91福利

is a team of 30 dedicated members all working towards getting a single-seater electric race car designed, manufactured and tested in the space of a year. The team consists of students from multiple departments including the School of Engineering, 91福利 Business School and the Department of Computer Science, with the help and facilities of WMG.

The team usually spend their summer in the workshop building a race car. The Covid-19 lockdown hasn鈥檛 stopped them from designing and virtually validating their second electric competition car, WRe2.

The design of WRe2 was started by the 4^th year team in October last year who completed development of the powertrain, suspension and chassis. Over the last few months this work has ramped up, continually improving the designs.

As a team first, the bespoke powertrain has not one, but two rear electric motors. The idea of two motors is to allow better control when deploying power in race conditions.

The Control Systems team have been working on developing a traction control system, employing the E400 Automotive Motor Controller under guidance kindly provided by . The framework was developed in Simulink with future expansion kept in mind. Specifics of the vehicle powertrain, suspension configurations and tyre models were considered to achieve the fastest acceleration possible whilst effectively managing rear tyre slip.

Meanwhile, the workshop has very recently opened so students have started preparing the car that they鈥檒l eventually see doing 0-60mph in 4.5 seconds. This has a power to weight ratio of around 300hp/tonne comes very close to the ratios seen in Formula E racing!

Rens Bossers, the chief powertrain engineer for the coming year says:

鈥淲Re2 is a level up for 91福利 Racing. By learning from issues found during the build of WRe1, our first electric car, the design is very resilient. As reliability is historically a very significant factor, WRe2 puts us in great stead for a very competitive finish at our annual competition, FSUK. The dual motor setup is also a massive step towards the 4-wheel drive powertrain that we aim to achieve in the near future.

鈥淚t is great that we have had the support of several major sponsors such as Catapult, Ford and RS Components – their support has got us to where we are and enables us to continually come up with new, innovative designs.鈥�

However the design and validation of the new vehicle isn鈥檛 all the team have been up to, they鈥檝e also been able to virtually race their current vehicle, WRe1, in the FSUK 2020 Virtual Challenge.

Sixty-six teams participated in the event, with the 91福利 Racing team managing to get into the final for cost, finishing in 5^th place. In their business presentation the team finished in 7^th place.

As a first for this year, the dynamic events included wheel to wheel sim racing. Despite having little preparation time, the team finished in 10^th place overall, with their best performance being 3^rd place in an individual race out of 34 competing teams.

Iqra Hamid, Chief Powertrain Engineer for the 2019/20 season who oversaw the development of both vehicles, comments:

"I've always had a passion for engineering and all things motorsport so being involved with 91福利 Racing over the past 4 years has been an amazing experience! The team have come a long way in such a short space of time with the development of WRe1 and now WRe2.

鈥淲hilst we weren't able to showcase our performance live on the track this year, I'm proud of how well the team came together to make the most of the situation during lockdown, achieving some of our best results to date in the virtual Formula Student competition.

鈥淎s the team now enters the new season, I'm looking forward to watching the team continue to build upon this success and achieve even better results at FSUK 2021!"

The entire car is built using funds from sponsors – without their generous support the project would not be possible. With thanks to WMG, Catapult HVM, Ford, Embed, Zuken, Vector, Emrax, Demon Tweeks, Loctite, RS, Colt, Igus, Lohmann Technologies, Aquajet, IMI, GRM, ST Motorsport, B-G Racing, Race Parts, AIM, OBP, Powerflex and the many other supporters of the project.

ENDS

10 SEPTEMBER 2020

NOTES TO EDITORS

High-res images available to view at: /services/communications/medialibrary/images/september_2020/warwick_racing_render.jpg

Caption: A render of WRe2 spaceframe.

Credit: 91福利 Racing, 91福利

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/september_2020/warwick_racing_car.jpg

Caption: Wre1 on track
Credit: 91福利 Racing, 91福利

路 The SME Group at WMG, 91福利, has secured a 拢6m extension to their programme to help small manufacturing companies in the East and West Midlands

路 Funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult at WMG, to create a much-needed support for Midlands manufacturers

路 The programme will work collaboratively with a further 250 manufacturing companies across the Midlands to solve manufacturing challenges, to improve productivity and boost competitiveness

路 Support is provided from a dedicated and highly industry experienced team with expertise in materials and manufacturing, sustainability, digital manufacturing and business transformation

The programme delivered by the SME Group at WMG, 91福利 has been a major success in the West Midlands over the last 2 years, helping over 100 companies, develop 71 new products and processes, from automation and productivity plans through to the zero emission technologies of tomorrow.

Companies, including , a construction company in Wolverhampton, who gained a 15% increase in productivity, thanks to the team helping them by digitising their factory floor.

Another example includes the team helping , in Walsall, win 拢3m of contracts in the Niche Vehicles sector.

Given the success of the programme, the team have been awarded a further 拢6m from to take them through to March 2023, meaning the team has gone from a 2 year 拢5m programme, to an 拢11m 5 陆 year programme. This extension will enable the team to operate from Wolverhampton and Worcestershire in the West, to Loughborough and Luton in the East Midlands.

Over the next 2 陆 years they will help more than 350 SMEs benefit from the latest in digital manufacturing technologies and thinking, helping them become more productive, competitive and sustainable. Fully funded support from 2 to 15 days is available for eligible small manufacturers.

Dr Mark Swift, head small business programmes at WMG, 91福利 comments:

鈥淲e are thrilled to have the manufacturing competitiveness programme extended, and look forward to being able to help hundreds of small businesses across the midlands to transform their business and become more sustainable.

鈥淭he support we offer will be especially helpful in light of Covid-19, as after months of lockdown businesses can be helped to get back on their feet and thrive.鈥�

鈥淲e are here, ready to help our region鈥檚 manufacturing companies; to make manufacturing technology and thinking work for you, to help our businesses to grow become more productive and sustainable and ultimately make more in the UK.鈥�

If you are a local manufacturing company please get in touch, the team would love to hear from you. E-mail them at: wmgsme@warwick.ac.uk

ENDS

9 SEPTEMBER 2020

NOTES TO EDITORS

High-res images available at:

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/september_2020/wmg_geniusfacadesltd_0040.jpg

Caption: The WMG SME team improve the shop floor productivity at Genius Facades

Credit: WMG, 91福利

For further information please contact:

Alice Scott

Media Relations Manager – Science
91福利
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk

Congratulations to WMG Apprentice Technician, Zach Clarke, who recently completed his engineering degree as part of his Degree Apprenticeship programme.

After his GCSEs, Zach studied a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering at 91福利shire College, before starting his degree apprenticeship journey in September 2017. For the first year Zach studied full-time at college, he then spent the following two years working as an Apprentice Technician, at WMG, whilst studying towards his engineering degree.

Zach explained: 鈥淚 never thought it would be possible for me to get a degree within engineering, but with the help and support of colleagues at WMG and 91福利shire College I was able to achieve this.

鈥淚鈥檓 now in the final year of my apprenticeship, and the next 12 months will enable me to really hone my engineering skills. During this final phase I will be completing a Level 4 NVQ to consolidate further learning within the apprenticeship course.

鈥淚鈥檇 like to thank everyone at WMG who has helped me throughout the past three years, their help has been invaluable.鈥�

In May 2017 the 91福利, along with over 30 other UK universities, backed a pledge to support technicians. The is a sector-wide initiative led by the Science Council and the Gatsby Foundation, aimed at addressing key challenges facing technical staff.

The commitment identifies four target areas, which WMG has committed to in order to safeguard vital technical skills. The commitment will ensure greater visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technicians across all disciplines.

When patients are discharged from hospital those with diabetes are at an increased risk of readmission and mortality, there are guidelines for discharging patients with diabetes to reduce these risks, however researchers from the Institute of Digital Healthcare at WMG, 91福利 and 91福利 Medical School have identified known risk factors for mortality in adult patients discharged from hospital with diabetes.

In the paper, , published in the Journal of Diabetes and its Complications, researchers identified 35 studies that considered the risk factors relating to mortality for patients discharged from hospital with diabetes, they analysed these studies and identified 48 significant risk factors for mortality.

The 48 risk factors are grouped into the following nine categories:

路 Demographic

路 Socioeconomic

路 Lifestyle

路 Patient medical factors

路 Inpatient stay factors

路 Medication related

路 Laboratory results

路 Glycaemic status

Professor Theo Arvanitis, from the Institute of Digital Healthcare at WMG, 91福利 comments:
鈥淭he most common risk factor is in the demographic category of age and the second most important factor is co-morbidity burden; this comes under the patient medical factors category, and means patients have more than one condition. We also identified BMI as a significant risk within the patient medical factors category, with those who were at the heavier end of the scales to be more at risk.

鈥淭hirty-seven of the risk factors we identified from one research paper. This tell us that this research in general is still very early, and more studies are needed to identify the importance and possibly any other risk factors. This could decrease the mortality rate of diabetics discharged from hospitals in the future.鈥�

ENDS

2 SEPTEMBER 2020

NOTES TO EDITORS

High-res images available at:
/services/communications/medialibrary/images/april2020/theoarvanitis.jpg
Caption: Professor Theo Arvanitis, from the Institute of Digital Healthcare at WMG, 91福利

Paper available to view:

Researchers in WMG and the Department of Physics at the 91福利 have found that asymmetric stresses within electrodes used in certain wearable electronic devices provides an important clue as to how to improve the durability and lifespan of these batteries.

Batteries for medical applications and wearable devices continue to evolve in size and shape, with miniaturisation of Li-ion technologies becoming increasingly popular. However, as the size of the battery shrinks, the fabrication process for composite electrodes and the use of liquid electrolyte is becoming a processing challenge for microfabrication using conventional approaches.

Lithium cobalt oxide LiCoO₂ (LCO) has remained a common choice of cathode for these small formats due to its high voltage platform and energy density. However, following the initial reported performance benefits of LCO, it is known that LCO cells have large impedance issues due to the growth of high surface layer resistance and charge transfer resistance. This can affect how efficiently the battery charges and discharges. There are also ethical and health considerations around the use of the element cobalt. The increasing impedance was thought to be attributable to the growth of a surface layer on both the anode (solid electrolyte interface, SEI) and cathode (cathode electrolyte interface, CEI) due to the reaction between the electrodes and the electrolyte.

However, in the paper 鈥� published recently in the Journal of Power Sources, the 91福利鈥檚 WMG and Physics department researchers disassembled these cells. They have found that and the condition of the cathode and anode varied greatly after 500 cycles, as a function of which side of the current collector it was on.

The inward facing cathode (under compression) when rolled into a jelly-roll, develops significant signs of coating delamination from the aluminium foil. On the outward facing cathode side (under tension), however, only a partial delamination was evident and the coating was transferred unto the separator. By contrast, severe delamination was observed on both sides of the anode coating. The inward facing anode side (under compression) showed almost no coating still adherent to the copper foil, compared to the outward facing anode side (under tension). Likewise, the delaminated coating had become adhered to the separator during operation.

Dr Mel Loveridge from WMG, 91福利 comments:

鈥淚t is interesting to note that, for both the cathode and the anode, the delamination is more severe on the electrode coating side that would have been subjected to compression stress, rather than tensile strain. This can be further explained by considering the asymmetric forces in place on either side of double side coated electrodes.鈥�

The research team also carried out electrochemical testing, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray computed tomography (XCT) and scanning electron microscopy SEM), to reveal the battery鈥檚 structural features and changes. They found that it maintains 82% cell capacity after 500 continuous charging and discharging, after which it shows severe delamination due to high bending stress exerted on the cell components. However this seemingly has minimum impact on the electrochemical performance if the coating is sufficiently compressed in the jelly roll with a good electrical contact. After ageing, the surface layers continue to grow, with more LiF found on the cathode and anode.

Their research opens up exciting areas in battery manufacturing to address winding issues for cylindrical cells (especially miniaturised formats). For example, highlighting the need to understand whether there is merit in varying the coating properties on each side of double-sided coating for wound cylindrical cells, in order to improve the mechanical resilience of coatings that have asymmetric stresses exerted on them.

ENDS

25 AUGUST 2020

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Paper available to view:

High-res images available at:

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2020/wearable_image.jpg
Caption: An image demonstrating the stresses to anodes and cathodes after cycles.
Credit: WMG, 91福利

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2020/mel_l.jpg
Caption: A diagram of how tensile strain leads to the film cracking
Credit: WMG, 91福利

The full research team on the paper were:

Ageing analysis and asymmetric stress considerations for small format cylindrical cells for wearable electronic devices C.C. Tan, Marc Walker, Guillaume Remy, Nadia Kourra, Faduma Maddar, Shaun Dixon, Mark Williams and Mel Loveridge.

For further information please contact:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science
91福利
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk

- The C3-Cloud could be the future for supporting coordinated care across GPs, hospitals and specialties

- The novel solution would benefit patients with multiple conditions who are most in need of a holistic care plan

- It has been recognised by the as 鈥榯ech ready鈥� and could be used to support remote care, not only in everyday use but also in the current and future pandemics

Typically, when a patient is receiving care from GPs and Hospitals, these are normally uncoordinated and the patient is often presented with conflicting advice, or clinicians are required to assess patients without access to all of the patient鈥檚 relevant history, often making care fragmented and inefficient, particularly for an ageing population who may have multiple conditions and need care from multiple specialists and stakeholders.

Healthcare has seen an explosive growth in the amount of data produced, which has led to more data driven and evidence based protocols. However, this has also presented challenges as data can become locked in silos or to particular vendors, limiting their availability for reuse, dissemination and potential to improve patient outcomes.

However, (collaborative cure and care system) is a digital infrastructure offering integrated care capability for multi-morbidity management. It enables collaboration across a number of healthcare systems and settings, allowing clinicians to semi-automatically generate a holistic personalised care plan, which offers an integrated view of the patient鈥檚 conditions, measurements, medication and goals.

Patients and their multi-disciplinary care team can collaboratively create, review and edit the plan, empowering the patient to make decisions about their care. The care plan personalisation process is supported by a Clinical Decision Support module, implementing over 500 rules, consolidating and reconciling multiple clinical practice guidelines of common comorbidities (for example, diabetes, heart failure, renal failure and depression). The system accommodates local organisational aspects such as roles, as well interoperability to existing systems, it is currently deployed in three pilot sites in the UK, Spain and Sweden, integrating with their health systems and supporting coordinated care.

The C3-Cloud technology is flexible enough to support other conditions, including supporting remote management generally, which can be applied to situations, such as in the current COVID-19 pandemic. The project has recently investigated plans for deployment in such pandemic scenarios.

Professor Theo Arvanitis, the C3-Cloud project co-ordinator from the Institute of Digital Healthcare at WMG, 91福利 comments:

鈥淎s the world develops and becomes more digital it is essential our healthcare system does too. With an ever growing population and life expectancies increasing it鈥檚 important to make a digital healthcare system that works for everyone and that is what the C3-Cloud does.

鈥淣ot only does the C3-Cloud work across all systems, it can recommend treatments for patients with multiple health problems, which is helpful when someone is seeing multiple care outlets such as their GP and local hospital for different care needs.

鈥淥ur first pilot has taken place, and with the European Innovation Radar identifying C3-Cloud鈥檚 key components as tech ready, our next step is to expand this to large scale trials in multiple countries, this could lead to an enrolment in the system, and if there鈥檚 ever a pandemic like Covid-19 again different strategies for people with different health problems could be deployed rapidly.鈥�

NOTES TO EDITORS

High-res images available to view at:

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/april2020/theoarvanitis.jpg
Professor Theo Arvanitis, Institute of Digital Healthcare, WMG, 91福利
Credit: WMG, 91福利

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2020/c3-cloud_logo.jpg
Caption: C3-Cloud Logo
Credit: WMG, 91福利

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2020/c3-cloud-infographic.jpg
Caption: C3-Cloud Platform
Credit: WMG, 91福利

C3-Cloud introductory video to the public at youtube channel:

C3-Cloud Website

C3-Cloud @European Innovation Radar

Corals in the Ocean are made up of coral polyps, a small soft creature with a stem and tentacles, they are responsible for nourishing the corals, and aid the coral鈥檚 survival by generating self-made currents through motion of their soft bodies.

Scientists from WMG at the 91福利, led by Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, developed a 1cm by 1cm wireless artificial aquatic polyp, which can remove contaminantsfrom water. Apart from cleaning, this soft robot could be also used in medical diagnostic devices by aiding in picking up and transporting specific cells for analysis.

In the paper, 鈥樷�� researchers demonstrate how their artificial aquatic polyp moves under the influence of a magnetic field, while the tentacles are triggered by light. A rotating magnetic field under the device drives a rotating motion of the artificial polyp鈥檚 stem. This motion results in the generation of an attractive flow which can guide suspended targets, such as oil droplets, towards the artificial polyp.

Once the targets are within reach, UV light can be used to activate the polyp鈥檚 tentacles, composed of photo-active liquid crystal polymers, which then bend towards the light enclosing the passing target in the polyp鈥檚 grasp. Target release is then possible through illumination with blue light.

Dr Harkamaljot Kandail, from WMG, 91福利 was responsible for creating state of the art 3D simulations of the artificial aquatic polyps. The simulations are important to help understand and elucidate the stem and tentacles generate the flow fields that can attract the particles in the water.

The simulations were then used to optimise the shape of the tentacles so that the floating particles could be grabbed quickly and efficiently.

Dr Harkamaljot Kandail, from WMG, 91福利 comments:

鈥淐orals are such a valuable ecosystem in our oceans, I hope that the artificial aquatic polyps can be further developed to collect contaminant particles in real applications. The next stage for us to overcome before being able to do this is to successfully scale up the technology from laboratory to pilot scale. To do so we need to design an array of polyps which work harmoniously together where one polyp can capture the particle and pass it along for removal.鈥�

Marina Pilz Da Cunha, from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands adds:

鈥淭he artificial aquatic polyp serves as a proof of concept to demonstrate the potential of actuator assemblies and serves as an inspiration for future devices. It exemplifies how motion of different stimuli-responsive polymers can be harnessed to perform wirelessly controlled tasks in an aquatic environment.鈥�

91福利 Moto team, consisting of 25 91福利 students aren鈥檛 letting the pandemic get in the way of designing, building and developing the electric superbike, as they鈥檙e doing it virtually from home.

It was hoped that the team would see their electric superbike Aurora race this summer with racer Tom Weeden racing it for them. Although plans are on hold due to the current pandemic, students have tried to make the most of their time during lockdown by carrying out virtual meetings to progress on the project as a whole.

Meeting online, the 25 students from a range of Departments including: WMG, School of Engineering, Computer Science, Physics and Maths have redesigned a vital part of the superbike chassis, the subframe.

The subframe is an integral part of the motorcycle geometry, therefore, has an impact on handling characteristics of the superbike by defining the seating position of the rider. The subframe for Aurora will also package a critical powertrain component, the inverter for the 3-phase 150 kW (200 bhp) electric motor along with some low voltage components.

The team utilised previously gathered data from the strip, measure and weigh activities performed in November 2019 before lockdown, with the help of the metrology team at WMG. This exercise enabled them to define the necessary constraints for the position of the subframe. They have managed to make it 1.5kg lighter than a stock Honda Fireblade subframe and roughly 300g than a racing one. It鈥檚 made using carbon fibre and aluminium parts as opposed to just aluminium, reducing weight and increasing the overall stiffness.

Nesta Ferguson and Aneesh Jois, two first year School of Engineering students, have led the design and engineering cycle behind the subframe while discussing ideas, constraints and risks with the rest of the team through online meetings.

Aman Surana, a School of Engineering student and the Chief Engineer for the 91福利 Moto team comments:

鈥淲e wanted to make the most out of lockdown and try to use this setback as an opportunity to enhance the bike instead. The team鈥檚 design intent was to create something simple, easy to assemble and the ability to be built off-site.

鈥淭he current global situation demands for concepts that can be built while maintaining social distancing, this new design helps us achieve that as it can be put together by a single person. As a result, we can utilise workshop time for other critical activities.

鈥淲e believe this concept could be used by other racing enthusiasts, as it鈥檚 made using stock carbon fibre tubes cut to size and bonded to aluminium joining nodes, where the contact surfaces have been sanded to increase bond strength and area. Moreover, it has the potential to be used on other parts of the superbike at a much lower cost than traditional composite only components.鈥�

Having spent the last 3 months to continuously come up with various load-cases to simulate and optimise the subframe structure, the team have used techniques such as shape optimisation to minimise the amount of material used.

The team are still hoping to be able to test the bike in winter, as a competition between University teams is still hoping to take place early next year, however their long-term objective is to compete with a podium qualifying time at the Isle of Man TT 2022.

are donating the raw material required for this concept along with advice to improve things like bond strength from their years of experience with composites. have supported the team by providing on-demand manufacturing services that have enabled the manufacture of the joining nodes. The team will be able to assemble this concept off-site with the support of Rock West Composites and Xometry Europe.

Significant support from industrial partners such as High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult team at WMG, MUPO Race Suspension, Michelin Tyre PLC, DYMAG Performance Wheels, MIVOLT, Demon Tweeks, SITRAmoto and Rajputana Custom Motorcycles have immensely helped the team, for which they would like to thank them all for.

To support the team making their first electric bike, you can sponsor them or donate to them here:

Follow their journey:

Instagram:

Facebook:

LinkedIn:

ENDS

5 AUGUST 2020

NOTES TO EDITORS

Video of the team during lockdown available to view at:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science
91福利
Tel: +44 (0) 7920531221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk

Congratulations to all of the brilliant WMG students who graduated, virtually.

Unfortunately the University鈥檚 traditional summer degree ceremonies were regrettably postponed due to the COVID19 pandemic. So, all students graduated in absentia until we can meet again, and hold our celebratory graduation ceremonies.

The University is working hard to reschedule the ceremonies on alternative dates later on in the 2020/21 academic year, and graduates will be notified when these have been arranged.

Graduating in absentia

This summer a total of 261 students from the Full-time Master鈥檚 and Part-time Postgraduate Programmes, including Master鈥檚, Degree Apprenticeships and custom programmes, graduated from across WMG.

This was made up of 206 UK and 55 overseas students.

A further 22 graduated from the Postgraduate Research programme including 14 PhD, 7 EngD and one Master鈥檚 by Research students.

Find out more about all of WMG programmes here.

Smart home technologies are marketed to enhance your home and make life easier. However, UK consumers are not convinced that they can trust the privacy and security of these technologies, a study by WMG, 91福利 has shown.

The 鈥榮mart home鈥� can be defined as the integration of Internet-enabled, digital devices with sensors and machine learning in the home. The aim of smart home devices is to provide enhanced entertainment services, easier management of the home, domestic chores and protection from domestic risks. They can be found in devices such as smart speakers and hubs, lighting, sensors, door locks and cameras, central heating thermostats and domestic appliances.

To better understand consumer's perceptions of the desirability of the smart home, researchers from WMG and Computer Science, 91福利 have carried out a nationally representative survey of UK consumers designed to measure adoption and acceptability, focusing on awareness, ownership, experience, trust, satisfaction and intention to use.

The article published in the top journal PlosOne reveals their results, with the main finding that the the business proposal of added meaning and value has not yet achieved closure from consumers, as they have highlighted concern for risks to privacy and security.

Researchers sent 2101 participants a survey, with questions to assess:

- Awareness of the Internet of Things (IoT)

- Current ownership of smart home devices

- Experiences of their use of smart home devices

- Trust in the reliability and competence of the devices

- Trust in privacy

- Trust in security

- Satisfaction and intention to use the devices in the future, and intention to recommend it to others

The findings suggest consumers had anxiety about the likelihood of a security incident, as overall people tend to mildly agree that they are likely to risk privacy as well as security breach when using smart home devices, in other words they are unconvinced that their privacy and security will not be at risk when they use smart home devices.

It also emerged that when asked to evaluate the impact of a privacy breach people tend to disagree that its impact will be low, suggesting they expect the impact of a privacy breach to be significant. This emerges as a prominent factor influencing whether or not they would adopt smart home technology, furthermore making it less likely.

Other interesting results highlight:

- More females than males have adopted smart home devices over the last year, possibly as they tend to run the house and find the technology helpful

- Young people ages 18-24) were the earliest adopters of smart home technology, however older people (ages 65+) also adopted it early, possibly as they have more disposable income and less responsibilities – e.g. no mortgage, no dependent children

- People aged 65 and over are less willing to use smart home devices in case of unauthorised data collection compared to younger people, indicating younger people are less aware of privacy breaches

- Less well-educated people are the least interested in using smart home devices in the future, and that these might constitute market segments that will be lost to smart home adoption, unless their concerns are specifically addressed and targeted by policymakers and businesses.

Dr Sara Cannizzaro, from WMG, 91福利 comments:

鈥淥ur study underlines how businesses and policymakers will need to work together to act on the sociotechnical affordances of smart home technology in order to increase consumers鈥� trust. This intervention is necessary if barriers to adoption and acceptability of the smart home are to be addressed now and in the future.

鈥淧roof of cybersecurity and low risk to privacy breaches will be key in smart home technology companies persuading a number of consumers to invest in their technology.鈥�

Professor Rob Procter, from Computer Science, 91福利, adds:

鈥淏usinesses are still actively promoting positive visions of what the smart home means for consumers (e.g., convenience, economy, home security). However, at the same time, as we see from our survey results, consumers are actively comparing their interactional experiences against these visions and are coming up with different interpretations and meanings from those that business is trying to promote.鈥�