Digital Technology Supercluster brings partners together to develop innovative technology to support wellbeing
VANCOUVER, BC, July 27, 2021 /CNW/ - In partnership with lululemon, Wysdom.AI, Queen's University, Microsoft and Mitacs, Canada's Digital Technology Supercluster (the Supercluster) is proud to announce the launch of Wellbeing.ai, a collaborative project focused on developing a new approach for personalized health and wellbeing.
The $20-million project will develop a digital wellbeing platform for people to better understand their physical health and mental fitness through interactions with virtual agents.
"As we move out of the pandemic, it's more important than ever to put the wellbeing of Canadians front and centre," said Judith Law, CEO of Anxiety Canada. "It's incredibly encouraging to see such a significant investment and collaboration dedicated to providing Canadians with the resources and support they need to effectively manage their increasing stress and anxiety."
The Supercluster provided the framework for collaboration and co-investment that made the project possible. "This is a great example of bringing together Canada's globally leading capabilities in digital innovation and artificial intelligence with a homegrown global technical apparel brand to create game-changing approaches to health and wellbeing," said Supercluster CEO Sue Paish. "When we all have the tools, resources and agency to be well, we can realize our full potential and contribute to a brighter future."
"Superclusters are making possible partnerships that simply wouldn't happen otherwise, especially by bringing small and medium-sized enterprises to the table with big players," said the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. "Today's announcement is another great example of how the superclusters are connecting SMEs to larger firms, new customers and global supply chains, allowing SMEs to scale up and helping them create well-paying jobs for Canadians from coast to coast to coast."
As the lead private-sector partner for a project that has the potential to be scaled globally, lululemon is providing the data, tools and resources to further its organizational goal of providing 10 million people with access to wellbeing tools by 2025. The company will be the first commercial business to leverage the technology as it works to achieve its Impact Agenda goals.
"We are excited to participate in this innovative partnership with the federal government, the Supercluster, and our other project partners to develop tools and resources that can democratize wellbeing and make it available to more people," said Calvin McDonald, CEO of lululemon. "Our Futures Innovation team will work side-by-side with our partners to develop and refine how companies like ours can best serve our guests and the communities we serve through dynamic and empathetic virtual wellbeing tools."
Based on Wysdom.AI's conversational AI-optimization technology, proof-of-concept Wellbeing.ai virtual agents will be tested by project partners in late 2022. "The main challenge with virtual wellbeing lies in collecting the data needed to build a digital brain that provides insights and can better understand individualized human interactions and interactions with our environment," said Jeff Brunet, Founder and President of Wysdom.AI. "While physical inputs like weight, activity, heart rate and hours of sleep are well defined and easily measured, the inputs underlying emotional and social wellbeing need to be defined, measured and integrated into a holistic and personalized digital experience."
Microsoft's key role in the project is to lead the development of a responsible AI ethical framework that includes principles on equity, diversity and inclusion. Throughout the project, recommendations from its ethics advisors will be implemented to ensure gender and diversity benefits are realized by Wellbeing users. Smith School of Business at Queen's University will train the AI leaders of the future through access to industry funding and applied work on the Wellbeing.ai project, which is also being supported by the Mitacs nonprofit national research and training organization.
Media Inquiries:
Kathleen Reid
[email protected]
604-724-1242
Interview opportunities with Sue Paish (CEO, Digital Technology Supercluster) are available upon request.
The media kit containing b-roll can be found here.
About Canada's Digital Technology Supercluster:
The Digital Technology Supercluster solves some of industry and society's biggest problems through Canadian-made technologies. We bring together private and public sector organizations of all sizes to address challenges facing Canada's economic sectors including healthcare, natural resources, manufacturing, and transportation. Through this 'collaborative innovation,' the Supercluster helps to drive solutions better than any single organization could on its own. The Digital Technology Supercluster is led by industry leaders such as D-Wave, LifeLabs, LlamaZOO, Lululemon, MDA, Microsoft, Mosaic Forest Management, Sanctuary AI, Teck Resources Limited, TELUS, Terramera, and 1Qbit. Together, we work to position Canada as a global hub for digital innovation. A full list of Members can be found here.
About lululemon athletica inc.:
lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) is a healthy lifestyle inspired athletic apparel company for yoga, running, training, and most other sweaty pursuits, creating transformational products and experiences which enable people to live a life they love. Setting the bar in technical fabrics and functional designs, lululemon works with yogis and athletes in local communities for continuous research and product feedback. For more information, visit WWW.LULULEMON.COM.
About Wysdom.AI:
Wysdom is a conversational AI optimization platform that enables higher performing, lower cost conversational virtual agents, continually learning and delivering high-quality customer experiences. For more information visit: https://wysdom.ai/.
SOURCE Digital Technology Supercluster
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