Prime Minister praises Warwick's "Digital Lab"

Prime Minister praises "Digital Lab" that puts consumer in "mass customization" production process

The University of Warwick's Warwick Manufacturing Group is creating a Warwick Digital Laboratory - a £50 Million pound project which will provide a high quality research environment that will allow researchers to develop techniques that will place consumers right inside a "mass customization" production process for a vast range of future products.

Digital technologies extend the way we communicate; enabling the creation, sharing, use and exploitation of information in digital form to learn, explore and create innovative products and processes. The idea of creating a Digital Lab came from WMG Director Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya. Three of the fields of research to be undertaken in the Digital Lab include:

* Digital Manufacturing; a "cradle to grave" approach can be adopted for all products, where from conception (where potential customers can visualise and interact with a virtual product) to disposal (where policy makers can be shown that there will be no negative environmental impact)

* Mass customisation - consumers want individual products at the same cost as mass produced items. Digital technology allows the consumer to "insert themselves" in the production process so their product can be personalised to their individual needs and assembled wherever in the world the appropriate technology is available.

* Digital Healthcare; incorporating advanced digital approaches for the enhancement of medical diagnosis and care, as well as creating realistic virtual environments for the training of surgeons or the design of new operating theatres

The facility will also explore using virtual reality methods of presenting images
and data, to: help understand how people judge the quality of a product or service (Product Perception); support both marketing and operational functions; use 'Serious Games' to increase business agility and efficiency.

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