Hi #smartcommunity friends. In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I have a great conversation with Edwina Griffin, founder of AtOne, which is an immersive meditation experience using the AtOne app and virtual reality headset. Edwina tells us about her background in the health and wellness space, her passion for a healthy work culture and what a Smart Community is to her. Edwina then shares with us how her wellness journey inspired her to get into the tech space, before telling us all about her company AtOne and what is involved when using the products. 

We then chat about Edwina’s transition into the tech space to develop her company, how important it was during this time to surround herself with the right people, some of the lessons learned in the early stages of building her company and the amazing support she received from the tech community to develop a successful product and business. Edwina then dives a bit deeper into the AtOne product and explains how individuals and companies can benefit from the products before discussing the underutilisation of smell, and how it can trigger relaxation and meditation memory. 

We finish our conversation discussing the emerging trends of artificial intelligence and machine learning and the potentials of what can be created in Smart Communities. As always, we hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it! 

Listen here: 

What we cover in this episode:

• Edwina’s background in the health and wellness space 
• Her passion for healthy work culture through good mental, physical and emotional health
• What a Smart Community is to Edwina 
• How Edwina’s wellness journey inspired her to get into the tech and Smart Communities space 
• Edwina’s company AtOne, the AtOne App and virtual reality headset and how they work together for the user 
• Edwina’s transition into the tech space and how she developed the idea for her company AtOne
• The importance of surrounding yourself with the right people and knowing what questions to ask to be successful 
• Some of the lessons learned when Edwina was first developing her company
• The support Edwina received in the tech community and how collaboration leads to better innovation 
• How individuals and companies can benefit from the AtOne product
• How the sense of smell is underused and can trigger relaxation and meditation memory  
• The emerging trends of artificial intelligence and machine learning and the potentials of what can be created in Smart Communities 

Quotes: 

“To me a Smart Community is the community that is really easily accessible, it’s connected, it’s a great place to be connected with the land and feel a part of the community easily. So I think it’s using technology to our advantage so that we’re getting the best out of everything we can.”

“I think after COVID, people are more aware of the mental health issues that go on. And no longer is anxiety and stress kind of a hidden conversation, it’s quite an open on the table thing that everyone is recognising and talking about, thankfully. “

“I think, just to know that, this section of the company is highly stressful, [the company] knows what’s happening. And so we need to do some training on your store, provide some sort of support in that group. So I think that’s where it becomes very useful for companies as well. And it’s still maintaining privacy for individuals, which I think is also really important.” 

“So you can use smell going into your meeting, and the brain will trigger back to that response of relaxation from that meditation. So there’s power in that multi sensory approach. And I think, from my point of view, smell has been really underutilised in this space. And it’s a big part of what I’m also trying to communicate is, use everything we’ve got. And it can be a real advantage that a lot of people aren’t using.” 

“I think the exciting space for me, because I’m in [virtual reality], is just the artificial intelligence and machine learning potentials of what we can create. And that’s where we’re headed with this as well, is that ability to be able to suggest things that we don’t even know are going to be good for us based on the data. And that to me is what Smart Cities are about as well, it’s really being able to utilise that.”

“We all want smart cities, we all want this convenience, we want connectivity, and all those great things. The data security is also obviously the flip side to that. So I think that’s something that I’m also aware of, watching and worrying about, and hopefully we get that balance right“

“That’s what I’m loving is getting involved in some of these initiatives in these accelerated programmes and software. I’m meeting people as you’re saying in different areas, because then that’s where I’m also getting some of the new ideas. Because it’s like, ‘Oh, hold on that, I’ve never thought of anything that way you think totally differently’, right? And then, how can I apply some of that into ours? And that’s when you start getting some really great innovation?”

Links: 

The AtOne Website 

Connect:

Find the full show notes at: www.mysmart.community 

Connect with Edwina via LinkedIn or Email edwina@atoneapp.com  

Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community  

Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn or Twitter and watch on YouTube

The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.