The municipality of Helsinki-Uusimaa oversees the smart city program in Helsinki, specializing in technology, social wellbeing, environmentally friendly technologies, and digital transformation. Many active entities are contributing to this program from all over Helsinki, such as companies, cities, government entities, research institutions, education centers, startups, and society members, to come up with and test smart innovations.
Smart Kalasatama falls under the umbrella of Smart Helsinki and seeks to introduce initiatives related to social wellbeing launched by Finnish startups in collaboration with private and public sector healthcare providers and society members. Pilots measure stress levels, alleviate anxiety, provide virtual therapy, and help local residents and workers eat healthier.
Kalasatama is a new area in Helsinki and is currently under construction at the site of a former commercial harbor. Helsinki has been selected for the development of the smart city concept. The Smart Kalasatama project introduces and tests smart solutions in smart urban living through agile short-term initial projects carried out in real-life situations. Five initial projects are currently under development and they all focus on social wellbeing.
Moodmetric provides real-time stress level measurement with a smart ring. The latter monitors electrodermal activity to measure the user’s sympathetic nervous system responses. The company tests Moodmetric in partnership with healthcare providers and customers at the occupational health unit of the wholesale and retail corporation Kesko, a Smart Kalasatama partner and an active entity in its local community.
Mello VR alleviates stress and anxiety through virtual escape. This startup transports people to “happy places” when they are experiencing stressful situations with the help of relaxing videos and virtual reality headsets. Mello VR tests its product with dental patients while waiting to undergo operations in the new Kalasatama Health and Wellbeing Center, which is a Helsinki public health center.
Auntie provides solutions to life crises and virtual psychological support. It has developed a chatbot that gives anonymous users advice through AI technology and directs them to self-help services. Within the Kalasatama Smart project, Auntie has co-developed a chatbot with the city’s public health organization and customers as a potential future healthcare option.
MealLogger is a platform that trains users in food choices using AI technology that analyzes daily user meals. A focus group of Kesko employees at risk of developing type 2 diabetes take pictures of their meals and receive nutrition advice from a neural network owned by the company, in addition to instructions from nutritionists and peer support from other group members.
Miils is a digital shopping tool that offers users tailored grocery bags that contain organic foods according to their personal preferences. The bags contain healthy recipes and reports of the carbon footprint of their contents. To choose purchases that live up to user expectations, Miils collaborated with MealLogger, while Martha Finnish home economics organization provides recipes, and bags are delivered by the Makupiste online organic food store.
The smart city motivates community members to follow a healthy lifestyle by providing smart services that facilitate their daily lives and enhance their wellbeing. Initial projects under the new Kalasatama project seek new methodologies that promote wellbeing in an urban lifestyle.
Within the same context, Forum Virium Helsinki, a unit within Helsinki, is developing new digital services and urban innovations in collaboration with companies, the research community, government entities, and community members. The unit coordinates the Smart Kalasatama project including Kalasatama Wellbeing, which is implemented by the unit in partnership with the Kalasatama Health and Wellbeing Center, partner companies, and Laurea University of Applied Sciences under the umbrella of Helsinki Smart Region.
The urban living concepts developed by Smart Kalasatama are not limited to social wellbeing, as they also include smart mobility, sustainable energy solutions, circular economy, advanced technologies in waste management, and other resource-efficient lifestyles. Community members are key to the development of these initiatives and projects since they act as testers and initiators of concepts.
