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Sudbury business association brainstorming, literally

Downtown BIA using brain activity technology to assess perceptions of downtown area
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Maureen Luoma tried on one of the EEG machines at an Expressing Vibrancy session.

Maureen Luoma wants a vibrant downtown.

However, the executive director of the Downtown Sudbury Business Improvement Association (BIA) realizes her idea of what makes a downtown vibrant might not be the same as everyone else's.

She's hoping a new study that harnesses participants brainwaves will help her and the BIA members gauge what residents would like to see downtown.

Luoma said the study, Expressing Vibrancy, was a part of their board's revisited vision that emerged in spring 2015.

They met Hamilton-based arts consulting firm CoBALT Connects who conducted the study shortly after a board transition at the BIA, and it seemed like a natural project.

“It fit with what we were trying to do as an organization,” said Luoma, who described the project as “data collection through a cultural lens.”

For Expressing Vibrancy, CoBALT Connects is developing a report that will summarize how the public views creative neighbourhood features of the downtown Sudbury area like public art, and bench locations. But the study also addresses commercial aspects like storefronts, store displays, operating hours, and other business-relevant features.

The study, funded by the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation (GSDC), consists of several phases.

It started with an inventory of existing neighbourhood features. In August, it took participants on a walk through downtown neighbourhoods to collect their live impressions. It was followed by a 360 video capture of the area, which was presented in the final phase.

In “Digging Deeper,” the final phase that took place in October, participants attended sessions where they're equipped with electroencephalogram (EEG) devices that measure brainwaves, and had to answer questions as they observed images like the videos they created of downtown, stills of graffiti, or sounds like murmuring at a cafe.

CoBALT Connect's EEG devices can capture more subconscious reactions to the stimuli, and can reflect the participants excitement. 

They will combine the feedback with the questionnaire and the results of the other three phases in a comprehensive report, anticipated at the February BIA AGM.

“It is some data on what residents think makes downtown healthy and vibrant,” said Aaron Hutchinson, a technician at CoBALT Connect. “How they use that data is up to them.”

Luoma said she thinks the report will help existing businesses and cultural events plan better.

Primary feedback indicated that events used parking lots too often, but even that Luoma sees as a positive starting point to improvement.

Brian McCullagh, director of business development at Vianet, said that he hopes the report will help clarify how he and other members can make downtown a more appealing place, for the sake of his employees.

“I'd want to make vibrancy better downtown for my employees,” said McCullagh. “They bring that vibrancy back to the office.”

Luoma also hopes the report could help attract new businesses by clarifying gaps in the current offerings, and the potential for new markets.

If surveys and questionnaires express a desire for a certain type of restaurant, for example, Luoma said they would try and recruit one into the area. 

While the survey is largely based on culture, Luoma is confident it will offer concrete benefits to the businesses in the region by integrating intuitive opinions about development with concrete findings.

“It's a quantitative view on what often is qualitative,” said Luoma. 


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