The Trento Smart City Week, from today on in the city's squares, is the ideal occasion to showcase the new UniTrentoApp.
The App is currently in the Beta-test phase in view of its launch at the end of the year, but student and visitors will have the chance to try it out at the Trento Smart City Week where they will also be able to give their opinion and suggestions for the final setup. To try the App, visit the stand of the University of Trento at Villaggio Digitale in Piazza Duomo on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (10-12 and 14.30-17.30).
The UniTrentoApp for mobile devices was designed to meet the needs of a student population that is increasingly connected, smart and on the move.
It will provide an alternative way to access services and content that are already available on the web: students, in particular, will be able to consult their student record, see their professors' contact information, view their course's timetable, read University news, consult their canteen account and search for free study rooms.
The new UniTrentoApp can be installed for free on all Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. Its main features however are reserved to the students of the University, who will access through their UniTrento credentials.
Other app features will be developed for teaching and permanent staff.
Here are some of the services delivered through the app: the student record book, to find information on study programmes, see exams results, confirm or reject them; timetables of classes and courses, that users can consult and save in their preferences; the timetable of department's rooms, to check if they are free and can therefore be used as study rooms or for group work; news and information on University events, to be up to date with what is going at the University or in a particular department; People, the University's phone book, with the contact details of the teaching staff, to subscribe to their information notices and be always informed on their office hours and dissertation and thesis proposals.
The App was developed in-house by the Information systems directorate in collaboration with the Student services and the Communication directorates, with help and support from students.
Usability and accessibility experts with assistance from student representatives will organize several test sessions in which users can try the new app, thanks to dozens of volunteers from various university departments.
The app will be released by the end of the year, once it has passed the test for effectiveness and accountability, at the end of the beta-test phase in which it is used by a group of students.
From a technical point of view, the app is constantly updated and will soon be available in app stores for Android devices 4.4 and iOS devices 10, at least. The app data will be synced with ESSE3 and fully integrated with UniTrento systems.
Users will access their information through their @unitn.it personal account.
UniTrento at the Trento Smart City Week
The University of Trento will participate in great numbers in the Trento Smart City Week, and not only to present its new UniTrentoApp.
The event kicks off on Friday 20 September with two presentations, small conferences open to all, that will take place at the Villaggio Digitale in Piazza Duomo in the morning and in the afternoon.
The first one is at 10.30 (Room 1, McLuhan) on Smart food: food and citizenship, from social networks to digital networks, with a focus on the projects Plateforms and NutrireTrento
The afternoon conference, at 16.30 in Room 4 (Spärck Jones) of Villaggio Digitale, is titles Smart family: Smart parenthood? Italy in the demographic trap, with Letizia Mencarini (Bocconi University), Daniele Vignoli (University of Florence), Stefani Scherer, Mattia Oliviero, Elisa Brini and Paolo Barbieri from the University of Trento.
On Saturday 21 September, the visitors will have the opportunity to take a look at the UniTrento Formula SAE car at the University's stand from 8.30 to 16.00. This is an example of the research, hands-on training and smart mobility that are encouraged by the University of Trento in the field of electric car competitions. Professor Paolo Bosetti and some students of UniTrento will welcome visitors and provide information on the characteristics and the technologies behind the race car.
On Saturday, at 10.30, visitors are also invited to the Smart Health Laboratory: on virtual assistants for autonomous and independent living. Researchers will present live the collaborative design work behind the CAPTAIN European project, which uses an innovative environment to provide contextualised assistance and virtual coaching to seniors living at home. A demo will show how the direct users of advanced technologies are involved in the project to make them meet their needs.
The focus will turn to music on Saturday evening at 20, at the UniTrento stand, with Smart objects: smart musical instruments and the Internet of musical things, an interactive demo centred on an emerging research field that involves the Internet of things, computational audio, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. The "musical things" presented by Luca Turchet, musician and researcher, are a new family of smart and connected musical instruments. Touch devices designed to improve the listeners' musical experience. During the demo, Luca Turchet will present some smart musical instruments that communicate with each other and with other devices, and are capable of connecting to the Internet to provide musicians or the audience with further services.
A short conference for the Smart infrastructure series on Drones for civil applications will take place on Sunday 22 September at 10.30 at Villaggio Digitale (Room 2, McLuhan) A “smart region” must also have a smart infrastructure that can adapt to specific needs and emergencies. At the meeting, the speakers will give an overview of how drones are used to provide connectivity in emergencies and for land monitoring exercises.
For more information read the press release