuring key performance indicators To understand a city’s functions and to evaluate its performance it is important that the smart city indicators would be obtained from data in as real time as possible for the critical infrastructure and in areas like building and traffic control.

The real time data can be categorised into two main categories; 1) physical urban data and 2) information from measured data. The physical illustrative data here refers to urban area monitoring e.g. urban pattern recognition for the physical monitoring of cities. The information from measured data refers here on the provisioning and consumption of urban services; measures like energy and water supply or waste collection. The urban data is information on supply and demand. Basically this kind of data is easy to monitor but in practise this data is much more challenging to monitor than the physical urban data.

Interpretation of Monitored Key Performance Indicators Performance efficiency can be defined as a ratio between an output of performance, service, goods, or energy, and an input of energy.23 E.g. energy intensities have probably become the most common indicators of energy efficiency.

It measures the rate of energy consumption per outcomes, and answers the basic question: how much must one consume energy to achieve the desired result? This might seem uncomplicat-

ed, but in reality, both input and output can be measured in numerous ways and choosing one approach over another always leads to compromises.24

standards and protocols for promoting privacy, choice, and the secure, interoperable transfer and maintenance of sensitive data.

Monitoring Key Performance Indicators Monitoring key performance indicators also enables optimized operation of different subsystems within a city (e.g. energy or mobility) by enlarging the efficiency of urban flows as energy resources and mobility, while minimising the environmental impact at the same time.

At the same time, access to user data continues to be of importance to utilities for operational purposes and to achieve the efficient use of resources. In addition, access to such data by consumers and authorized third parties has significant potential to enable consumers to understand their energy use, and thus become more proactive in managing that use, ultimately saving money on their energy bills and becoming more efficient consumers of energy.

The success for accurate data optimisation needs both the development of legal and regulatory regimes that respect consumer privacy, promote consumer access to and choice regarding third –party use of their energy data, and secure potentially sensitive data to increase consumer acceptance of open data.25 In addition, the success of such efforts also depends upon the development of appropriate technical

Discussion and conclusion Performance analysis has become an important tool in planning and in project assessment, but also in assessing cities. City rankings are highly popular today and they increasingly attract public attention. The comparison of cities can support investors and citizens in their choice of location and also it can be an important guide for the cities to judge their strengths and weaknesses and to define their goals and strategies for future development and better positioning in the urban system.

City administrations tend to use a diverse set of key performance indicators to evaluate the success of specific projects. These KPIs may reflect the city’s environmental and social goals, as well as its economic objectives. Appropriate metrics need to articulate progress towards determined strategic goals aligned with the sustainability principles, which can then lead cities to develop indicators to measure success against the goals in each smart city characteristic. It has also been suggested that it is vital that metrics measuring success are connected to the vision and goals.

The comparison and analyse of current smart city indicator frameworks showed clearly

PEOPLE

PLANET

PROSPERITY

GOVERNANCE

PROPAGATION

• Health (3) • Safety (4) • Access to (other) services (7) • Education (3) • Diversity & social cohesion (3) • Quality of housing and the built environment (6)

• Energy & mitigation (7) • Materials, water and land (10) • Climate resilience (1) • Pollution & waste (4) • Ecosystem (2)

• Employment (2) • Equity (2) • Green economy (3) • Economic performance (5) • Innovation (5) • Attractiveness & competitiveness (1)

• Organisation (6) • Community involvement (5) • Multi-level governance (2)

• Scalability & replicability (10) • Aspects of success (8)

Figure 2.

CITYkeys framework for smart city indicators (www.citykeys-project.eu).

VTT Impulse 31

that the three sustainability pillars; people, planet and profit are widely used and adopted.

However, this is not enough to determine the success of a smart city project. Success is also determined by how projects have been – or will be – realised in various contexts. The Governance of developing and implementing urban smart city projects is a determining factor for high scores in People, Planet and Prosperity indicators. Therefore CITYkeys framework has included a number of indicators to evaluate the importance of the city context (external factors) and quality of the development and implementation process (internal factors).

Finally, the ability of individual smart city projects to be replicated in other cities and contexts determines its ultimate effect in achieving the goals with regard to energy and CO2 emissions. Under the CITYkeys Propagation

MIIMU AIRAKSINEN Research Professor and Doctor of Engineering (Structural Engineering) Miimu Airaksinen is familiar with the challenges and strengths facing the Finnish and European construction sector.

Her research at VTT is focused on the eco-efficiency of the built environment and the future priorities of the construction sector. She is also a member of Finland’s climate panel and a UN Habitat advisor. She has been highly active in developing the Smart Building and Smart City concepts and user studies.

32 VTT Impulse

category, smart city projects are evaluated to determine their potential for up-scaling and the possibilities for application in other contexts.

To understand a city’s functions and to evaluate its performance it is important that the smart city indicators would be obtained from data in as real time as possible. The monitored indicators should give a holistic view of city’s sustainability development. In city level the energy use of buildings is most commonly measured in kWh or in kWh/m2. This metric is very useful when considering building stock design but it does not provide an understanding as to how effectively building stock is utilised during the operations phase. This indicator might even lead to a wrong conclusion if the usage and history of building stock is not known. In the operation phase it is important to know how efficiently the buildings are used. Thus, the number of hours per day when the buildings are occupied is important but also how densely the space is populated.

Monitoring key performance indicators also enables optimized operation of different subsystems within a city (e.g. energy or mobility) by enlarging the efficiency of urban flows as energy resources and mobility, while minimising the environmental impact at the same time.

A city monitoring system provides access to and exchange between data of different applications in an urban environment.

In order to maximise the input from various subsystems in cities the systems should be based on standards and interoperable interfaces. Further, the monitoring systems can support also the optimal operation of cities with holistic city operating systems by enabling the collection and distribution of sensor data, analysis and visualisation.

Accurate data optimisation needs both the development of legal and regulatory regimes that respect consumer privacy, promote consumer access to and choice regarding third-party use of their energy data, and secure potentially sensitive data to increase consumer acceptance of open data. In addition the success of such efforts also depends upon the development of appropriate technical standards and protocols for promoting privacy, choice, and the secure, interoperable transfer and maintenance of sensitive data.

References [1] European Commission, 2013, Report for the European Parliament: Mapping Smart Cities in the EU. IP/A/ITRE/ST/2013-02.

[2] OECD, 2012, OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050, OECD Publishing.

[3] SBA Sustainable Building Alliance, 2009, Common Carbon Metric. For Measuring Energy Use & Reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Building Operations. UNEP SBCI. http://www.sballiance.org/ dldocuments/common-carbon-metric2009.pdf.

[4] EPA, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2014, What is sustainability?, http://www. epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm [5] Hollands, RG. 2008, Will the real smart city please stand up? City 12, 3, (December 2008), 303320. DOI=http://10.1080/13604810802479126.

[6] Allwinkle, S. and Cruickshank, P. 2011, “Creating smarter cities: an overview,” Journal of urban technology, 18, 2, (April 2011), 1-16. DOI=ht tp://10.1080/10630732.2011.601103.

[7] Malek, JA. 2009, Informative global community development index of informative smart city, Proceedings of the 8th WSEAS (World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society) international conference on education and educational technology.

17–19 October 2009, Genova, Italy. ISSN: 17905109.

[8] European Commission, 2013, EIP SCC, European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities, Strategic Implementation Plan, 14.10.2013, http://ec.europa.eu/eip/smartcities/ [9] Giffinger, R., Fertner, C., Kramar, H., Meijers, E., Pichler-Milanovic, N., 2007, Ranking of European medium-sized cities, Final Report, Vienna, 2007.

[10] Gonzales, J.A. and Rossi, A., 2011, New trends for smart cities, open innovation mechanism in smart cities, European commission with the ICT policy support programme.

[11] Nam, T. & Pardo, T.A., 2011, Conceptualizing Smart City with dimensions of technology, people and institutions. In 12th Annual international conference on digital government research, 12-15 June, College Park, MD. [12] Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. 2013, “Cumulative Effects Assessment Practitioners’ Guide,” http://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/ default.asp?lang=En&n=43952694[13] GSMA 2013, Guide to Smart Cities.

The Opportunity for Mobile Operators. http:// smartcitiesindex.gsma.com/indicators/ [14] Colldahl, C., Frey, S., Kelemen, J. E., 2013,

“Smart Cities: Strategic Sustainable Development for an Urban World,” School of Engineering. Blekinge Institute of Technology. Karlskrona, Sweden.

[15] Lövehagen, L., Bondesson, A., 2013, Evaluating sustainability of using ICT solutions in smart cities – methodology requirements. ICT4S 2013, International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Sustainability. pp.

175-182.

[16] Airaksinen M., Ahvenniemi H., Virtanen M., 2012, “Smart City Key Performance Indicators,” European Energy Research Alliance, EERA, Join Program Energy in Cities status Report.

[17] Hiremath, R.B., Balachandra, P., Kumar, B., Bansode, S.S. and Murali, J., 2013, Indicator-based urban sustainability – A review. Energy for Sustainable Development 17 (2013), 555-563.

[18] McManus, P. (2012), Measuring Urban Sustainability: the potential and pitfalls of city rankings, Australian Geographer, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp.

411-424.

[19] Nielsen, Per Sieverts; Ben Amer, Sara and Halsnæs, Kirsten. 2013, TRANSFORM-project.

Definition of Smart Energy City. Deliverables 1.1. and 1.2. Technical University of Denmark, DTU. [20] SCOPE, 2007, Sustainability Indicators: A Scientific Assessment. Edited by T. Hák, B. Moldan and A.L. Dahl. Washington: Island Press. 2.

[21] Kolk, A., 2004, “A Decade of Sustainability Reporting: Developments and Significance.”

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development 3, no. 1 (2004): 51-64.

[22] Fortune, Joyce and Diana White, 2006, Framing of project critical success factors by a systems model. International Journal of Project Management 24 (2006) 53–65.

[23] European Commission, 2006, “Directive 2006/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2006 on energy end-use efficiency and energy services and repealing Council Directive 93/76/EEC,” Official Journal of the European Union.

[24] Forsström, Juha; Lahti, Pekka; Pursiheimo, Esa; Rämä, Miika; Shemeikka, Jari; Sipilä, Kari; Tuominen, Pekka; Wahlgren, Irmeli, 2011, Measuring energy efficiency. Indicators and potentials in buildings, communities and energy systems. VTT. [25] DOE, 2010, Department of Energy, United States of America, “Data access of privacy issues related to smart grid technologies,” October 5, 2010, http://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/ gcprod/documents/Broadband_Report_Data_ Privacy_10_5.pdf

VTT Impulse 33

Looking through their eyes Eye tracking reveals unique aspects of consumer behaviour and user experiences.

Text Johanna Närväinen, Janne Laine

34 VTT Impulse

Eye tracking â&#x20AC;&#x201C; what is it?

Different application areas pose different kinds of requirements to the eye tracking systems, in terms of characteristics such as spatial and temporal accuracy, level of intrusiveness, and ease of setup and calibration. Considerable advances have been made in eye tracking techniques in the recent years, transforming eye tracking from technology that was only suitable to rather cumbersome and limiting laboratory experiments to an increasingly versatile research tool that can be applied as part of many types of consumer and user studies in widely varying environments.

A number of different approaches and techniques have been used over the years for tracking eye movements, ranging from electromyography of ocular muscles to application of special contact lenses.

FIGURE 1.

The most widely used method, especially in user and consumer research applications, is optical eye tracking.

It is based on comparison of the relative positions of the eye and the pupil. The relative position changes when the focus of gaze shifts but is insensitive to small motions of the whole head. Infrared light reflected from the retina in the back of the eye is used to track the pupil location by computer vision methods. The light reflected from the cornea creates a pinpoint highlight in the eye, the corneal reflection that can be located and tracked in the video image of the eye as well. After calibration of the setup, these data allow the computation of gaze projection in real time.

In consumer/user research, gaze is typically recorded with 50â&#x20AC;&#x201C;100 Hz sampling rate, while in e.g. neuroscience and psychology high-speed cameras sampling at 1000 Hz range are commonly used.

The two main ET device types are remote and mounted setups.

In the remote systems the cameras are positioned facing the person, usually right below the visual field at fixed distance from the eyes. In many settings, the device is located underneath a computer display but also large display screens further from the person are possible as long as the field of view geometry remains the same. The computed gaze vector is then projected onto the stimulus display and reported as coordinates.

The mounted systems are goggles in which the cameras are built into the goggle frames. Typically the system also includes a forward-pointing video camera

Gaze path of a single user during the first 3 s after entering a web page. The spheres along the path illustrate fixations, during which the gaze has stopped for longer than 80 ms.

VTT Impulse 35

SCIENCE

I

magine you need to find out how customers navigate in a store and which elements and products catch their eye. You can interview the people, ask them what they did see and in which order. However, such results are subject to reporting bias: memory is less than perfect at best, and people are not willing to tell all they remember. Similar challenges exist in all user/consumer behaviour studies: advertisement, web pages, gaming, usability, and package design.

One solution to resolve focus of visual attention and path of the gaze in a quantitative and fully objective way is eye tracking.

recording the person’s visual field which serves as the projection plane for gaze. The choice of the setup depends on the context: the remote setup suits stimulus materials presented in 2D, is fully unobtrusive and the data analysis is usually straight forward, while ET goggles are the tool of choice for 3D context, such as shopping behaviour or handling real packages or devices, but the goggle data analysis is often quite tedious and hard to summarize on group level.

Tracking the user: visual attention and navigation The eye-mind hypothesis assumes that where someone is looking at is associated with what she is paying attention to and thinking about.1 While it is easy to think of real-life examples of when the attention and gaze do not coincide, typically there

EYE TRACKING IS A POTENT RESEARCH TOOL THAT COULD YIELD VALUABLE OBJECTIVE INFORMATION UNATTAINABLE BY OTHER MEANS.

36 VTT Impulse

is a strong link between the two, especially when a person is looking at something with a goal in mind. By revealing the gaze path, eye tracking thus provides us information about the focus of a person’s attention. On the other hand, the gaze is very fast to react, and the first sub-second interval while viewing a novel scene can be used to reveal the targets of non-conscious attention.

The visually salient features that capture our immediate attention are very much biologically hard-wired: we notice faces, especially with emotionally loaded facial expressions, we follow directional cues to see what people are looking at, and we notice motion.

Visual attention and how it shifts between different objects is a central aspect of the behaviour and experiences of users and consumers in various application

JOHANNA NÄRVÄINEN

JANNE LAINE

Johanna Närväinen, PhD

Janne Laine, M.Sc. (engineer-

(medical physics), works as a senior scientist in VTT’s Digital Health team.

Närväinen is interested in the interaction between physiological responses, personality factors measured in various ways, and implicit and explicit preferences – and combining the understanding of such interaction with the theme of health behaviour. In her work, she uses a range of measurement techniques from brain imaging to activity wrist bands, while the related applications range from the neurobiology of eating behaviour to the identification of stress.

ing), works as a senior scientist in VTT’s Digital Services in Context team. He is currently finishing his doctoral thesis on measurement and modelling of visual perception and user experiences.

Interested in all things visual, with a background in imaging technology and visual psychometry, his current work focuses mainly on understanding the relations between visual and other design variables of various kinds of services and the user and customer experiences and values, and in using this information to guide the design process. He is also interested in the use of serious games and gamification in different application areas.

Figure 2. Heat map visualization of gaze data from 34 healthy, normal-weight women viewing an exercise

course brochure for 60 seconds. The heat maps are computed for intervals 0- 10 seconds (left), 10–30 seconds (middle) and 30–60 seconds (right).

fields.2 In the continuing quest of better understanding consumers and users and of designing products and services to better meet their various needs and preferences, as well as when designing marketing communications, eye tracking is a potent research tool that can yield valuable objective information that cannot be acquired by other means. In this article we show, through selected examples from our prior research, what kind of information of can be obtained via collection and analysis of eye tracking data. The examples also provide a glimpse of some of the application areas for eye tracking.

Figure 1 visualizes the gaze path of a single person visiting the main page of an experimental web site. The study focused on developing analysis methods for classifying and describing different kinds of attention transition paths in digital services.

The circles indicate fixations, during which the gaze was focused on a certain location. The size of the circle indicates the duration of the fixation, related to the attention paid to the element. Typically fixations build on visually salient elements such as a headers, pictures, logos, or navigation bars. Consecutive points of fixations are connected by saccades, quick eye movements during which the visual system receives no information.

In interactive products and digital services, a smooth flow of visual attention is a central factor of a good user experience, necessary for attracting the potential users to start using the service and to engage them to keep using the service. In simpler interfaces, e.g. for filling in one’s personal information or booking a flight, eye tracking can supplement performance measures, such as time taken to perform a certain task, and user satisfaction measures via interviews and questionnaires.

Participants of a usability test may not always be able to explain why a certain visual user interface is problematic for them. Eye tracking can reveal hard-to-pin-

down problems in finding information or in transferring attention between user-interface elements. More significantly, eye tracking can suggest how the design could be improved for a smoother user experience, or indicate which one of the design versions provides a better user experience – in all phases of an iterative design process.

In the case of a web page, the situation is more complex as the users can have a wide variety of different types of explicit or implicit goals, from quickly finding a specific piece of information to entertaining themselves by unhurriedly reading any articles they might find interesting. Whatever the reason, the experience of using the service largely determines its value the user.

In conjunction with other user research methods, eye tracking can help to identify and understand different types of users and suggest how the design could be improved to better cater to their variable needs and values.

Gaze paths of individual users can provide valuable qualitative insights into how people actually use the service, which may be quite different from the assumptions made by the design team. However, design choices cannot be based on idiosyncrasies of individual people. In order to provide actionable results for design choices, eye tracking must answer questions concerning the visual attention of larger groups of people. Do they notice and understand the key interface elements? Is their attention drawn to the correct areas of marketing communication material? Would a different layout provide a better user experience and increased value? To answer these questions, grouplevel statistics of visual attention need to be extracted and communicated further.

Heat maps are a widely used – and misused – way of visualizing eye tracking data. In heat maps the stimulus material is overlaid with colours indicating the VTT Impulse 37

Figure 3.

Heat map on the left visualizes the main focus of attention for 40 participants of an eye-tracking experiment.

In the centre examples of group-level statistics of visual attention associated with four areas of interest (AOI) are shown. The picture on the right shows a path visualizing typical transitions of attention between the AOIs during the first moments of viewing the picture.

areas of most intense visual attention. Heat maps do not tell us whether specific elements were or were not noticed but they do provide an illustrative summary of the relative distribution of attention, either for an individual person or for a larger group of people.

Figure 2 shows cumulative heat maps from three viewing intervals. During the first 10 seconds, the users check the title of the brochure and read the text following it. Later the attention spreads more, but it is notable that visual information and the logo attract relatively little attention. Presenting such data as gaze paths of all the 34 users would not be visually informative but time-dependent heat maps or heat map videos summarize the overall navigation quite nicely.

The picture on the left in Figure 3 shows a cumulative heat map from 40 participants, when they viewed an experimental still image advertisement for five seconds. The heat map quickly reveals that the face of the person and the lotion bottle were the main foci of visual attention, while the shoes and the feet received less attention. Specifying these four elements as areas of interest (AOI), descriptive summative eye tracking statistics can be calculated, providing quantitative information of the visual attention.

The statistics, shown in the picture in the centre, include the dwell time, both in milliseconds and as a percentage of the total viewing time, and the hit ratio, indicating the percentage of participants that had at least one fixation in the given area of interest. We see, for example, that around 25 per cent of the time was spent looking at the lotion bottle and 23 per cent of the time at the womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s face, while the shoes and feet received less attention, consistent with the heat map.

The heat maps and statistics discussed so far provide useful information of the focus of attention, averaged over many persons. However, they lack information about the transition of attention between different 38 VTT Impulse

areas, another potentially useful piece of information for the design process.

Gaze paths work well for a single person (Figure 1) but the visualization becomes quickly too cluttered for a larger group. It is generally challenging to define or describe a group-level average gaze path in a meaningful way. However, the transitions of attention during the first moments of viewing can be visualized by first calculating the average time of the first fixation in each AOI, and then connecting the AOIs based on their first entry times (picture on the right in Figure 3). This visualization is easy to interpret but such simplified averaging may hide more intricate information, such as transitions of attention back and forth between two elements.

In our preliminary tests, unpublished as of yet, we have received promising results with multivariate analysis methods for automated identification and visualization of different types of gaze paths in digital services context.

In the examples presented so far we have dealt with static stimuli (still images and web pages without dynamic content). Naturally, the remote setup can be applied to viewing dynamic content as well: videos, gaming â&#x20AC;&#x201C; basically anything in which the gaze can provide useful information. The remote setup suits relatively stationary observers looking at a stationary display device. Eye tracking glasses, shown on the right in Figure 4, allow the participant to move relatively freely in real-world environment, such as the grocery shop seen in this example.

Mobile head-mounted eye trackers capture a video recording of the scene viewed by the person. They also calculate and store in real time (30Hz in Fig 4 setup) the gaze position. Based on these data, the personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s focus of attention at each moment can be visualized in a number of different ways. A live heat map, as seen on

the right in Figure 4, shows the focus and transition of the visual attention during the shopping trip.

Areas of interest can be specified also for real-world scenes, but in contrast to previous examples, considerable amount of manual work is required to arrive at AOI statistics. The complications here arise from the dynamic stimulus which varies from one participant to another. 3D modelling and computer vision methods hold promise for automating this process, and we have promising preliminary results of using this approach.

Similar challenges and solutions apply also in analysis of e.g. game performance and social interaction, even when remote eye tracking setup is used.

Complementing eye tracking information The information of visual attention can be complemented by other measurements. When measuring the user experience, biosignals from brain and body can be used to better characterize the quality of attention: level of arousal or the direction of approach motivation, and even reflections of emotions.

Eye tracking has been combined to brain imaging as well, providing more specific information of the cognitive processes involved in e.g. social interaction.3 Gaze data can also be used to pinpoint moments of interest, which vary in time between subjects: when is this subject viewing the target item and what is the emotional state at that moment?

Viewing a video recording augmented with a visualization of their own gaze was found to be very motivating for the participants in a study of digital news reading services.4 The retrospective comments from the participants about specific moments of interest in their interaction with the service provided useful information for interpreting and integrating the eye tracking data with data from questionnaires, interviews, and preference judgments.

THE SUBJECT SPENT AROUND 25 PER CENT OF THE TIME LOOKING AT THE BOTTLE OF LOTION AND 23 PER CENT LOOKING AT THE WOMAN’S FACE. Both in digital and real-world environments various other kinds of data can be collected that helps to build a more comprehensive picture of the behaviour and experiences of customers and users, when analysed together with the eye tracking data.

In the case of digital services such as the web site of Figure 1, click data complements eye tracking data, providing a comprehensive log of interactions of the users with the service and allows tracking their paths from one web page to another.

In case of real world shopping environments, VTT’s people tracking system based on depth camera technology (VTT Impulse 2/2014) reveals the physical paths of all people in the area. This was used in the grocery store study (Figure 4) together with eye tracking in order to understand the navigation routes and investment of visual attention of different types of shoppers in different parts of the shop.

Thinking outside the box – future applications The major change in eye tracking scene has been technological development which has both made the

Figure 4. On the left, a participant of a shopping experience study wears eye tracking glasses while visiting a grocery

store. On the right, a frame from a live heat map video visualizing the focus and transition of attention during the shopping trip.

VTT Impulse 39

Figure 5.

Detection of spontaneous responses to hedonic stimuli using a remote eye tracking setup with monitoring of brain (EEG cap), autonomous nervous system (skin conductivity, the finger straps)) and facial expressions (EMG electrodes on facial muscles). The eye tracking device is the bar below the screen. VTT Neurosensing lab.

systems easier to use and reduced to prices of the tools. The price of a good quality consumer study device is circa 20 000 €, and then basic use requires no special training. Data transfer interfaces to different devices exist as well. This development will certainly go on and possibly the eye tracking hardware will be integrated in e.g. laptops and display screens.

As eye tracking data is recorded on-line, it can be used as input to external software. User interfaces can be controlled by gaze: a fixation on an element, lasting for required time, triggers an action. Shutting the eyes (pupil detection interrupted) or looking outside stimulus display can be used as well. These control options are attractive for several applications and user groups, but one obvious target group is people with physical disabilities.

Another interesting field is operating vehicles and machinery (partly) by gaze, or using the gaze statistics to assess user/driver alertness. VTT Transport team has investigated e.g. the effect of new in-car displays on the drivers’ visual attention, and its connection to traffic safety.

Both virtual reality headsets and see-through glasses for augmented reality are inherently well-suited for integration of eye-tracking capabilities, and there are indeed already first prototypes and developer solutions for such integration.

In virtual reality headsets eye tracking enables foveated rendering, a technology for optimizing the resolution at the area where the user is looking. Analogous with the working of the human visual system, foveated rendering is regarded as essential to the next generation of virtual reality experiences. In virtual reality gaze control can also be used in an intuitive manner in combination with gestures and voice control. The promise of gaze-based interaction is perhaps even greater in augmented reality solutions, where information can be augmented based on the user’s attention, supporting professionals in complex and challenging tasks in fields like manufacturing, logistics, technical 40 VTT Impulse

service, or medical treatment. Eye tracking is expected to become a standard functionality in VR headsets and AR glasses.

Internet of things will equip everyday objects with sensors and communication skills. In a relatively near future we will have a capability to track the users’ eyes on practically every device they use, with increasing accuracy and processing power. For scientists, this will enable large-scale eye-tracking studies in natural environments. The use of gaze-based interactions will also open novel opportunities for creating smart environments: devices and user interfaces can be operated by gaze, and the environment will learn and adapt to the user’s routines and needs. Outside homes, retail, marketing, media, even manufacturing industry can apply similar ideas for smoother, more discreet and efficient processes.

References [1] Hoffman, J. E. (1998). “Visual attention and eye movements,” In: Attention, Pashler, H. (ed.), Psychology Press, UK. p. 119–154.

[2] Orquin JL and Loose SM, 2013. “Attention and choice: A review on eye movements in decision making,” Acta Psychologica 144(1); 190-206.

[3] Wilms M et al. 2010. “It’s in your eyes – using gaze-contingent stimuli to create truly interactive paradigms for social cognitive and affective neuroscience,” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (SCAN) 5; 98-107.

[4] Laine, Janne. (2016) Experimental comparison of the user experiences of different digital and printed newspaper versions. Journal of Print and Media Technology Research (under review).

Š

Rolls-Royce

Take an innovative leap into the future!

To succeed and grow, your company needs courage to create fresh business opportunities for itself. This can be done with VTTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new InnoLeap concept design approach, which is based on trend and user studies, co-innovation, scenario stories, and impressive visualizations.

Are you ready to take a leap with your business?

Contact us: www.vtt.fi/innoleap

www.vtt.fi/innoleap

Rolls-Royce is developing future ship command bridges and autonomous unmanned vessels with remote shore control centres. The visions about the future work and the technical solutions were created with the InnoLeap approach and illustrated as scenario stories, concept pictures and 3D-animated concept videos.

TECHNOLOGY Making the most out of proteins ACCORDING TO VTT’s research,

World’s most attractive 5G environment to be built in Finland THE DEVELOPMENT of a Fifth-Generation wireless communication system

will become a part of our daily lives in the early 2020s. 5G can connect people, devices, modes of transport and towns to each other via the internet and intelligent cloud services. 5G involves taking not just mobile communications but also wireless connections between machines, devices and sensors to a new level.

The current 5G test network project already enables the trialling and testing of new solutions, technologies and applications.

“The aim is to build the world’s most attractive 5G research and development environment in Finland”, says Atso Hekkala, Project Manager of the 5G test network project at VTT. According to Head of Communication Systems R&D Jussi Paakkari from VTT, 5G will make the much-talked-about process of digitalisation a reality. In addition to smooth services for the public and new business opportunities, the future of the Finnish communications industry is also at stake.

deep eutectic solvents (DES) offer an efficient, sustainable and easy method for dissolving proteins from agrobiomass by-products.

The method has been tested on separating protein from BSG, rapeseed press cakes and wheat bran, all of which contain significant amounts of protein. This new protein enrichment method can particularly benefit breweries and animal feed producers, but there are hopes that after further research, this method could also find applications in the food industry.

DES were successfully used to separate almost

80%

of the protein in BSG, while traditional extraction methods can achieve no more than 40 per cent.

Infallible smart clothing VTT’s Smart Clothing project involved developing a technology for automatically adjusting the temperature of smart fabric and clothing according to the wearer’s personal needs. Wearable smart technology can be applied in demanding conditions: in hospitals, nursing homes and on different consumer groups such as police officers, firemen, soldiers, outdoor workers, athletes and small babies.

42 VTT Impulse

VTT HAS DEVELOPED a design accessory for monitoring

the quality of indoor air in facilities such as offices and classrooms. It detects carbon dioxide, temperature and humidity, and uses light signals to alert people. The indoor air monitor combines elements of VTT’s sensor, LED and wireless communication technology. The hybrid integration technology makes the product cost-effective to manufacture on an industrial scale.

The monitor resembles a sailing boat, and it is ideal for facilities where staff welfare and productivity are especially important. The sensor can also be programmed to detect other gases, movement, sound and the amount of light.

The monitor, which is based on IoT technology, uses light signals to warn people if, for example, carbon dioxide levels in a room become too high. LEDs of different colours indicate when the level of gas measured by the sensor exceeds a certain threshold. VTT’s Tiny Node platform can also be used to monitor the quality of indoor air remotely and to communicate with other similar IoT devices.

VTT is now seeking a partner to commercialise the product. http://www.vttresearch.com/media/news/vtt-develops-adesign-accessory-for-monitoring-the-indoor-air-quality

The indoor air quality monitor resembles a sailing boat, and it is 30 cm tall, 20 cm wide, and 30 cm long.

VTT Impulse 43

TECHNOLOGY

Photo: Studio J. Sarkkinen

Design accessory and indoor air quality monitor

TECHNOLOGY

KEYWORDS circular economy, mining technology, raw materials, innovation, EIT Raw Materials KEY PERSONS Olli Salmi, Harry Sandström, Mikko Korhonen KEY MESSAGE Industrial Internet and digitalisation boost the mining industry.

VTT CONTACTS Olli Salmi, Harry Sandström, Mikko Korhonen FOR FURTHER DETAILS SEE www.eitrawmaterials.eu

At the digital forefront of

mining A new Golden Age of raw materials may be just around the corner – in both Finland and Europe.

Text Sami J. Anteroinen Photos Anton Reenpää and iStockphoto

44 VTT Impulse

TECHNOLOGY

W

hen precious ores are dug up from Finnish mines, a business opportunity for a completely new kind of startup is not the first thing that comes to mind.

However, Olli Salmi, Director of the EIT Raw Materials Baltic Sea Co-location Centre, believes that the industrial internet and digitalisation are just beginning to shake up the mining industry. ”A future innovation could well be, say, an application that helps a miner operating a machine to work smarter,” Salmi says.

The future of the mining – or, on a larger scale, the raw material – sector is a hot topic across the continent. Whereas the EU currently needs to import 80 per cent of its raw materials, the picture could be very different by 2020. For example, the sector is now awash with Finnish expertise: Europe’s largest gold mine is located in Kittilä and pioneers such as Outotec and Metso know how to use cutting edge technology in the exploitation of minerals.

Turning weakness into a strength?

Raw materials are also one of the focus areas selected by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). In December 2014, EIT Raw Materials was established as a Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) with the task – no less – of turning the challenge of Europe’s raw material dependency into a strategic asset.

Olli Salmi believes that this could succeed if mining can be transformed and the refining process improved. ”It is also clear that the circular economy is becoming more and more important. More efficient use of waste and industrial side streams offers many business opportunities,” Salmi adds.

But what does EIT Raw Materials actually do in practice? According to Salmi, it is a kind of fully fledged EU version of the Finnish SHOK centres (Strategic Centres for Science, Technology and Innovation). The Raw Materials community focuses on sustainable prospecting, extraction, processing and the substitution of raw materials. The goal is to use innovation and entrepreneurship to boost competitiveness, growth and the attractiveness of the European raw materials sector – responsibility for achieving this is distributed all over the continent.

In formidable company The Raw Materials community has a total of six co-location centers (CLCs) which direct the activities in question: In France, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Sweden – and in Finland. Raw Materials Baltic Sea CLC Ltd, whose domain includes Finland, Sweden and Estonia, operates from Otaniemi in Espoo. Led by Salmi, the centre has been operating for over a year. Wheels are made to spin fast and furiously. ”This year, the entire Raw Materials community has launched 86 projects, while 14 have been started up by our CLC,” says Salmi.

Harry Sandström, a long-standing expert in the mining industry, is one of the team at EIT Raw Materials in Otaniemi. He points out that the coalition now assembled has few equivalents on the European scale: 120 partners, including a hard-core assemblage of world-class companies such as Outotec, Sandvik, Höganäs, Metso Minerals, Atlas Copco, LKAB, Boliden, BASF and UMICORE are involved. ”If you are prepared to collaborate, the Raw Materials community has the muscle needed to get things done.”

VTT Impulse 45

Photo: Anton Reenpää

Future opportunities are being identified by the members of the EIT Raw Materials Baltic Sea Co-location Centre – (left to right) Olli Salmi, Reeta Kemppainen, Mikko Korhonen and Harry Sandström.

Sweden and Finland as pioneers A surprising amount of the mining industry’s best expertise can be found in the chilly North. According to Sandström, more than 80 per cent of the world’s underground mining technology comes from Sweden and Finland. Razor-sharp business skills are complemented by academic research, which has long traditions in minerals, for example. ”We have a base on which to build. In this sense, a major challenge lies in figuring out how to get the most out of the consortium,” Harry Sandström says.

Another challenge lies in changing the somewhat stereotypical image of the industry – and most importantly, of its everyday activities and processes. Sandström also sees a multitude of possibilities during various stages of the mine life cycle: if we consider that the process begins with ore exploration and ends around 50 years later, when the mine is closed, this ’raw material pipe46 VTT Impulse

line’ is ongoing for half a century – and there is a lot that we could do faster, smarter and more cost-efficiently than now... ”For example, 20 years can elapse from the prospecting phase to the startup of mining.

The life cycle includes a range of phases during which information is generated and used – mining truly offers big data potential,” explains Sandström, linking the traditional mining business to a current buzzword.

Scaling is smart Harry Sandström believes that the dramatic transition in the mining industry has paved the way for new business models. ”Activities used to take their own time to develop, after which we moved everything forward on their basis. Now we can start with lower investments and scale up whenever we need to,” he says.

“IF YOU THINK OF THE MINING INDUSTRY, NEW BUSINESSES CAN SPRING UP IN AREAS SUCH AS RECYCLING, MEASUREMENT OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.” This is where a new kind of startup concept might come in. Mikko Korhonen, an expert from EIT Raw Minerals who is heavily involved with startups, sees many opportunities in this aspect. Whereas the big mining operators once wanted to keep a tight grip on everything, they now understand that they should outsource non-core operations. It is now all about building and maintaining a functioning ecosystem. ”SMEs are networking rapidly, because it is an effective way of providing the customer with the entire package,” Korhonen says. For him, this is like completing a jigsaw puzzle – the best solutions and business models can be identified on the basis of extensive cooperation.

In Finland, Sweden and Estonia, the research community is closely involved in this process, and the ’from lab to market’ ideology is making headway. ”Spin-offs from research done at Aalto and other universities are also appearing in the mining sector,” explains Korhonen.

Projects provide the platform What about the Raw Materials projects currently underway? What kinds of innovations can we look forward to? Olli Salmi states that there are projects covering the full range of issues, from the enhancement of learning to the scaling of business and smarter use of the existing R&D structure. ”We want to bring in SMEs, in particular, via these projects,” Salmi adds. A total of EUR 270 million in EU money is available for the first five years. The overall funding structure is

based on the notion that EU funding will grow steadily over a seven-year period, after which it will begin to fall.

The Otaniemi Raw Materials team is small: the group led by Salmi has a total of five members. The focus is on ensuring that companies get the maximum benefit from projects – and new actors enter the sector. ”If you think of the mining industry, new businesses can spring up in areas such as recycling, measurement or information technology,” says Harry Sandström. New themes, such as visualisation and virtualisation, will also transform the traditional industry.

Farewell to partial optimisation?

Sandström regards the mining industry as a conservative sector still held back by too much partial optimisation. ”In the future, we will be better able to focus on the creation of functional wholes,” he believes. ”Even fully functioning unmanned mines are beginning to come within the bounds of possibility,” says Olli Salmi. ”The development of automation will lead to the emergence of such concepts at some point,” Salmi says.

In a similar way, the enhancement of recycling could lead to everyone becoming a ’raw material trader’ – at least in areas such as laptop computer components.

So is the sky the limit? Not at all. In fact, Salmi and his team believe that, some day, we will exploit resources beyond our planet. ”Space mining has not arrived yet, but it might some day,” Salmi suggests.

VTT Impulse 47

TECHNOLOGY

KEYWORDS Road transport automation, autonomous vehicles, robotic car KEY PERSONS Satu Innamaa, Ilkka Kotilainen, Risto Linturi, Mika Rytkรถnen KEY MESSAGE Road transport automation increases the safety of road users.

VTT CONTACT Satu Innamaa MORE INFORMATION AT www.vtt.fi

The rise of

robotic cars Vehicles are rapidly becoming more technologically advanced thanks to digitalisation. Connected cars have a huge impact on the national economy. The NordicWay project, which paves the way for road transport automation and increases the safety of road users, has progressed to its pilot phase.

Text Riitta Ekholm Photos iStockphoto, Roope Permanto and Risto Linturi

48 VTT Impulse

M

y summer party is about to begin, and I am nervous. I ordered everything online. I am now looking at a graphene map I have laid out. A few green dots are still approaching my location. My guests do not know where they are headed. The invitation included a ticket for a pick-up service.

Everyone was picked up from their home to be transported here in a shared robotic shuttle.

I may be the only one in the bunch who still drives a conventional car. There would not be space for many cars to park here anyway.

Parking spaces in towns have also begun to disappear as demand for responsive transport, robotic transport, and telepresence have increased”. This is a picture painted by technological visionary Risto Linturi in his Traffic Data Visions report for the Finnish Transport Agency.

His vision of 2030 may not be very far from reality. Google and Tesla have shown the way for “no-hands” driving. Autonomous vehicles that use their own sensors to observe their surroundings have been an everyday phenomenon for a while. An indicator light comes on to warn drivers of slippery road surfaces.

“Robotic cars are the highest level of automated vehicles. Transport as we know it will have been completely transformed 50 years from now”, explains Project Manager Ilkka Kotilainen from the Finnish Transport Agency.

Vehicles are rapidly becoming more technologically advanced thanks to digitalisation.

They already feature a large number of sensors that allow the in-car computer to detect changes in the car and its surroundings. A study on a metropolitan vision for automated transport calculated that driverless robotic cars could save several billions of euros per year in Finland in the 2020s and as much as EUR 100 billion per year by the following decade.

Technological visionary Risto Linturi also points out that the annual costs of road traffic accidents are estimated at approximately EUR 2 billion.

Safety first The Nordic countries launched the three-year NordicWay pilot project as part of the EU’s Connecting Europe programme in the summer of 2015. The aim is to prepare for the adoption of the European Union’s ITS Directive, as its regulations on provision of safety-related traffic information, which is vital for traffic safety, will enter into force in the next few years.

“The pilot project also helps to pave the way for road transport automation”, says Ilkka Kotilainen.

The Directive is designed to increase the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users. It identifies eight types of safety messages concerning various dangers of road transport, six of which are being tested in Finland: unprotected accident sites, animals or objects on the road, unmanaged blockage of a road, exceptional weather conditions, reduced visibility and short-term road works.

“Almost three hundred people in Finland and a total of approximately 25,000 people in Europe die in road traffic accidents every year”, says Kotilainen to explain the significance of the pilot project in reducing the number of accidents.

According to him, human error is the cause of 80% of all traffic accidents. For as long as there is a human behind the wheel, transport can never be completely safe.

The project is led by the Finnish Transport Agency together with the Finnish Transport Safety Agency. VTT was chosen to carry out an impact assessment on the pilot. HERE, a mapping business recently sold by Nokia to the German car manufacturers Audi, BMW and Daimler, has developed an application for the project and is leading a consortium comprising HERE as well as Nokia, Elisa, Infotripla and Solita.

The project is due to be completed and its findings reported by the end of 2017.

Cooperative cars There is nothing new about sending safety messages as such. Drivers have got used to radio programmes being interrupted by news VTT Impulse 49

“THE ANNUAL COSTS OF ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS ARE ESTIMATED AT APPROXIMATELY EUR 2 BILLION.” Risto Linturi

of serious crashes or other traffic incidents over the decades.

According to Kotilainen, the pan-Nordic Connected Cars pilot project is a natural next step towards investigating the potential of new services together with road users. The only difference is that information is now more up-todate and targeted at specific stretches of roads.

Short-range communication between vehicles, a form of wireless networking, has been studied in Europe for almost a decade already.

“Special short-range communication base stations have been set up along roads at regular intervals for some corridors in Europe. These allow vehicles to communicate with infrastucture”, Kotilainen explains.

This would not be economically viable in a sparsely populated country such as Finland, especially as the mobile network covers the whole country, including Lapland.

“The question is whether cellular communication can be enabled in some cases with vehicles and mobile phones as reliably as with short-range technology”, Kotilainen says.

Transport management is an exciting prospect not just for drivers but also for transport hubs and, in extreme cases, also emergency services.

“In the winter, heavy snow can hinder traffic, and information about poor visibility can be disseminated to approaching cars. The same information can also be relayed to traffic management centres that can communicate with vehicles. In the future, it will be possible to send real-time information to snow plough operators. This would also allow road users to be notified of where and when they will encounter a snow plough.”

Automation progresses in stages, and, at the moment, vehicles and road users take information from their surroundings and relay it to others if, for example, an elk has been spotted on the road.

Risto Linturi 50 VTT Impulse

“Communication between vehicles and infrastructure via the mobile network is a new development that is spreading slowly around the world”, says Kotilainen.

Green light The pilot project officially began along the E18 between Helsinki and Turku in May. Ring Roads I and III are also included in the trial. The application was tested in Espoo in August last year.

“Based on an initial analysis by VTT, the system is technologically sound for field tests”, says Satu Innamaa, who coordinates the impact assessment at VTT. She also states that although road maintenance in Finland is among the best in the world, weather conditions in the winter are a challenge for drivers. Access to up-to-date information is a big help.

HERE together with the Finnish transport authorities will recruit 1,000 people for the trial, who will download the application onto their smart phones. The impact assessment compiles information on the effectiveness and usefulness of the system.

“If, for example, a driver spots an animal on the road, he can press a button to warn other

CONSUMER EXPERIENCE THE RESULTS OF VTT’s impact assessment

will provide an idea of how drivers have perceived the piloted service. What help could be derived from the service and the warnings given by the system? How did test users feel about sending messages while driving? What should be taken into consideration in the further development of the system?

Ultimately, it is the needs of consumers that will determine the future of the NordicWay project.

Ilkka Kotilainen

nearby vehicles”, explains Project Coordinator Mika Rytkönen from HERE. It takes a few seconds to process the data first and to identify the cars in and near the affected area.

“As using a mobile phone while driving is against the law, all the buttons, letters and colour contrasts in the interface are large”, Rytkönen explains.

According to Rytkönen, privacy issues have also been taken into consideration. Messages cannot be linked to the sender’s mobile number.

“In the future, it will be possible to send messages using sensor and radar data collected by automated vehicles”, Rytkönen says.

Many car manufacturers have promised to bring out automated cars by 2020.

“As guests exit the car, each is brought a glass of sparkling wine on a hover tray. I remember how difficult all this was in the past. Ordering staff and deliveries to a location far away would have been expensive and giving directions to everyone was almost impossible”, continues technological visionary Risto Linturi in his 2030 scenario.

COMMERCIALISATION THE AIM OF the pilot project is to build a

harmonised communication system for the Nordic countries. There is also cooperation across Europe. In practice, this means that all drivers would have access to the same services across national borders.

The NordicWay project is hoped to provide more information about the needs of road users and the commercialisation of similar services. The lessons learnt from the project can be used as the basis for new ideas and also to explore export potential.

The Finnish Transport Agency is working in close co-operation with potential service providers in Finland, helping them to form networks with European partners.

If successful, the project could have a huge impact on the national economy.

VTT Impulse 51

Photo: Roope Permanto

“TRANSPORT AS WE KNOW IT WILL HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED 50 YEARS FROM NOW.”

TECHNOLOGY

KEYWORDS Climate change mitigation, strategic planning, texture and stability of food products, expertise KEY PERSONS Tommi Ekholm, Katri Kallio, Outi Mäkinen KEY MESSAGE VTT’s experts look for solutions for socially significant problems.

VTT CONTACT Tommi Ekholm, Katri Kallio, Outi Mäkinen MORE INFORMATION www.vtt.fi

Using personal know-how to promote the

common good 52 VTT Impulse

TECHNOLOGY Many VTT employees work with issues that affect the entirety of humankind. Although individual research scientists cannot change the world, they can contribute to the change. To find solutions, it is important to be able to see issues from new perspectives.

Text Marjatta Pietilä Photos Vesa Tyni

S

enior Scientist Tommi Ekholm’s research at VTT focuses on mitigating climate change and finding technological and economic solutions for promoting energy efficiency.

His aim is to find the most cost-effective ways possible to mitigate climate change.

“Climate change mitigation is a major challenge for humankind. It requires changes to the way we produce energy and our consumption habits. The change will affect all economic structures. The big question is how this all can be managed. The necessary changes and their impacts need to be thought over periods of decades if not centuries. Extensive cooperation between different parties is also vital,” Ekholm explains.

“Our task is to formulate long-term scenarios that take into account factors such as economic growth patterns around the world, subsequent increase in energy consumption, and the future clean technologies that can enable economic growth without putting the environment at risk. We also produce VTT Impulse 53

“IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF MANY DIFFERENT FACTORS COMPREHENSIVELY.” computational estimates of how the choices of energy producers and consumers can be steered by different means, such as by energy taxation, emissions trading, and emissions caps.”

The research helps political decision-makers, public authorities and the industrial sector to make informed decisions. On an international level, peer-reviewed scientific findings are being pooled together by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Ekholm sees the recently adopted Paris Agreement as a historical step forward.

“This agreement has been signed by virtually all countries in the world. That is extremely significant from the perspective of the industrial competitiveness.

The costs incurred from limiting emissions will no longer be a burden on pioneering countries alone, but will be divided more evenly.”

Ekholm enjoys working on these important issues. The scale of the field also makes his work interesting.

“It is important to be a generalist and be able to understand the combined effects of many different factors– how these issues tie in with the behaviour of normal consumers, the activities of businesses and states, and international politics. I get to work with a diverse group of actors such as researchers, businesses, public administrators, and non-governmental organisations. This gives 54 VTT Impulse

perspective to many directions,” Ekholm says.

Enjoyment from research Senior Scientist Outi Mäkinen specialises in the texture and stability of food products, especially in plant- and milk protein-based liquid and gel applications.

“At the moment, our team’s research focuses on harnessing new sources of protein for use by the world’s growing population. These sources of protein can be based on plants, algae or even single-celled organisms, such as Quorn, which can be found in the frozen foods aisle in supermarkets,” Mäkinen explains.

According to her, efforts are also being taken to make wider use of the protein content of food industry by-products to promote the circular economy. Examples of these kinds of sources of protein include wheat bran, brewers’ spent grain (BSG), and oilseed press cakes.

“There are plenty of challenges, as these proteins tend to be poorly soluble and therefore their functionality, i.e., gel forming capacity and interface characteristics, is considerably poorer than that of animal-based proteins. In other words, it is extremely difficult to turn them into enjoyable food products,” Mäkinen says.

“The best thing about working at VTT is the versatility of our inhouse competence and customer projects. After years of university, it feels especially rewarding to know that my own know-how

can help develop a solution for a customer.”

From an idea to an innovation Katri Kallio started in a new role as the manager of VTT’s strategy process in January. In her new position, she works in close cooperation with the President & CEO and supports the Executive Management Team. Her task is to draw up a strategy for the years 2016–2020.

Her work involves thinking up new ways to develop VTT into a competitive technology and science-based operator on the international market and thus a driver of sustainable development and growth for Finnish businesses and economy. Her focus is on improving cooperation both within VTT and with customers in order to create innovations.

“In my previous role at VTT, I was responsible for studying and

KATRI KALLIO Strategy process Manager Katri Kallio got her DSc (Technology) degree from Aalto University in November 2015. Her dissertation was called “Collaborative learning with users as an enabler of service innovation”. She joined VTT in 2007 when she was working on her business school dissertation. She was appointed as Strategy process Manager at the beginning of 2016.

“ONLY AGILE ORGANISATIONS PROSPER IN RAPIDLYCHANGING OPERATING ENVIRONMENTS.” developing models and techniques for innovation management based on collaborative learning of experts, management, and customers. Now I get to apply them in practice in my own organisation,” Kallio explains.

“We are a research organisation that provides expert services based on technological and multidisciplinary know-how. Our experts are professionals in their respective fields, but understanding customers’ goals and challenges and learning with them is also important,” Kallio says.

Innovation research shows that, in most cases, innovations stem from multi-disciplinary teams.

“Innovations require both a “top-down” effect, i.e., the management’s contribution, and a “bottom-up” effect, i.e., dialogue between experts and customers.

We are looking for new ways of working to make this possible.”

“If we are successful in building better partnerships, the innovation process will also speed up. There will be no need to separately promote the adoption of innovations if our most important partners are involved in the process from the beginning.” Kallio explains.

Only agile organisations prosper in rapidly-changing oper-

ating environments. For Kallio, organisational restructuring is not an aim in itself. What matters most is being able to challenge people to think about things from new perspectives and shed light on future opportunities

for solving socially significant challenges.

“It is great to work with our top experts, managers, and customers.

I feel privileged to be able to do this work and contribute to building VTT’s future.” Kallio says.

TOMMI EKHOLM

OUTI MÄKINEN

Senior Scientist Tommi Ekholm got his DSc. (Technology) degree from Aalto University in 2013. His dissertation discussed climate change mitigation scenarios, costeffective ways to reduce emissions and associated uncertainties. He joined VTT in May 2006.

Senior Scientist Outi Mäkinen, PhD (Food Science and Technology), graduated from the University College Cork in Ireland in 2014. She wrote her dissertation on quinoa proteins in food applications. Prior to joining VTT in 2015, she worked as a research professor at the University of Copenhagen, studying the effect of food textures on the sensation of feeling full.

VTT Impulse 55

TECHNOLOGY

KEYWORDS protein self-sufficiency, plant proteins, ingredient utilisation, quality of food products KEY PERSON Kaisa Poutanen KEY MESSAGE The use of plant proteins will be diversified and more use will be made of food industry by-products.

VTT CONTACT Kaisa Poutanen MORE INFORMATION AT www.vtt.fi

Health benefits and efficiency

without sacrificing food quality “We have lived wastefully, and this also applies to our food.

Our wastefulness is evidenced by the volume of bio-waste, the prevalence of obesity among the population, health problems and energy levels. What we need is new technology,” says VTT’s research professor, Kaisa Poutanen.

Text Paula Bergqvist Photos VTT

56 VTT Impulse

TECHNOLOGY

V

TT’s food projects are aimed at more efficient use of ingredients and increasing the use of food industry by-products in animal feed and food. Finnish wood is also of interest; ingredients have been found in wood that can be used to improve the quality of food products.

Protein self-sufficiency has become a national concern. VTT and the Natural Resources Institute Finland drew up a roadmap in 2014 that looked for a way to double Finland’s protein self-sufficiency from its current level of 15 per cent.

The task requires improvements in the primary sector of the economy, more efficient and versatile animal feed applications, and increasing the use of plant protein for human nutrition. VTT is currently coordinating three international protein projects to tackle these challenges.

The projects focus on making more versatile use of plant protein and food industry by-products.

“We have been investing in more efficient use of food industry by-products for long. ­By-products that are available in large quantities include, for example, brewers’ spent grain (BSG), wheat bran and various kinds of oilseed press cakes, most of which are still currently used as animal feed. That is good as well, but with correct processing, considerably more valuable ingredients than animal feed could be separated from these by-products that could even be used in human food,” explains Research Professor Kaisa Poutanen.

The difficulty in making use of plant protein lies in both separating ingredients with a sufficiently high concentration of protein and improving functional properties. The properties expected of protein in food products include foaminess, emulsification and high solubility.

“We are particularly focused on developing physical and biotechnological methods for modifying protein products for different applications. Studies are being conducted in cooperation with both Finnish and European businesses and research institutions. The spectrum of food product applications ranges from bread and pasta to yoghurt, smoothies and snacks,” Poutanen says.

Bringing grain ingredients to market On a global scale, grains are the most important source of energy. Whole grain crops also have scientifically proven health benefits.

The export of Finnish oat was accelerated last year, when Fazer Mills licensed VTT’s technology that it can use to separate healthy ingredients, such as beta-glucan, protein and oat oil, from oats. These oat ingredients open up new opportunities for the dairy, dietary supplement, snacks and cosmetics industries.

“Ingredients from wheat, barley and rye can also be separated to make new, healthy products. It is only prudent to make full use of all these ingredients,” Kaisa Poutanen says.

One way is to separate protein using eutectic solvents. A new, efficient and simple technique developed by VTT enables the use of agrobiomass by-products and especially BSG proteins to produce high-quality feed protein. The next step is to investigate whether the protein concentrate produced using the technique can also be used in food products.

“In addition to protein enrichment, we are developing dry fractioning techniques that are more economic and environmentally friendly.

Dry fractions are not always completely pure, but they can be further processed into good food ingredients. We also do a lot of this kind of development work for customers,” Poutanen explains.

The industrial sector is interested in hearing consumers’ views on new sources of protein.

VTT’s projects are aimed at more versatile use of plant protein and increasing the use of food industry by-products.

VTT Impulse 57

Photo Vesa Tyni

Kaisa Poutanen

An international project was run last year to study how the working-age population and senior citizens perceive the use of oat protein in food products in Finland, Denmark, Germany and Romania. VTT was in charge of the Finnish component of the study.

According to provisional findings, senior citizens have more reservations towards food products enriched with oat protein than do working-age consumers. The results also indicate that, as an additive, oat protein is best suited to familiar products such as grain-based foods.

More detailed findings will be published soon.

Wood to food Scientists want to make full use of Finnish wood, and one possibility is to break it down into ingredients that can be used to modify the characteristics of food products and even to make products healthier.

“We at VTT have shown that yoghurt can be thickened using xylan, which is not only affordable but also healthy,” Poutanen explains.

In addition to birch xylan, VTT is investigating the use of microfibrillated cellulose and lignin, which is an organic compound that binds wood fibres in food products.

“People in Finland used to eat bark bread for energy. Our aims now are completely different,

“OUR GOAL IS TO DEVELOP PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN LESS SUGAR AND MORE WATER.” Kaisa Poutanen 58 VTT Impulse

such as reducing the use of sugar or modifying textures.”

Apples show the way Poutanen points at a poster on the wall of her office, which depicts the Mediterranean diet.

“All the foods that people should eat the most, which are at the bottom of the triangle, are fruit and vegetables, and processed foods are at the top. However, processing is not always bad, and often it is indispensable.”

What is it that makes apples and carrots healthy?

“Their water content is 90 per cent, and the rest is made up of fibres, sugars and nutrients.

How could we make water chewable?” Poutanen wonders.

“Apples are actually foamy in texture. We have been trying to find a way to mimic this ingenious natural package of water, energy, sugars, fibres and nutrients to make products that would appeal to consumers. We are working on these ideas, and our goal is to develop products that contain less sugar and more water,” she explains.

Focus on chewing CRUNCHY CEREAL, soft white bread, rye bread that

combines a crispy outside and a gooey middle – it is not just flavour, but also the texture of food that has an effect on its perceived quality and enjoyability. Texture also determines the chewing process that kick-starts digestion: A smoothie does not stay in the mouth for long, while hard and tough textures need to be chewed carefully.

What significance does chewing have for the breakdown and subsequent digestion of food textures and the resulting sensation of fullness?

VTT is currently studying the impact of food textures on chewing, and their significance in the experience of eating. The study participants were asked to chew bread, fluffy and crispy snacks, solid and crunchy crisps, and smoothies. The activity rates of their chewing muscles were measured for information about how texture affects the chewing process. The effect of textures that require different kinds of chewing was also studied with regard to the sensation of fullness between meals.

The study is part of a dissertation by VTT research scientist Saara Pentikäinen, and the results are being analysed at the moment.

VTT webinars Technology insights with an impact

Reserve your seat: www.vttresearch.com/webinars

TECHNOLOGY

KEYWORDS Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) KEY PERSONS Caj Södergård, Charles Woodward KEY MESSAGE Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality applications are becoming reality.

Consumers can use the VividAR application to decorate their homes with virtual furniture in augmented reality. See the video here: https://youtu.be/lp5plNOT20U.

VTT CONTACT PERSONS Caj Södergård, Charles Woodward MORE INFORMATION www.vtt.fi

Towards new worlds 60 VTT Impulse

Photo: VTT

Three-dimensional virtual reality and augmented reality

Virtual reality immerses us into a three-dimensional, virtual world whose events can be mistaken for the real thing; whereas augmented reality provides useful, additional information on what we see in everyday life.

Text Leena Koskenlaakso Photos Arto Wiikari and VTT

W

hen, in 2014, Facebook acquired smart glasses manufacturer Oculus from its 22-yearold owner, Palmer Luckey, the whole world became interested in virtual reality. If Mark Zuckerberg was willing to pay two billion dollars to further develop and utilise the brainchild of a young nerd, this had to be about something revolutionary.

The difference between virtual and augmented reality A user of virtual reality (VR) puts on a headset that blocks the physical environment from her field of vision and enables her to immerse herself seamlessly in a three-dimensional virtual world. Everything is possible there. The user experiences the sensation of leaping and running, or riding and flying. She sees realistic scenery and events and hears voices coming from the right direction. If a virtual application is well enough implemented, the user can even mistake it for the real world.

A user of augmented reality (AR) sees and experiences the real, everyday world, but uses a mobile phone or light, Google Glass-type smart glasses to obtain useful additional information on what she sees. The information generated in the user’s line of vision can be text, digital images, computer animated 3D models, game content or expert advice.

Image processing and machine vision VTT Research Professor Caj Södergård explains that computer graphics and image processing lies at the heart of virtual reality.

“Computer graphics are used to create three-dimensional environments, colours and

shadows, based on which we can explore how surfaces reflect light sources. In addition, objects and creatures can be set in motion using animation technology. Videos are typically shot from multiple angles (360-degree video).

Using acceleration sensors and gyroscopes, the headset senses the direction of the user’s view so that when she turns her head her field of vision moves accordingly within the virtual landscape. In addition, spatial audio comes from the precise direction in which something is happening,” says Södergård.

“In the case of augmented reality, machine vision accounts for much more of the experience,” adds Principal Scientist Charles Woodward.

“It is important to know exactly where the user is looking in order to provide her with digital information related to just that object. The machine vision technology involved is called camera tracking and is one of VTT’s special areas of expertise,” says Woodward.

Smart glasses force their way onto the market Caj Södergård says that consumers can already buy wireless smart glasses from online stores for just a few hundred euros.

“Retailing for around 150 euros, Samsung Gear VR headsets work with a smartphone. The phone receives an image stream from a server, processes it in real time and creates a stereo image on the two lenses of the device. There are similar products for other smartphones.

Facebook’s Oculus Rift glasses retail for 599 dollars. Oculus Rift requires a fast computer to function well,” Södergård says.

Google has provided schools with free-ofcharge, smartphone-based cardboard glasses, which can be used for virtual trips abroad VTT Impulse 61

FORECAST: THE VR AND AR SECTORS WILL BE WORTH 150 BILLION DOLLARS BY 2020. during lessons. Google does not intend to profit from these cardboard glasses, but is developing applications for them.

Frantic device development is also underway in the world of augmented reality. The industry is consolidating as Apple and other major players have bought leading AR firms.

“The key driver in the AR sector is transparent smart glasses through which the user can see the real world via lenses onto which digital information is projected. When wearing video smart glasses, on the other hand, the user sees the world through a video image,” Charles Woodward says.

VR applications for different sectors In the consumer sector, virtual applications are being developed for entertainment, particularly 3D games.

In BtoB, they are mainly being used for training and coaching. Flight simulators were among the first applications. The shipping industry uses steering simulators and nuclear Photo: VTT

A cityscape can be augmented with location information, such as photographs of historical events. See the video here: https://youtu.be/5ZLNjnnXina.

62 VTT Impulse

“Computer graphics and image processing lies at the heart of virtual reality,” says Research Professor Caj Södergård.

power plants use control simulators. Simulators are also making their way into the world of car driving instruction.

In addition, virtual applications are being used for training in industry. For example, the control panel of a forestry machine can be replicated in virtual space, where a driver can practice the use of complex machinery. VR glasses are not used in these simulators – the landscape is shown on large screens.

“Psychologists have used virtual applications to treat phobias related to confined or high places. Fear-inducing situations can be simulated very realistically using virtual technology,” says Södergård.

“The construction industry forms a group of users every bit as large as the education and training sectors. Virtual space plans can give an authentic impression of how a building will look,” Woodward continues.

Expertise in many industrial domains can be found in VTT, since it is a multidisciplinary institution. VTT’s virtual applications for

industry are being developed especially at VTT Tampere location.

A pioneer in augmented reality VTT focuses on industrial applications in its AR research. Up to half of the turnover of Finland’s large, listed steel sector companies is based on maintenance activities. Getting maintenance information to the devices of service engineers at the right time will be big business in the future, and VTT aims to be on board.

“We are developing AR techniques for meeting the maintenance needs of space stations, alongside organisations such as the European Space Agency, the ESA,” Woodward says.

Augmented reality tends to be viewed as part of the Internet of Things. It is often thought that the main application involves projecting 3D data about industrial machinery into a user’s field of vision, but Woodward explains that VTT is taking a longer view of the issue.

“We have explored how an entire building automation system or a building’s maintenance manual can be interactively displayed on the maintenance person’s mobile device. This is about a huge market in which we are pioneers.”

“We are also among the first in the world to have applied a city planning based on AR visualisation to municipal decision-making.

Decision-making authorities have used the application at a building site to see how it will look when finished.”

Visions of the future Charles Woodward points out that, while virtual reality is bigger business than augmented

“AR machine vision technology is one of VTT’s special areas of expertise,” says Principal Scientist Charles Woodward.

reality, the relationship could be reversed if AR smart glasses become more common.

“It is estimated that the VR and AR sectors will have a combined value of 150 billion dollars by 2020. Four-fifths of this will be based on augmented reality and one-fifth on virtual reality,” says Woodward.

Woodward foresees the widespread adoption of AR over the next 5–10 years. In the future, facial recognition will be used for purposes such as identifying every person one has ever met and viewing information on them.

Mixed Reality Telepresence A GOOD EXAMPLE of what the future of the 3D Internet

holds can be seen in the form of VTT’s Mixed Reality Telepresence application, which combines virtual and augmented reality in an unusual way.

VTT has demonstrated the app for the IBM Corporation in the US, which used to organise Second Life virtual seminars. The speaker and event could be presented virtually through Second Life, while the actual seminar was being held in New York, for example. Other people from around the world could participate in the seminar and their avatars were able to communicate with each other.

VTT created a pilot application for IBM, based on which real people used AR smart glasses, through which they could see the Second Life universe as well as the real world. Using VTT’s application, real people were able to see their avatars in the same conference room as themselves. When they gestured with their hands and moved their head to different directions, the same occurred in the Second Life projection, creating a seamless, bi-directional experience.

Mixed Reality Telepresence is VTT’s second most watched YouTube video of all time. See https://youtu. be/DNB0_c-5TSk.

VTT Impulse 63

BUSINESS First in the world VTT and the University of Oulu are

Electric buses as mobile labs COORDINATED by VTT and launched in the Helsinki metropolitan area

in early 2016, the Living Lab Bus joint project is using Helsinki Region Transport’s Finnish-made electric buses as a practical R&D platform.

User-centric smart services and technologies – ranging from user interfaces and passenger services to sensors and transport operator solutions – are being tested on the buses.

Raine Hautala, Project Manager with VTT, explains that the goal is to create a new type of everyday R&D environment for faster and agile, experiment-based commercial product development, in close cooperation with end-users and research institutions. Potential new solutions include easy-to-use passenger feedback apps, automated passenger calculation, and automated road condition observations.

For more information see: www.vtt.fi/sites/livinglabbus/fi/

building an internationally unique technology and piloting environment.

The new technological platform will be the first in the world to combine the core technologies of the industrial internet with 5G telecommunications solutions in an interoperable environment. It will act as a service and product development platform enabling businesses of all kinds to increase their competitiveness and efficiency by means of new, innovative services and products enabled by the industrial internet. The goal is to promote the business and international competitiveness of companies in Northern Ostrobothnia in particular.

Lines

11 & 23

The Living Lab Bus joint project will begin in the summer on electric buses on line 23 in Helsinki and line 11 in Espoo.

Smart reflector keeps people safe Alongside reflector manufacturer Coreplast, VTT has developed a reflector which can be controlled via a smartphone. For example, in the dark and in bad weather, the reflector can be set to flash at dangerous crossings on the basis of the user’s location information. A traditional reflector has been made intelligent by adding sensors, light-emitting diodes and wireless charging and communication.

64 VTT Impulse

Kuva: VTT

LIIKETOIMINTA BUSINESS

What kind of customer are you?

THE RECENTLY completed Koda joint project arranged by VTT,

Suomen Lähikauppa, Sinebrychoff, Foreca and Aalto University used depth and eye-tracking cameras issued to volunteers to survey the movements of customers in stores.

The project explored the effects on consumers of various stimuli in a Siwa store in Suutarila and identified various types of customer. information on purchasing behaviour was also combined with weather data from Foreca and sales data from the store.

The cameras monitored how people move around a store and what draws their attention. VTT’s technology was also used to gain information on unconscious eye movements and gazes. The technology does not enable the identification of the people involved.

Just popping in or browsing the products?

VTT Research Scientist Katri Grenman points out that, for fast shoppers who are popping in and out, clarity of layout and finding products easily are the key issues. On the other hand, slow browsers of products are seeking surprise finds and new products, or have a special interest in finding out about their contents.

The study also provided information on how consumers make choices in stores. For example, people who described themselves as tired were more likely to purchase beverages, but paid less attention to the ends of shelves, which are key advertising space for many retailers.

A user study performed as part of VTT’s Owela service user study also examined the impact of weather, food and drink on the mood of shoppers. Users stated that bad weather had a negative effect on their moods. The study also found that people tend to buy more so-called comfort food – such as convenience foods, snacks and sweets – during mildly bad weather. However, no corresponding effect was observed during very bad weather.

The finding will enable retailers to identify different types of customers and adapt their product selections to make shopping experiences more pleasant.

Further information on the depth camera technology used for the project: http://ontrack.vtt.fi http://www.vtt.fi/medialle/uutiset/kuluttajille-paremmin-toimiviakauppoja-asiakask%C3%A4ytt%C3%A4ytymisen-seurannalla

VTT Impulse 65

Cleaner city traffic

with wood-based diesel

66 VTT Impulse

Text Vesa Puoskari, Anneli Kunnas Photos UPM

U

PM and VTT will test what the effects of the UPM BioVerno diesel will have on the bus motor, emissions and mileage, compared to fossil diesel fuel. The tests began in October 2015 and will last for at least 12 months.

“We are extremely pleased to be involved in this trial aiming at Helsinki Region Transport’s emission-free public transport. The objective is to replace fossil fuels with renewable biofuels,” says Sari Mannonen, Sales and Marketing Executive at UPM Biofuels.

UPM Biofuels and VTT are piloting a woodbased UPM BioVerno diesel on the capital region’s buses.

Land, sea and air The bus tests are a part of a larger BioPilot project coordinated by VTT. The goal of this project is to encourage companies to commercialise renewable energy traffic solutions.

According to Nils-Olof Nylund, Research Professor at VTT, the benefit of drop-in fuels like the UPM BioVerno is that they can be used as such in the fuel distribution infrastructures and cars and also in future vehicles.

Professor Nylund thinks new sustainable biofuels can act as the fast lane for Finland in terms of carbon dioxide reduction. Investing in Finnish biofuel production is profitable also from a technological and financial viewpoint.

“Finland uses almost four million tons of fuel for traffic a year, while the production capacity of biofuels is 500,000 tons a year, or a little of 10% of the total fuel use. In this respect Finland is streets ahead of other countries,” he says.

“Biofuels can replace not only oil-based fuels in road traffic, but also in marine and air transports,” he adds.

VTT has previously tested the Finnish UPM BioVerno diesel in both passenger car and bus engines with good results, so the bus field tests are a continuation of long-term development with UPM. Reduced emissions Many research institutions have run engine and vehicle trials and bus field tests using the UPM BioVerno diesel with good results. The studies VTT Impulse 67

BUSINESS

UPM and VTT are piloting a wood-based diesel fuel called UPM BioVerno in the capital region’s buses together with Helsinki Region Transport (HRT).

THE OBJECTIVE IS TO RUN BUSES ON A DIESEL THAT IS 100% RENEWABLE WOODBASED DIESEL. Sari Mannonen

show that the fuel works best when used like fossil diesel fuels, at the same time reducing local emissions significantly.

“During its life cycle, UPM BioVerno diesel’s carbon dioxide emissions are up to 80 per cent lower than those of fossil diesel. Studies have also shown that the fuel’s local emissions, such as carbon monoxide and particulate emissions were lower, translating in effect to better air quality,” says Sari Mannonen.

“In the first phase of the bus tests, the buses were running on a mixture in which the UPM BioVerno accounted for 20%. Since April, we have been testing with a 50% mixture. The objective is to run buses on a diesel that is 100% renewable woodbased diesel later this year.

Towards emission-free city traffic Helsinki Region Transport, which is in charge of public transport in the capital region, aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions and harmful particulate emissions by over 90 per cent by 2025.

“Biofuels can act as the fast lane for Finland in terms of carbon dioxide reduction,” says VTT’s Nils-Olof Nylund.

68 VTT Impulse

“The latest results show that UPM BioVerno diesel also reduces exhaust emissions considerably,” says Sari Mannonen of UPM.

“An increase in public transport is a key element in terms of sustainability, so these modern biofuels fit our strategy extremely well, because they can be adopted right away. Our target is that by 2020 diesel buses will run exclusively on renewable biofuels,” says Reijo Mäkinen, Director of HRT’s Transport Services Department.

The trials are run using four Volvo Euro VI Class buses, having low emissions and efficient engines, operated by Transdev. Two of the buses run on UPM BioVerno and two on ordinary diesel. Both VTT and the bus manufacturer Volvo will test all the field test buses before the test, halfway through and afterwards.

“Environmental care is one of Volvo’s three core values alongside quality and safety, so thanks to these trial runs we are at the cutting edge of development also in this field,” says Tom Rönnberg, Product Technics and Technical Support, Buses and Coaches of Volvo.

“The new Volvo Euro VI Class buses must have an exhaust gas after-treatment system operating also when the bus is in motion. The cleaner the fuel that is used to run the engine, the more seldom any cleaning is reduced, which is a benefit both for the vehicle and in terms of maintenance expenses,” he adds.

St1 was the fuel distributor for the tests. UPM Bio­Verno has been available since spring 2015 at St1 stations as a component of the Diesel Plus fuel.

Photo: Finnish Air Force

Turbine blades

bring millions in savings Maintenance intervals matter in the case of a highly valuable Hornet planes. The Finnish Air Force’s 62 F/A-18 Hornet fighters are its key weapon. Research on the blades of the high-pressure turbine has helped to extend maintenance intervals, achieving savings of around EUR 2.7 million during the fighters’ service life.

Text Paula Bergqvist Photos Paula Bergqvist and Finnish Air Force

P

atria’s chief expert on the GE engine, Timo Nurmi, holds up a metal component that fits into the palm of his hand.

“This is a blade of high-pressure turbine of a Hornet fighter that is beyond its recommended lifespan of 2,800 hours. This blade, of which there are a total of 64 in each engine, has been used for an extended period of 3,162 hours,” says Mr Nurmi.

It is still in good condition, although mechanical stress and thermal cycles have caused it to crack. During flight, the metal can heat up to almost a thousand degrees. If the cracks become too big, they may break the blade and cause serious engine damage.

The manufacturer, General Electric (GE) has defined lifespans for all the main components

70 VTT Impulse

of the engine, such as the wings and blade, based originally on US navy experiences. Lifespans and maintenance interval recommendations are reviewed as experiences are obtained from different countries, to correspond to each country’s specific conditions.

How do cracks develop?

The Joint Systems Centre of the Defence Forces Logistics Establishment, which is in charge of the lifespan planning, maintenance and usability of the Finnish Air Force’s fleet, and its strategic partner Patria, which carries out repairs and maintenance for the former, decided to find out together whether the blades’ lifespan can be extended to that of the disks. The objective was to be able to use the blades until the end of the

Importance of expert network emphasised during crisis “We combined various kinds of VTT expertise for the Defence Forces assignment: strength technology, material technology, microscopy and coating expertise. Information about the blades’ lifespan was sent to Patria to be assessed by VVT repair development engineer Jani Simelius,” says VTT Senior Scientist Juhani Rantala.

VTT has been a partner of the Finnish Air Force for around 15 years. VTT’s first tasks had to do with determining the condition of the Hawk fighter’s engine turbines.

“From there, the work continued with the analysis of the Hornet’s high pressure turbine blades in 2009. We have not only examined the blades but also other parts, such as the combustion chamber flange material,” recalls Mr Rantala.

“The analysis of the combustion chamber cracks referred to by Mr Rantala has provided us with valuable information we can use in our boroscopic inspections and to provide grounds for extending the planes’ flight times,” continues Timo Nurmi.

Alongside domestic partners, the Defence Forces makes use of experiences of other Hornet users from various countries. As well as Patria and VTT, the research network of partners in Finland includes Aalto University, Tampere University of Technology, Finflo, Milldyne and Emmecon.

This is based on a decision, taken by the Finnish Air Force in the early 1990s, to build, invest in and finance a national expert network meeting the needs of aircraft lifespan management.

“Hornet fighters must fully operational at all times. Any crisis situation must also be prepared

BUSINESS

disks’ lifespan and thereby save in spare part costs.

“During two decades we have during accumulated plenty of information on how our Nordic conditions and how we use the planes contribute to the condition of the engines,” says Major (Eng.) Jukka Taattola from the Defence Forces Logistics Establishment.

“Finns fly as a rule in very different conditions from their American counterparts, who often operate in desert conditions. The heat to which American planes are subjected, occasionally combined with sand, puts more stress on the turbine head than the cold and clear air in Finland. The distance to the training area affects the amount of stress placed on the engine. Our flight time from airfield to training area is just five minutes – in the United States, transit flight times are long. Flight times are relatively short and effectively used in Finland, but having the engines running while on ground consume some of the hour-based lifespan of the turbine blades. Even use on ground with a low level of thrust does not, however, stress the engines as much as flying, which means that the need for increasing the blades’ lifespan is understandable,” says Major Taattola.

It was therefore necessary to determine how cracks develop, in order to redefine the service life of the blades.

Tampere University of Technology charted hundreds of cracks of micrometer-scale. VTT studied the microstructures of the metal, discovering that the cracks either stop lengthening or lengthen very slowly. Stress caused by temperature of centrifugal force was analysed. VTT also studied the softening of the material’s microstructure. The blades were in good condition except for some overheated areas in the vicinity of the trailing edge in a few blades.

VTT was in favour of extending the service life of the blades from 2,800 to 3,100 hours – the same length as the disks. These results were also sent to the manufacturer (GE) that reached the same conclusion and subsequently increased the blades’ lifespan recommendation by ten per cent.

The maintenance interval could be extended.

Thanks to this, there was no need to buy a new set of blades for each engine.

This decision will generate savings of around EUR 2.7 million during the service life of the planes.

“Owing to a variety of development action, the total savings during the engines’ lifespan are estimated at 60 million euros,” says Timo Nurmi of Patria.

HPT blades

HPT disk

High pressure turbine VTT Impulse 71

Jukka Taattola (left) holding a damaged highpressure turbine blade, Timo Malmi with the next object of study, i.e. a low pressure- turbine blade, and Juhani Rantala with a high pressure turbine blade which has 3,162 hours of flight time.

for. It is important that we have a proper expert network enabling us to manage by domestic means as far as possible. So in effect this cooperation is also about developing security of supply in a crisis situation in Finland,” says Jukka Taattola.

Repairs in an orderly and rational manner The Defence Forces Logistics Establishment orders factory maintenance level repair and maintenance services primarily from Patria. Any other than minor maintenance operations require the engine to be taken out, and this is always done at Patria’s plant in Linnavuori, Nokia, where MiG 21s and Dragens also used to be maintained. The Air Force handles operational and routine maintenance itself.

“When we at Patria identify a problem, we react immediately. Developing a new repair procedure here is often much faster than when there are participants from many countries,” says Mr Nurmi.

“Finns are regarded in terms of Hornet engines as innovative, highly-skilled experts who can come

Molten ash close to the cooling holes after a training flight. The holes must not become blocked because otherwise the cooling air will not get through.

72 VTT Impulse

up with and implement new solutions, and quite quickly too, if necessary, says Mr Taattola.

The design of Hornets began in the 60s and they were given their maiden flights in the United States in 1978, moving into operational use in the 80s. All the engines and spare engines of the Air Force’s one-seater fighters were assembled in Linnavuori between 1995 and 2000. This provided valuable experience and expertise in engine maintenance.

Finland has been using these planes for 20 years, but they still have plenty of years ahead, although the purchase of new fighters are already being debated.

Eyjafjallajökull brought European flights to a halt AIR TRAFFIC was grounded in April 2010 in

Northern Europe during the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. This raised a question: what constitutes a safe ash concentration from the point of view of aviation?

Lapland Air Command Hornets on a training flight were exposed to a cloud of ash and were afterwards found to have volcanic ash in the engines. This is how the Finnish Air Force became the top aviation story.

The Air Force, Patria and VTT examined swiftly how congested the engines really were. Despite the ash, the planes were found to be flightworthy.

Later, the Defence Forces gave VTT the task of determining whether volcanic ash corrodes turbine blades. ”I ordered a bag of fine-grained, volcanic ash collected from the ground in Iceland. Molten ash was injected on the surface of high-pressure turbine blades, and the blades were then annealed in an oven. We could find no signs of corrosion. Despite the fact that volcanic eruptions are not particularly rare, this was a new discovery,” recalls Juha Rantala of VTT.

Flexbright LED foils can be transformed into everything, from sustainable people’s lamps to light sources that are light-weight and bendable into new shapes.

BUSINESS

Text Tiina Saario-Kuikko Photos Flexbright and Tiina Saario-Kuikko

LED foils

can be bent into any shape

F

lexbright Ltd, which commercialises innovative LED foils, also illuminates objects which could not previously be lit due to technical limitations.

This is enabling completely new types of innovation and design.

For example, LED foils can be embedded in interior design elements, fabrics, structures, walls, glass and furniture. The technology has numerous applications into which its thin, flexible, transparent and durable elements can be smoothly fitted.

“In many applications, such as aircraft, cars and even lifts, lightness is the current buzzword. The first product development projects have focused on the lighting of such objects, which are of major novelty value. The replacement of traditional light sources will be a huge source of future volume sales,” says Pekka Makkonen, CEO of Flexbright.

Intelligence and wirelessness inside The lighting technology used in the company’s LED foils was developed in close cooperation with VTT and the PrintoCent industrial cluster based in Oulu.

The technology is based on roll-to-roll mass production, high illumination power, IoT properties, low energy consumption and an ultra-thin, flexible structure less than 1 mm in thickness. Use of light-weight structures enables savings in raw materials.

The flexible lighting foil has high resistance to heat and humidity. Intelligent and wireless control enables the use of applications based on the Internet of Things.

“The foils can be coupled with sensors and controlled wirelessly. The thin, flexible films provide designers with wholly new possibilities in lighting design,” says Head of Research Area Raimo Korhonen of VTT. In addition, the lighting environment can be controlled as part of overall building automation.

Investing in the Oulu region Flexbright’s LED foils, which exploit the Internet of Things, have good prospects of conquering large and fast-growing global markets.

“Our potential clientele are highly heterogeneous. Almost any sector can make use of LED foil technology – from toy manufacturVTT Impulse 73

ers to the automotive industry, from lighting to home textiles, and from glass to aircraft,” lists Atte Varsta, Commercial Director.

Flexbright has several ongoing product development projects in various application areas, alongside companies operating in different countries.

“At the moment, there is virtually no competition and the market has room for several players.

The technology’s complexity, in terms of production and cost-effectiveness, is a major threshold for new entrants. Correspondingly, Flexbright’s intellectual property rights protect it from the competition in this regard,” Varsta explains.

The company is currently focusing on the development of LED foils and, later, on their mass production on a roll-to-roll printing line.

“Flexbright is planning major production and job-creating investments in the Oulu region.

The aim is to build an ecosystem for enterprises starting out in printed, mass-produced electronics and thereby lower the threshold for engaging in commercial and profitable operations using this technology,” Varsta and Makkonen add.

Business Oulu, PrintoCent and VTT have also been actively involved in the preparations for this project.

Flexbright’s products have international appeal and are also raising interest in Finland’s eastern neighbour. Russian financier NNCR is already accelerating the progress of the company’s LED foil technology.

74 VTT Impulse

“Flexbright’s production and product development operations will be based in Oulu for the time being but, together with Rusnano, we plan to set up a plant in Russia within a couple of years to cater for the markets over there,” say Makkonen and Varsta, commenting on their plans.

Finlayson’s people’s lamp withstands hugs and can slip into an envelope Finlayson’s innovative people’s lamp also took shape when Varsta had the idea of using a LED foil in home textiles. Representatives of Flexbright and VTT presented the idea to Finlayson’s CEO, Jukka Kurttila, who was quickly

FLEXBRIGHT LTD FLEXBRIGHT LTD is a subsidiary of

Neonelektro Ltd, a manufacturer of light commercials which was established in 1973. Flexbright was originally founded in 2010, under the name Mainoskama Ltd, for the export and import of LED components; in 2013, its name was changed to the more descriptive Flexbright.

Flexbright has three employees at the moment, but is recruiting more experts and investing heavily in the Oulu region.

Photo: Flexbright

“LED foils can even last for 100,000 hours,” explain Flexbright’s leading figures Pekka Makkonen (left) and Atte Varsta, while holding a flexible, light-weight LED foil. Pictured on the right are Kimmo Keränen, Senior Scientist with VTT, and Dmitry Krakhin, Director of Nanocenter Mordvan and a member of the board of Flexbright.

Photo: Flexbright

”LED foils may well conquer the global market,” affirm Atte Varsta (left) and Pekka Makkonen, the lead figures in Flexbright.

taken by the notion of developing something entirely new on an open-minded basis.

“At Finlayson, we are curious about what’s going on in the world and what interests consumers. This project seemed to fit the bill, so we didn’t hesitate to get on board,” says Kurttila.

The people’s lamp was the result of collaboration between Finlayson, Flexbright and VTT, and design work by students completing design courses at Aalto University.

The people’s lamp is the first consumer product to use LED foil technology. It is durable and can serve as an ambience or night light, for example. The lamp is also soft and hug-resistant.

“The LED foil inside the product lasts for up to 100,000 hours of use, which corresponds to a service life of around 15 to 20 years,” says Kurttila.

“This will change people’s perception of lamps – the lamp can be unzipped from the side and slipped into, say, a thin envelope and mailed home.”

Kurttila plans to have the lamp on shop shelves in time for the Christmas season. He estimates the target price of the product to be around EUR 70–80.

Finlayson intends to continue product development, modifying the lamp to make it battery powered with no need for a power cord. In the future, it may also be possible to weave LED foils directly into fabric.

Photo: Tiina Saario-Kuikko

“LIGHTNESS IS THE BUZZWORD IN FUTURE PRODUCTS.”

“The sky is the limit,” says a happy Jukka Kurttila, CEO of Finlayson, explaining that he intends to continue his fruitful collaboration with Flexbright.

VTT Impulse 75

Intelligence

for machines SMACC aims to boost the potential, competitiveness and exports of Finnish manufacturing industry.

Text and photos Sirpa Posti

A

s Finland’s most important sector, the technology industry accounts for half of the country’s exports.

Some 30 per cent of Finland’s workforce is employed in the industry, which employs 280,000 people directly and 700,000 indirectly. However, the sector has lost 100,000 jobs in under ten years. In this changing business environment, those who actively seek new business opportunities and prepare for the future will be the ones that flourish.

Last autumn, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd and Tampere University of Technology (TUT) took up the challenge and set up SMACC (the Smart Machines and Manufacturing Centre), with its 300 sectoral experts. VTT has a total of 2,600 employees, and TUT has 1,800.

SMACC is accelerating Finnish manufacturing on its journey into the future and providing SMEs, in particular, with rapid solutions on a one-stop principle, diverse and nationally significant scientific expertise, and an extensive domestic and foreign collaboration network.

Fast off the drawing board, on the company’s terms The threshold for joining the programme has been made as low as possible for companies.

76 VTT Impulse

“We are continuously adapting our agile business models to the needs of entrepreneurs and provide rapid assistance to businesses of all sizes. Based on examples, with the help of high-speed pilot projects we are able to spread the enthusiasm and courage needed to engage in innovation,” says Business Development Manager Risto Kuivanen, who is in charge of SMACC issues in VTT. “We begin with an interactive brainstorming day with the company, during which we chart issues such as development needs, and the company performs a self-assessment and draws up an action plan. The company receives a summary of all this as its first tool,” Kuivanen adds.

Next, the company’s data is compared to that of other companies with similar development areas. A business cluster is then created, with 4–5 companies that are not competing with each other. The companies jointly accelerate and further refine the development issues.

“Around twenty companies are currently involved in the programme and the number is growing every day. These companies are involved in the brainstorming day and directly engaged in the preparation of joint research projects. In addition to SMEs, larger flagship

BUSINESS SMACC (the Smart Machines and Manufacturing Centre) is led by Business Development Manager Risto Kuivanen of VTT and Professor Kari T. Koskinen of TUT.

companies are on board,” says Professor Kari T. Koskinen, in charge of SMACC-related issues at TUT. In particular, the needs of SMEs have been selected as the initial themes: demanding digital manufacturing, digital design and modelling, the new digital service innovations, digital quality control (Industrial Internet), inventory management solutions and additive manufacturing (3D printing).

SMACC serves the the whole of Finland – its operations are anchored in Pirkanmaa Jukka Alasentie, Director, Regional Development of the Council of the Tampere Region states that SMACC will strengthen the rejuvenation and cutting-edge expertise of Pirkanmaa i.e. its manufacturing industry, and bring together the two key actors in the region.

“In addition to research, there is a strong focus on enterprises, particularly SMEs. VTT and Tampere University of Technology are expected to bring new energy to enterprises, which will be used in the leveraging of world-class expertise. 3D investments, which are being promoted in research and creating a bridge to SMEs, are

”IN ADDITION TO RESEARCH, THERE IS A STRONG FOCUS ON ENTERPRISES, PARTICULARLY SMES.” particularly important. We finance change, not individual projects,” says Alasentie.

The centre of expertise is seeking an annual volume of EUR 40 million, with the whole of Finland as its target area. Action is firmly anchored in national and international collaborative networks and focused on the region of Pirkanmaa, where there is a strong manufacturing ecosystem. The City of Tampere and Council of the Tampere Region have been involved from the beginning.

VTT Impulse 77

The SMACC workspace is located in the new Campus Arena in Hervanta, Tampere, where VTT and TUT’s joint facilities are used for the presentation of research and as a meeting place for companies.

How to join SMACC? Development Manager Risto Kuivanen points out that companies involved in cost-effective co-development via SMACC gain a two-year competitive advantage.

“This is an opportunity to get to the top,” emphasises Kuivanen.

ASK FOR FURTHER DETAILS AND SIGN UP ONLINE:

http://smacc.fi/ under Contact Details or risto.kuivanen@vtt.fi and kari.t.koskinen@tut.fi Topical information is continuously being added to the new SMACC web pages.

CONTACT DETAILS:

VTT, Risto Kuivanen, Business Development Manager.

TUT, Kari T. Koskinen, Professor, Head of Department, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Systems.

Robotic arms are used as installation tools in industry.

Excellence as a bridge between Finnish companies WITHIN SMACC, VTT and Tampere University of

Technology combine excellence in the pursuit of efficiency and results. More cost-effective enterprise, which is closer to the customer, is being created from industrial activities.

This is serving Finnish industry and technology development. The end result must be more than the sum of its parts, that is 1 + 1 must add up to more than 2 in order to provide cost-efficiency, expertise and genuinely fast results for industry.

Sandvik has strong networks with VTT and Tampere University of Technology. SMACC is a good forum in which research institutions and small and large companies come together for faster information exchange. Even small businesses have access to the same resources, enabling a common language between actors, as well as greater agility and mutual benefits. This allows small businesses to achieve the same as big companies, with small firms succeeding in the wake of large ones.

78 VTT Impulse

SMACC is directed towards both big companies and SMEs. While large companies can export based on Finland’s technological strengths, SMEs tend to need a large partner to assist with their export efforts.

To ensure cost-effectiveness, the focus should be on achieving things and administrative costs must remain low. I feel very positive about SMACC and it is now time to get down to work together.

Jani Vilenius, Research & Technology Manager at Sandvik Mining and Construction Oy. The Tampere-based Sandvik Mining and Construction offers the world’s widest range of equipment for rock drilling, rock excavation, processing, demolition and bulk-materials handling. The Swedish-owned Sandvik AB Group has operations in 130 countries and employs 49,000 people.

Bring excellence together!

SMACC HAS VOLUME; 300 researchers have combined their expertise, which is now rapidly available to companies on a one-stop, cost-efficient basis. We have already gained good experience of issues such as rapid assistance by telephone.

VTT and TUT have their own specialisations, which we expect to dovetail within SMACC. It is little wonder that a centre of expertise would centralise it operations in the Pirkanmaa region, which is a manufacturing hub in Finland. In addition, VTT in particular plays a national role.

SMEs’ expectations are now high. It is a good thing that they have their own special focus area within SMACC. However, large companies are also needed as drivers, since each organisation has its own place within the value chain. It is worth

bearing in mind that 70 percent of product costs are generated by parties other than the main contractor; this makes the overall value chain and subcontractors important.

Harri Jokinen, Managing Director, Nomet Oy. Based in Tampere, Nomet is a component workshop which focuses on demanding machined pieces and sub-assemblies and cooperates with large domestic and international companies in Finland. Nomet aims to grow into a technology partner for major clients over the next few years.

The company employs around 48 people, and its turnover is some EUR 8.3 million per year.

PRODUCTIVITY LEAP FINLAND’S HIGHEST level of research expertise

in smart machines and manufacturing The key objectives of SMACC’s first three years are as follows: • 20 enterprises will achieve a productivity leap -> 50% growth • 100 SMEs -> 10% growth • 300 SMEs involved.

Ceramic 3D printing for wear-resistant applications.

The objective of the productivity leap is an overall productivity improvement of 50 per cent in the target companies.

The company’s operations will be examined from the perspective of its products, production, product development, customer benefit and the functioning of its network. The road to the productivity leap lies through issues such as the identification of factors with an impact on overall productivity, problem areas, concrete proposals for action, and the related cost savings.

In addition, suitable means of development and funding are proposed alongside the company’s key employees.

VTT Impulse 79

VTTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spin-off GrainSense puts

a laboratory in farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hands

Fast and reliable seed analyses enable cost optimisation and accurate pricing.

The device developed by GrainSense gives farmers information about the quality of their crops right there in the field.

Text Milka Lahnalammi-Vesivalo Photos Sami Tirkkonen and Istockphoto

80 VTT Impulse

F

armers have to continuously make choices to ensure the quality and yield of their crops. Farmers also need reliable information about the quality of their crops when they come to sell them.

The quality of crops is measured by their composition, such as protein content, and the price of crops always depends on the quality of the batch in question. At the moment, farmers need to send seed samples to laboratories to be able to make cost-effective decisions during the process or to set a price for their crops.

Among the most important factors that determine price and therefore also cultivation methods are protein content and moisture levels. High-protein crops are generally sold to bakeries and breweries, and crops with lower protein content are used as animal feed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Farmers need accurate information about the quality of their goods to be able to negotiate sales and prices. Knowing the correct protein content of VTT Impulse 81

GrainSense CEO Edvard Krogius predicts huge demand for the device now that the protein content of grains has become a priority in crop cultivation.

crops used as animal feed is also important in trade between farmers: Livestock need just the right amount of protein to ensure a consistent quality of meat, eggs, and dairy products,” explains GrainSense’s CEO Edvard Krogius.

Device for optimising farming costs GrainSense’s invention is palm-sized, portable and battery-powered. When seeds are inserted into the device, infrared waves inside the device are able to analyse the protein, oil, carbohydrate and moisture content of the seeds in a matter of seconds.

Farmers are able to use the information to make production-related choices during the cultivation process.

“It is important for farmers to be able to optimise fertilisation and drying time, which are important contributors to the costs of cereal production,” Krogius says.

Accurate analysis of grain quality also allows farmers, for instance, to sort crops of different seed composition into separate silos ready for different purposes.

The usefulness of the information produced by the analyser is boosted by GPS and a link to cloud services. Software updates and calibration can also be done remotely.

82 VTT Impulse

Aiming for small and affordable The aim in developing the device was, in addition to small size, to make it affordable for farmers to buy.

“The price is a few thousand euros; not quite as expensive as a tractor, but it is still an investment. Our aim has been to make it possible for farmers to get their money back from the investment during the next growing season,” Krogius explains.

The technology used in the device is confidential, but the key was to make a photodetector operate at a healthy noiseto-signal ratio. This was achieved thanks to multiple factors, of which the developers of the device can say no more.

The technology was originally developed for the pharmaceutical industry, but it became apparent during the process that it could also be used in farming.

“After several discussions with representatives of the Natural Resources Institute Finland, ProAgria and the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners, we realised that the invention had business potential,” says former VTT research scientist and now employee of GrainSense Ralf Marbach.

Made in Finland High quality is vital for the device, which is why it is being manufactured in Finland, at least for the time being.

“We use several subcontractors, in addition to which there are four people working on product development and commercialisation at GrainSense,” Krogius explains.

To sell and market the device, the company has partnered up with Berner Ltd., and initially the target market is limited to Finland, Sweden, and the Baltic states.

The further development of the device will focus on its GPS dimension and connections to the cloud. GrainSense is also still fine-tuning the design of the device and developing solutions for portability, for example.

Sights set on the global agricultural market Finland is not a well-known agricultural operator globally, but the device developed by GrainSense can help us to penetrate the global agricultural market. The device is also proof of VTT’s investment in spectroscopy know-how, which has yielded several commercial products in recent years.

“This device could not have been developed without VTT’s investment in spectroscopy know-how and its ability to attract internationally competitive research scientists,” Krogius says.

Marbach, who was born in Germany and now works full-time at GrainSense, also believes that the business and the product are all set for success.

“There is definite demand for the product, and the timing is also good, globally speaking.”

End users, i.e. farmers, have been involved in the product development process since the beginning.

The device can be used across the entire agricultural supply chain, from farmers to consumers, who ultimately judge the quality of produce. The invention also has potential for further development, which can create new jobs in Finland.

“Plans are already in place for our first product development project. In the long term, GrainSense also has opportunities for larger-scale research cooperation and therefore for creating new commercial applications,” Marbach explains.

GRAINSENSE FOUNDERS OF GRAINSENSE; Ralf Marbach (inventor and founder), Jouni Huopana (founder), Ykä Marjanen (founding member), Max Schulman (founding member), Arve Lukander (founding member) and Edvard Krogius (founding member),

The GrainSense device analyses seeds with the help of infrared waves.

Investors; VTT Ventures Ltd., Berner Ltd. and three Nordic investors from an agricultural background.

Development loan; Tekes has granted GrainSense a development loan. www.grainsense.com

VTT Impulse 83

Business angel speaks out

Growth from the international arena

”To succeed, new growth companies need expertise, a scalable concept, stable funding and enough daring to enter the international markets,” sums up entrepreneur and business angel Sauli Törmälä.

Text Sari Alhava Photos FocalSpec Oy

S

auli Törmälä, a serial entrepreneur

and business angel in the technology sector, says that he is delighted with the emergence and success of the game industry. ”Of course, not all have succeeded, but fairly many have. I also believe that measurement technology will become a major source of employment in the near future. Finnish know-how is top level and I have faith in growth companies in the sector,” Törmälä says.

Specialising in measurement technology, since the 1980s he has had a ringside view of the development of many growth companies. Among other posts, Törmälä has served as Managing Director of TopWave Instruments Ltd, which developed a technology for the quality control of plastic bottles for soft drinks.

Since then, other technology sector companies such as KSV Instruments Ltd, BioNavis Ltd, FocalSpec Ltd and Helmee Imaging Ltd have grown under his leadership. In addition, he is a shareholder or board member of several Finnish and Swedish startups and research groups. He has gained a range of perspectives in these capacities.

84 VTT Impulse

Törmälä believes that the key to getting spin-offs and young, growth-oriented startups to flourish lies in bringing executives fully on board. The core team is just as important.

“Whereas location, location and location are the keywords when selling houses; team, team and team is what counts for startups. The ability to collaborate and the expertise of the core team lay the foundation for success – while the lack of them prevent it,” says Törmälä.

In addition to investing in itself, to succeed a company needs to invest in the early phase of the growth path, i.e. in education and research.

Törmälä is concerned about the government’s decision to cut funding in these areas.

“If the cuts are only temporary, they may have some positive effects. Greater efficiency and revisiting current practices are needed in many areas. But permanent cuts would be a terrible decision with respect to the development of technology and other growth companies.”

Threats and weaknesses For growth companies in the startup phase, being starved of capital is the greatest threat

BUSINESS

Sauli Törmälä points out that so-called ‘long-horizon’ funding is important at the beginning. More than just venture capital is needed, and at a sufficiently early stage.

This provides the long-term approach required to develop scalable products.

and reason for failure. To avoid this, from the outset companies need to ensure that they have sufficient basic funding, and products which they can sell in sufficiently large volumes.

Sauli Törmälä has been delighted with the funding provided by Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation.

“For example, I have compared our system to the corresponding one in Sweden, and the one here is much better. It seems to me that it is uniquely business-friendly. Tekes has provided sufficient funding options. It has also provided plenty of help and coaching at the application stage.”

He also likes the fact that Tekes forces applicants to draw up a proper project plan.

That is the only time at which planning can be done properly and the process ensures that it is actually done.

Weaknesses do exist “Cooperation between the funding agency and startup could be closer and the threshold for making an application lower,” says Törmälä.

In addition, resources are needed in order to make venture capital available and help with its acquisition.

“On the other hand, companies can learn a great deal when seeking funding. Technology companies tend to describe their technology to funding agencies, rather than providing revenue forecasts.

As an engineer, I’ve been guilty of this myself.”

The concept must be scalable Scalability is often a bottleneck for startups.

“When beginning from the technology end in particular, firms too often form a kind of engineering practice based on chasing a single customer or meeting a single need and assuming that others have the same problem,” Törmälä stresses.

Instead, firms should patiently commercialise ideas that are scalable. The basic technology should be turned into a finished product that tackles a sufficient number of pressure points and for which customers are willing to pay.

Törmälä calls on businesses to research the issues rather than act on the basis of a single customer or gut feeling.

VTT Impulse 85

The entire FocalSpec team.

“Market research should be performed at an early stage on any idea provided by a customer. If there is interest in the product, it should be made scalable and introduced to the world. This is currently succeeding better on the software side than for measurement technology.”

Make your first sale Many companies still lack experience of international marketing and sales. It is worth investing in such activities.

“However, you should not begin selling too quickly or eagerly. I have often reminded people that you shouldn’t ‘sell your chickens before they are hatched’, so to speak,” Törmälä says.

Törmälä has heard that internationalisation funding from ELY Centres is being reduced, when – in his opinion – it should be increased.

“Reducing such funding would be terrible news for growth companies. Small startups have a high financial threshold for attending international trade fairs, but these are important to growth. Finnish companies were once adept at entering foreign markets, typically by establishing a US subsidiary. Direct subsidies can no longer be provided for this. However, it is easier to offer products on local terms from a local office,” Törmälä notes.

86 VTT Impulse

SPIN-OFFS IN FULL SWING VTT’S SPIN-OFFS have a strong foundation: their

starting point is a technical insight they are seeking to commercialise. Sauli Törmälä believes that any euros invested in them are bound to be paid back.

He gives the latest news on a pair of VTT’s spin-offs.

“FocalSpec Ltd has reached a promising stage. We have technical measurement solutions for demanding industrial applications, for which scalable products are just emerging.”

Helmee Imaging Ltd continues to develop VTT’s technology using a machine vision system for the quality inspection of objects with mirror-like surfaces – and is commercialising the technique.

“We are currently trying to gain more reference customers. We have already achieved our first major deals and a foreign investor has come on board,” says a delighted Törmälä.

He refers to the mounting prices of VTT as a concern.

“Few startups, including VTT spin-offs, can afford to use VTT’s services for product development, unless the project is EU funded. I hope that account is taken of this in the future,” says Törmälä.

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VTT Impulse is VTT’s publication on science, technology and business.

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VTT is Northern Europe’s leading research and technology company, providing research and innovation services that enhance the international competitiveness of companies and the public sector. We are blazing a trail into the future by developing new smart technologies, business concepts and innovative services. We combine our wide-ranging expertise to help our customers and partners develop products, production processes and methods – as well as services that foster sustainable development, employment and the well-being of society. Our partner networks promote the optimal use of expertise worldwide. We provide world-class research environments and a wide range of IPR and licensing services.

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