Area42, Reply’s development center, where technology becomes reality

On April 28, 2022, Reply, a company specializing in the design and implementation of solutions based on new communication channels and digital media, inaugurated in Turin its new applied research center focused on the development of the most innovative technologies. . Cutting edge work from Area42 workshops focuses on the areas of autonomous warehouse, last mile delivery, robotics, connected products, blockchain and metaverse.

Reply is a company specializing in Consulting, Systems Integration and Digital Services, in particular the design and implementation of solutions based on new communication channels and digital media. It partners with key industrial groups in defining and developing business models made possible by new technologies such as artificial intelligence, Big Data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things and mobile and social networks.

Reply experts work on these technologies daily, turning ideas into innovative prototypes, exploiting their full potential and applying them to real industrial use cases. In addition to Area42, the group has 3 research centers in Italy and 2 in Germany.

• the Test Automation Centerfocused on automating quality monitoring and testing of business-critical products and services;
• I’IoT Validation Lab, where interconnected solutions are validated and then integrated into Reply’s new headquarters in Turin, giving rise to the most advanced laboratory cluster in the industrial sector;
• I’Area 360the augmented and virtual reality center based in Milan, which was created to support companies;
• I’Immersive Experience Lab in Munich, which offers next-generation immersive experiences;
• the Cyber ​​Security Lab Cologne, focused on studying and testing cyber threats;

New laboratories dedicated to robotics, advanced computing and sensory technologies will soon be in operation in London.

The new Aera42 center

Area42 is a laboratory for experimenting and turning creative ideas into reality, using the potential of the most advanced technology in the field of robotics, advanced mobility and virtual reality.

Reply installed Area42 in a historical building in Turin on an area of ​​more than 20,000 square meters. Each workspace has been completely renovated and optimized by favoring a more open and collaborative approach. Its experts will collaborate with its customers to experiment, incubate new concepts and test the latest technologies.

Reply CEO Tatiana Rizzante says:

“We are investing massively in Turin by mixing hardware and digital. But our offices are also a new way of approaching the workplace, very widespread outside Italy, but with changes made following Covid. We’ve moved away from large open spaces, but spaces are also very flexible and temporary in their use, also given increasingly widespread remote working. And the spaces for social contact are not lacking. We care a lot about human relations, but also about health and soon we will have a gym, terraces for outdoor moments, yoga activities and even kitchens for those who want to cook on site. »

Aera42 laboratories

The six Area42 Laboratories are dedicated to the most advanced themes of innovation for the industrial world:

• Autonomous Warehouse : In this laboratory, solutions are studied and developed for the autonomous management of warehouse activities, through the use of drones and autonomous vehicles capable of interfacing with innovative warehouse management platforms such as LEA Reply ;
• Last mile delivery : the last mile delivery laboratory focuses on the mobility of autonomous vehicles and robots capable of interacting with their immediate environment in delimited spaces (campuses, hospitals, factories, etc.);
• Robotics : this laboratory combines artificial intelligence technologies with robotics to study the agility of autonomous robots and use scenarios centered on the interaction between them and large environments requiring repetitive maintenance and control activities;
• Connected Products : the design and development laboratory for connected products and services, from device prototyping to the creation of front-end applications, including support for IoT accelerators;
• blockchain : in the context of an ever-increasing evolution of the concepts of smart cities and shared mobility, this Area42 laboratory is experimenting with the application of blockchain technologies to enable real scenarios based on the digital identity of vehicles;
• Metavers : Area42’s lab focused on the application and integration of mixed reality solutions to create immersive applications in virtual environments, where users can enter and move and where virtual and physical objects coexist.

Filippo Rizzante, technical director of Reply, concludes:

“Area42 laboratories represent a unique universe in the current technological landscape. Here, we bring new and innovative concepts to life and apply the latest technologies to deliver solutions capable of creating value for businesses and for society as a whole. We test and implement innovative ideas that have strategic impact and generate competitive advantage for our clients. Our work focuses on six key topical themes, but technological developments constantly push us to go further, in line with Reply’s vision and mission: to prepare for the future and make it a tangible reality. »