Launched in the fall of 2018, the GreenUXlab is an ecosystem for co-creation, research, evaluation of devices, and point-of-sale innovation aimed at positive impact consumption. It serves as the main research infrastructure of ESG UQAM’s Observatoire de la consommation responsable (Responsible Consumption Observatory), a study and strategic watch unit focused on research innovation and the transfer of knowledge in the field of responsible consumption.
Led by Professor Fabien Durif, this eco responsible experimental store, a first in Canada, has the objective of responding to three major challenges for accelerating the transformation of sustainable consumption practices: (1) translating the intention-behaviour gap into general recommendations; (2) knowing how to communicate environmental / societal / economic / local / ‘health’ information; and (3) assessing the potential of new technologies for communicating this information.
With a control room (for cameras, sound and light), a mini warehouse, an interview room and a 700-square-foot main store, the GreenUXlab possesses a variety of specialized equipment, including active and passive radio frequency identification (RFID) sensors and readers, low energy Bluetooth scanners, touch and non-touch screens, a magic mirror, a 3D body scanner, connected charging stations and eye-tracking glasses. It also uses LiFi technology and WiFi geolocation tools. The Internet of Things (IoT) Laboratory, under the direction of Professor Ygal Bendavid, actively collaborates within the GreenUXlab via the installation and testing of IoT technologies. A visit to the laboratory could reveal a team of more than 20 researchers and research assistants in the midst of a participating / nonparticipating observation procedure or during experiments.
The GreenUXlab analyzes the behaviour of the public in order to understand, enrich and predict the new uses and practices of consumer society. It is a major centre for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research and knowledge transfer for defining the new consumer society and supporting market players, and thus the authorities, in the current and future challenges posed by environmental and social transition.
