Future Innovation Environment
A Living Lab is a system for building the future
innovation environment in which real-life user-driven
research and innovation will be a normal co-creation
technique for new products, services and social
infrastructure. This human-based involvement
enables the development of useful new services
and products. A Living Lab takes advantage of pools
of creative talent, socio-cultural diversity, and the
unpredictability of inventiveness and imagination
of end-users.
A Living Lab
Living Labs quadify different stakeholders in
cooperation, bringing together Enablers, Utilizers,
Developers and Users. These co-creators include the
public sector, business and science parks, incubators,
universities, companies and, of course, the end-user
communities, both non-professional and
professional.
Real World Testing
Living Labs use real world testing by end-users in an
authentic digital, physical, and social environment.
For Living Lab partners, this process ensures that
emerging technologies, and the innovative products
and services they enable, are fully developed before
they reach the market.
The Origins of the Living Lab
The Living Lab concept was developed by Professor
William J. Mitchell, of the MIT Media Lab and School
of Architecture. In constantly evolving social and
work environments, Professor Mitchell proposed
user-centric research methods in real life environments
to identify and build prototypes, and to
evaluate multiple solutions.
