Demo Abstract: SmartH2O, demonstrating the impact of gamification technologies for saving water

Abstract

SmartH2O is a software platform that creates a virtuous feedback cycle between water users and the utilities, providing users information on their consumption in quasi real time, and thus enabling water utilities to plan and implement strategies to reduce/reallocate water consumption. The SmartH2O platform adopts a gamification paradigm to motivate users to change their water use behaviour and different incentives (virtual, physical, and social) are used to stimulate the competition among users. The SmartH2O platform, developed during the EU-FP7 project that bears the same name, has been deployed in two test sites: in Terre di Pedemonte, a small municipality in Tessin, Switzerland, and in Valencia, a large urban centre, in Spain. Thanks to its use it has been observed an average reduction in consumption of 10% in Switzerland and of 20% in Spain among the platform adopters.