centre:mk has unveiled a unique store focused on breaking down barriers and accelerating early adoption of digital technology. Located on Crown Walk, the Smart City Experience Center is a joint initiative between the private and public sectors, serving as a showcase for consumers to experience and interact with robots and digital technologies.
The 3,870 square foot center contains a number of robots and AI applications to demonstrate how technology can complement rather than compete with consumers’ daily lives, with the aim of reducing anxiety and improving adoption rate. Building on international robotics competitions and robot courses sponsored and organized by centre:mk, the initiative aims to position Milton Keynes as the UK’s number one location where new technologies can be tested and perfected in a real environment. This is currently one of the main obstacles to the sustainable implementation of technology in key sectors such as healthcare and transport.
Highlights of the Center include Pepper, a robot designed to provide information and infotainment solutions to visitors in a highly interactive humanoid form, and a robotic dog designed to serve as an alternative to real animals, for example to monitor areas particularly inaccessible buildings or to support emergency services. There are also two autonomous vehicles at the center: mk, one in the store and the other in the shopping center. These complement an autonomous bus trial operated by StreetCav which begins testing in the city in December, with service trials expected to begin later next year.
The Center also showcases a number of projects that centre:mk and its partners are currently trialling, all of which have the potential to attract global investment to Milton Keynes while creating and maintaining a high skills base. These include the DronePort:MK drone technology, the Smart City data platform, 5G infrastructure and a project led by the International Test and Evaluation Association that is investigating ways in which technology can be used to increase hospital efficiency to reduce bed blockage.
Kevin Duffy, centre:mk center director, commented: “Located in the heart of centre:mk in Milton Keynes, a city renowned for innovation and early adoption of new technologies, the Smart City Experience Center brings robotics and AI at the forefront. and at the center of our annual attendance of 22 million. It will reach more people in a week than other traditional sites would need three months to achieve.
The center allows members of the public to explore new technologies, get excited about the potential they represent and engage in a way that very quickly breaks down traditional barriers and perceptions. At the same time, the experience will provide the companies behind the innovations with highly valuable user feedback. We are very proud to be at the heart of this important win-win initiative.
Shanika Mahendran, Cabinet Member for Economy, Sustainability and Innovation at Milton Keynes City Council, said: “We are really proud to be part of this exciting project, which brings together cutting-edge technologies from smart cities in one place. It’s not always easy for everyone to understand how technological advancements benefit our communities, but it’s our priority as a council in our work on smart cities. The MK Smart City Experience center gives residents the opportunity to see for themselves the work we are doing with our partners to ensure smart city technology benefits all of society.
Launched at the culmination of the Milton Keynes AI Festival 2024, the Smart City Experience Center builds on the success of mk’s Electric Vehicle Experience Centre. The multi-brand electric vehicle showroom has had a presence at the destination for five years and has contributed to Milton Keynes having an electric vehicle adoption rate of 30%, one of the highest in the UK.
