The two companies, considered figureheads of their respective industries, have spent over a year combining their expertise to innovate in how we see connections between the physical and the digital worlds. The natural combination of these two worlds has enabled the companies to explore opportunities around connected objects and to work together on a prototype of an initial intelligent object.

Through this long-term association, members of both teams further developed their expertise in fields such as research, user experience, interaction design, industrial design, and technology development.

The emergence of innovative projects

Following research, analysis and brainstorming, three project areas were identified:

• Health and personal hydration
• Bridging the gap between generations by connecting technology to social media
• Helping people manage their nutrition, food shopping and food waste

One project was chosen for development in 2013: a daily personal hydration management system.

A connected object prototype is born: BU

BU is a glass that has integrated sensors that connect to a personalized mobile app. It is the ideal companion for people who want to stay better hydrated throughout the day. The glass sensors track a user’s consumption and a light reminds the user to drink if they forget. Using the mobile app, you can see how you’re doing throughout the day, as well as track your longer-term progress.

“The BU project is an initiative born of intellectual and technological cooperation between the ALTO Design and w.illi.am/ teams,” said Patrick Mainville, Partner and Vice-President Design at ALTO Design. “The end result of this project is extraordinary; I’m very impressed by the underlying thought process and team dynamic.”

The development of the BU project involved seven prototypes of the glass and three for the application, and brought together a total of eight experts who met every two weeks for over a year.

Discover BU: www.projetbu.com

ALTO Design

Thomas Rouayroux – Industrial Designer
Vanessa Forget – Industrial Designer
Benoit Orban – Industrial Designer
Thomas-Éric Béliveau – Industrial Designer

w.illi.am/

Vincent Guérin – Digital Strategist
Adrien Arnoux – Digital Marketing Consultant
Charles Colby – UX Strategist and Designer
Marion-Isabelle Muszynski – UX Designer

Still at the prototype stage, the BU bottle will be officially launched in the coming months.

“All year long, we witnessed an agile and constructive collaboration between two teams that are experts in their fields,” Damien Lefebvre, w.illi.am/ Co-president said. “w.illi.am/ supported its employees’ initiative by offering them the work space and tools to explore new avenues for innovating in the world of connected objects. BU is the end result of this.”

About Alto Design

With a multidisciplinary team of 25 professionals, ALTO is the leading industrial design and engineering agency in Canada. At ALTO, technical mastery is at the service of creativity at the service of experience.

About w.illi.am/

w.illi.am/ offers digital consulting, marketing and development services. Recognized for its expertise in
enriching the user experience, the firm has developed solid expertise in multiplatform digital solutions.

Data sheet

Official name of the project : BU – a personalized system to stay more consistently hydrated.

Location: Montreal

Client : Internal project : ALTO Design + w.illi.am/

Designers :

ALTO Design :
Thomas Rouayroux – Industrial Designer
Vanessa Forget – Industrial Designer
Benoit Orban – Industrial Designer
Thomas-Éric Béliveau – Industrial Designer

w.illi.am/
Vincent Guérin – Digital strategist
Adrien Arnoux – Digital marketing consultant
Charles Colby – strategist and UX Designer
Marion-Isabelle Muszynski – UX Designer

Collaborators:
Patrick Mainville, Vice-president design, partner at ALTO Design.
Damien Lefebvre, Co-president w.illi.am/.

Area of project:
Connected objects
Industrial design
UX Design
Digital development

Project end date: work in progress

Photo credit : Vanessa Forget + ALTO Design + w.illi.am/

For more information:

w.illi.am/

Fanny Poveda
Marketing Excellence Manager
w.illi.am/
T. 514.448.4035, ext. 612
C 514.993.0163
E [email protected]

Johann Thevot
Marketing Excellence Coordinator
w.illi.am/
T. 514.448.4035
E [email protected]

Alto Design

Patrick Mainville
Partner and Vice-President
Design
ALTO Design
T. 514.278.3050, ext.225
E [email protected]

Myriam Hince
Secretary – Receptionist
ALTO Design
T. 514.278.3050, ext.221
E [email protected]