Excellence in Science

UN IVE R S IT Y OF J YVÄ S KYL Ä

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IN THE INTERNET OF THINGS EVEN SCREWDRIVERS COMMUNICATE Professor Pasi Tyrväinen is developing a smart city and wants to make good IT companies even better. Professor of Digital Media Pasi Tyrväinen is holding a round sensor in his hand. He says that similar devices can be installed in rubbish bins to measure their fullness. A user can receive a message on a smartphone from the rubbish bin: ‘I am full, please empty me.’ This is an example of the much discussed Internet of Things, Professor Tyrväinen’s research topic. - The idea is to be able to communicate with devices in an information network. For example, Bosch has developed power drills that communicate information on their usage. If it is seen that people use cordless screwdrivers only within a slow speed range, it makes sense for the manufacturer to drop expensive gears and produce a cheaper, slowly rotating model. According to Professor Tyrväinen, the gap between the physical and digital environments narrows when both people and objects communicate online. As a researcher he wants to know which factors affect the introduction of new technologies. He is participating in, for example, the smart city project of the Kangas area in Jyväskylä. The project examines the utilisation of various intelligent applications in housing, such as electronic keys which can easily be encoded upon demand. Let’s say the sauna in your block of flats is reserved. With

electronic keys you can easily get access to the sauna in the neighbouring building. Previously Professor Tyrväinen worked for 13 years in the business world for, among other companies, Nokia. Therefore, it is no wonder that his research topics are often based on collaboration with the private sector. In the N4S project, researchers untangle how to make good IT companies even better by increasing flexibility. The Desi2 project develops an application that enables the easy collection and utilisation of staff ideas for workplace development. - Many researchers focus on narrow research topics. I have always been a horizontalist, interested in a large range of issues.

Pasi Tyrväinen • Need for Speed N4S 2014–2017 (Digile/Tekes) • Entrepreneurial renewal and design thinking in the organizational development Desi2 2012–2015 (Tekes) • Internet of Things 2012–2015 (Tekes) • Professor since 1996, Director of Agora Center since 2014 • MSc (Tech.) 1988, DSc (Tech.) 1994, Helsinki University of Technology