Background: Multimer’s flagship studies have taken place on the streets of New York City and have grown from a small, cycling-based proof-of-concept to a continuous collection of millions of data points from dozens of drivers, cyclists, runners, and pedestrians. (For even more background on this work, visit mindriderdata.com.)

Question: Can quantified human experience be used to “proactively” show perceptions of safety and danger to supplement the “reactive” metrics of collisions and accidents?

Results: Initial analyses showed promising patterns between the “hotspots” of the city (areas where people exhibit the highest levels of concentration) and the areas where traffic collisions and accidents are most likely to occur. Subsequent analyses have refined these correlations. Learn much more on the New York “mental signature” at Multimer’s book and report page, and experience Multimer’s most recent NYC work in VR at the New York Times Daily 360 site.

Background: Inspired by the work of Dr. Peter Bacevice, Director of Research at HLW International and a fellow at the University of Michigan’s Center for Positive Organizations, Multimer is expanding the application of its technology to Dr. Bacevice’s concept of the “thriving workplace.”

Question: How can we use cognitive and experiential data to define notions of productivity in the workplace, specifically to measure times and locations of focus, collaboration, socializing, and learning?

Results: Multimer first piloted this concept by measuring the experience in its own summer workspace, a mission-driven media accelerator called Matter. While Matter has carefully designed and iterated the design of its office spaces to optimize for productivity and a feeling of community, it still sought additional quantitative data to demonstrate the efficacy of its workspace design. Multimer has produced a preliminary visualization of the workspace experience and will release a workspace analysis in the coming weeks. It is also in talks with some major workspaces and workspace design firms to expand this work across work sites and work campuses.

Background (from Sustrans site): Sustrans is a leading UK charity enabling people to travel by foot, bike or public transport for more of the journeys we make every day. Sustrans works with communities, policy-makers and partner organisations so that people can choose healthier, cleaner and cheaper journeys and enjoy better, safer spaces to live in. All over the UK, they make a positive difference to people’s lives. Learn more at sustrans.org.uk.

Question: Sustrans wants to know if their bike paths designs are effective at creating a less stressful experience than the current bike routes on roads.

Results: Sustrans ordered a Multimer Kit to measure human experience data from riders on their new bike routes and paths. Multimer delivered results that quantitatively showed how cyclists were having a measurably more relaxed experience on the new routes.

Background: in addition to its award-winning reporting, the Associated Press produces a series of “Industry Insights” whitepapers and webinars to show what’s new, what’s changing, and what matters in the field of journalism. For their Insights report on Virtual Reality in journalism, AP strategists Francesco Marconi and Taylor Nakagawa wanted to supplement their industry interviews with a quantitative study of how people experience VR.

Question: Is VR really the “empathy machine” that it has been heralded as? Are more advanced VR technologies really more immersive?

Results: Multimer’s work for the AP showed quantitatively demonstrated findings that include: hands-free headsets drive higher levels of engagement; and room-scale VR is most appropriate for exploratory topics like science and nature. For more details, read the full report at AP Insights.

Background: IBM’s Center for Resiliency and Sustainability, based in the IBM Smart Cities group, is focused on many kinds of data analytics, ranging from infrastructure monitoring to the “atmospherics” of human experience. They use the Watson system to perform large-scale analysis of “big data.”

Question: Can the experience of frontline workers (e.g. tour guides, translators, ticketing workers) at citywide events be leveraged to gauge the resiliency the crowd at that event?

Results: Multimer is developing a pilot project for IBM’s work with several major sports events in Asia. More details coming soon.

Background: UN-Habitat and the University of Nairobi recently helped to launch one of the first bike share systems in Nairobi.

Question: In a city with limited infrastructural resources, how can quantifying cyclist experience help support use of the bike share system?

Results: Nairobi Bikeshare obtained a Multimer kit and is in the process of making not only one of the first “mental maps” of Nairobi, but one of the first cycling maps as well.

Background: The Paris-based team members of Nokia’s Open Innovation group are based near Paris-Saclay, a new smart city district focused on fostering experiments and innovation.

Question: How can we, in greater detail, measure the experience of innovating in a district dedicated to innovation?

Results: Multimer has partnered with Nokia to explore the importance of mapping sentiment in space. Learn more at the Nokia Open Innovation blog.

Background: Harley-Davidson, one of the world’s largest motorcycle companies, wanted to better understand the motorcycling experience.

Question: How does cognitive load on motorcyclists change in different kinds of terrain and population density?

Results: Using the Multimer kit, Harley-Davidson was able to develop insights into riders’ experiences. Contact our team for more information.

Background: Zillow is one of the biggest real estate platforms in the United States.

Question: Can human-centered data be useful in providing context for real estate appraisals?

Results: Multimer provided its categorized New York City data for a Zillow hackathon. Zillow was interested to see how Multimer data’s patterns compared against pricing and presentation on the site. Want to experiment with this data for your own projects? Contact our team for a free sample.