Well, today was definitely a very long day but it was such an interesting and informative one! We had two company visits today, the first to Qualisys, and the second to SKF. After another hearty breakfast here at the hostel, we took the tram walked up a very steep cobblestone heel over to Qualisys. While there, we met a very kind man named Magnus Sjölin, who is their Market Area Director. We got a tour of their very unique and trendy office, then got coffee from one of the coolest and high-tech coffee machines I have ever seen, then had a very interesting presentation about what Qualisys and what they do! We also had a follow-up presentation from Helen Holmqvist Rydén, who is their Marketing & Communication Manager. During these presentations, we learned that the mission of Qualisys is “to be the world’s preferred partner in creating performance-enhancing motion capture solutions, through technical solutions”. They use a very complex and high-tech optical motion capture software and process that allow them to rebuild the subject in 3D and do further analysis or animation with the gathered data. They only have about 40 employees here in Sweden, and then they do have just a few in Buffalo Grove, IL, and about 5 or 6 in Asia. They sell their services to different teams or research companies, and then help them further develop to meet their needs. All of their motion-capture cameras are Swedish made and they produce around 2000-2500 of these per year. These cameras help to capture motion for projects that include the areas of life science, engineering, and entertainment application segments. What makes Qualisys unique as well is that they are the only MOCAP (motion capture) provider that can provide underwater cameras. All of these cameras can be used for tracking motion of robots, machines, or people. From there, the data is used for further research, especially when the test subject is a person, and they want to analyze movements for things such as physical therapy or sports training. All of these really interesting facts were explained to us by Magnus, and then we got to hear a shorter presentation from Helen about their marketing, and this was interesting, because they definitely have some challenges with that. Some of the biggest challenges are all the different segments that they work in are very different, they work with all continents so they sometimes have culture and language barriers, and their budget is very divided into different channels. But, their big strength is their people. They are very knowledgable, friendly, and willing to work with anybody and anything. They want everyone inside and outside to preserve the Qualisys way. Here are some pictures from the presentation and the beautiful views from their windows:
The best part of the Qualisys visit by far though was what came after the presentation. We were told that we would get to see two demonstrations of their production process, and I was one of the lucky ones that got to be involved in it! So, with the help of Katarina Hjältman (support engineer), two of my friends and I put on some motion-capturing suits, and some sensors! Before we knew it, we were dancing around in the camera area and then transformed into animated figures on the T.V.! It was so cool!! Definitely an experience that I will never forget! Below are some pictures from the whole process:
After that, we were provided with a very nice lunch at Qualisys. We then made our way down to SKF. This company was founded in February 1907 and is one of the biggest ball-bearing producing companies in the world. You may be asking yourself at this point, what exactly is a ball bearing? Well, a ball bearing is a bearing in which the parts are separated by a ring of small freely rotating metal balls which reduce friction. These are found on pretty much everything that rotates around you. From the wheels on your shopping cart, to the engine in your car, to the engine on an airplane, they can be found in so many things that you did not know before! Here is an example of what one looks like below:
SKF stands for “Swedish ball bearing factory”, and the acronym makes a lot more sense in the Swedish translation! They produce over 1 billion bearings each year! Their mission is to create a world of reliable rotation. A ball bearing’s purpose is to minimize friction in a rotating machine, so that it lasts longer and is more efficient. So, after a short video-presentation, we started our tour of the company.
In this building, they have a really cool visitors center, with models of everything that they build and tons of information and logistics on what they do.
After this very interesting and extensive tour, we made our way to one of the factories where we got a complete tour!
Their factory was so impressive, as there were hardly any employees in there working. Everything is done by robots! Even the forklifts drive themselves! It was so interesting to see the process from start to finish of how everything is made!
After the factory tour, we went back to the hostel and then were allowed to go wherever we wanted for an open dinner. My friends and I went to a really great burger joint called Diné that was on a side street near a popular area and it was amazing!
After dinner, we walked down Avenyn which is a popular shopping street, and even stopped in a McDonald’s so Sam could get a McFlurry which was even super different over here compared to America!
Things I learned today:
- Most Swedish burger joints have fries that come with their burgers but they are “mixed fries” – a mix of regular and sweet potato fries. Yum!!
- The city is very easy to navigate around and much smaller than it seems
- I really hope my jet lag gets better soon, because I almost gagged while trying to force down some coffee today because I hate it so much
- I never ever thought I would ever be made into an animated person, that was super cool
- I really miss American bathrooms – they are much bigger and cleaner!!
Well, that is all for now! Be sure to check back tomorrow for my next post – it should be a pretty exciting one! Goodnight from Göteborg!
Nicole's Adventures in Sweden 