Surrey Business School innovates with research lab for business

Since then, it has expanded with more space and new facilities, from MR headsets to eye trackers. With an emphasis on research in behavioural science, the lab facilitates world-class research and business connectivity by partnering University of Surrey staff to its growing pool of researchers and businesses.

Dr Irina Cojuharenco, Director of the USBEE lab, explains how creating a test environment can benefi t businesses. “Experiments can test cause-and-effect predictions for a business. Using the lab, a business can isolate the factor it wishes to explore, and create a simulated situation to examine the impact of that factor when absent.

“For example, will a robot that asks questions seem more human than one that speaks in the affirmative? By bringing their question to the lab, a business can test the accuracy of a very specifi c prediction.”

Dr Cojuharenco points out that technology businesses benefit from the expertise of UoS researchers, and the facilities that the lab has to offer, because of the many design features that matter to technology acceptance, use and misuse.

“With the increasing importance of people-centred technology, businesses may want to test whether certain design features are benefi cial to the users of their products. Or, they may prototype certain features long before the actual product or service exists in full.”

The University recently utilised the lab as part of its ongoing research into Artifi cial intelligence (AI) and its application for the benefi t of society.

“As part of our research into AI, we’ve examined how the style of communication used by ‘conversational agents’ affects how we perceive them, the trust and satisfaction we have in them, and ultimately how we respond.”

Dr Andy Hill, Senior Lecturer in Analytics, is excited about the future of the lab and what it means for businesses.

“There are huge opportunities to use the USBEE lab and Mixed Reality to design experiments examining how to use Virtual and Augmented Reality in business, taking what is currently a lot of hype and testing what actually works. It’s an exciting time to be working in the area and the USBEE lab can provide genuine insights to help businesses make faster, better decisions.”

For more information about the USBEE lab and how it may be able to help your business, please contact sbs@surrey.ac.uk

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