Franciacorta – Mini – Thimus: Biosphera for sustainability

In 2018, the Biosphera 2.0 state-of-the-art housing module arrived in Franciacorta after a 24-month tour as part of a project involving the Franciacorta Consortium, MINI and the Thimus research company, a leading neuroscience start-up able to collect data on the emotional and cognitive states of human beings involved in real-life activities. Biosphera 2.0, designed and built by Aktivhaus in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Turin, the University of Turin and the University of Aosta Valley, won the ENERGY GLOBE AWARD 2018 – ITALY, one of the world’s most coveted sustainability awards. The itinerant housing module was created for a project of environmental and physiological monitoring of living experiences. Equipped with all the services necessary for living, it is an active building, meaning, one able to produce more energy than it requires to independently maintain the ideal standards for human vital parameters, even in extreme climatic and environmental conditions.

Thimus has conducted two scientific research studies: one, in partnership with Franciacorta, on the history of the territory and vinicultural tradition and another, in partnership with MINI, the MINI Emotional Landscape Experiment, linked to the emotions of sustainable driving styles. Both are one-of-a-kind projects, as they aim to scientifically analyse the experiential factors that stimulate the human brain in so-called real-life experiences.

Always attentive to innovation and promoting young talented people, MINI chose to be the first to use neuroscience and biometrics to characterise the emotions of driving in particularly fascinating landscapes, such as Franciacorta, combining sensitivity for electric driving with sustainable lifestyles and the love of nature.

The tests linked to the world of Franciacorta followed a similar line of reasoning. By collecting neurological and biometric data from visitors to five representative wineries in the territory, Thimus was able to analyse which emotions and cognitive processes characterise the Franciacorta experience. The project’s purpose was to assess how brain activity varies during the tasting phase of Franciacorta wines, comparing the results obtained during the visit to a winery and with the help of the guide, with sensorial and neurological analysis of the tastings carried out in a neutral context such as the Biosphera. At the end of the project a report was drawn up for all the wineries with strategic indications on how to set up visits in order to maximise the perception of product quality and enhance the gustatory experience through storytelling, positively preparing the visitor for wine tasting. 

The Thimus method’s effectiveness and innovation in using neuroscience allowed elements which elude normal measurements and concretely influence everyday behaviour and life choices to be grasped.

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