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IJD 2015 - Straits Times - Singapore - Full Supplement

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THINK of it as Facebook for grandmas and grandpas. Cubigo is an interactive platform bringing together healthcare-related applications for senior citizens. The digital platform has a simple interface made up of large “cubes” so that they are visible even for users with poor eyesight. The “cubes” represent applications grouped under two main themes: Social interaction (such as a “chat” app with large characters) and healthcare needs (such as an app to set up medical appointments and access to a 24-hour call centre). The project – brainchild of Mr Geert Houben, 33 – was launched this year. It has been named by Google as one of the most promising digital projects worldwide. Registration on the platform with some start-up cubes is free. The full subscription costs up to 30 (S$46) a month. Cubigo has close to 14,000 clients. AMANDINE CLOOT/LE SOIR (BELGIUM) THE HarassMap is an initiative launched by four women confronting sexual harassment in Egypt. The initiative came as a result of the rising rates of sexual harassment amid growing tolerance towards the phenomenon on Egyptian streets. The organisation operates using open-source software FrontlineSMS and Ushahidi to create a system that receives anonymous reports. The data is then used to create maps for areas where sexual harassment occurs. The HarassMap also organises events such as workshops and “open mics”, where victims recount their experiences. It recently launched a video teaching women how to respond to harassers, focusing on harassment in universities. Since the launch, activists from 25 countries have contacted the group for help to establish similar initiatives in their countries. OMAR ABDELAZIZ/ AL MASRY AL YOUM (EGYPT) WHEN his digital camera broke during a vacation in Greece in 2012, Mr Dave Hakkens decided to take it apart and see what had gone wrong. He found the source of the trou- ble: The lens motor had died – and could not be replaced. He would have to buy a whole new camera. Mr Hakkens, 26, wanted to find something to change that. So, for his graduation project at the Eind- hoven Design Academy, he decid- ed to try and upgrade another piece of electronics almost every- one uses – the smartphone. His concept was to design a modular telephone built of move- able blocks that would allow peo- ple to replace individual compo- nents of their phones separately. He called it “Phonebloks” and posted a short video explaining the idea on YouTube in September 2013. Within 24 hours, the video had more than a million views. In less than two months, he had engaged 800,000 people in a Thunderclap campaign to promote the idea via social media. Offers from potential business partners came in. Then Google called. It turned out that its developers had been secretly working on a modular smartphone quite similar to Mr Hakkens’ concept, under the name Project Ara. He was invit- ed to the US to see the project, and Google offered him a job, he said. He turned it down, and instead made a deal with Google that it would open up its product develop- ment to the public and allow him, and his new community of modu- lar phone backers, to become part of the development process. “I wasn’t interest- ed in working for a phone company, and I didn’t really want to dedicate myself to one company ei- ther,” he said. He regularly visits Project Ara headquar- ters and re- ports back to his followers on social me- dia. Project Ara is planning to launch a limited market pilot of its modular phone this year. Mr Hakkens’ Phonebloks site has become a campaign HQ of sorts for promoting elec- tronics that produce less waste. While there were suggestions on how to leverage support for his project to raise capital and set up a company, he is not lured by the idea of getting rich, saying: “The idea is to keep things open and free, because that way everybody gets smarter and every- body wins.” NINA SIEGAL/SPARKNEWS A US group has given the term “kid’s play” a new spin. Empower Playgrounds, a humanitarian group that specialises in electricity-generating playground equipment, is helping to generate electricity in Ghana in a novel – and fun – way. In Pediatorkope, a tiny impoverished island in south-east Ghana, the residents do not have electricity because the island is not linked to the national energy grid. Empower Playgrounds came up with the idea of installing a special merry-go-round in the playground of a local primary school. When the children push and spin it around, it powers a turbine which creates energy. The merry-go-round also recharges batteries which can power energy-saving LED lamps for more than 40 hours. The children are responsible for recharging the batteries during their playtime. In the evening they take these lamps home. Thanks to these lamps – which are less dangerous than the oil lamps which many villagers use – the children are able to continue studying at home. L'ACTU – MON QUOTIDIEN (FRANCE) IN A narrow patch of the Amazon rainforest, members of the Tembe indigenous tribe have pinned their hopes for survival on what seems like an implausible idea: Equipping trees with mobile phones. The Tembe have paired up with Rainforest Connection, a San Francisco-based non-profit which uses a treetop mobile phone device to listen for the trucks, chainsaws and other telltale sounds of en- croaching loggers. The brainchild of physicist- turned-forest crusader Topher White, the device looks like a daisy, with a weather-proofed mo- bile phone from which solar panels radiate out, to charge it. Hidden in the tree canopy, the device trans- mits ambient sound to the cloud, where software programmed to rec- ognise the sound of chainsaws sends real-time alerts to rangers when such noises are detected. It has been tested in West Afri- ca and Indonesia, where it brought an end to logging on a small sanctu- ary for one of the world’s most en- dangered primates, the gibbon. Mr White, 33, came up with the idea while he was volunteering at a sanctuary for gibbons in Indonesia in 2011. To give the gibbons a fight- ing chance, he knew their shrink- ing habitat had to be protected from illegal loggers. “I got to think- ing that the best way of doing this would be to listen for the sounds of chainsaws, pick them up automati- cally from the forest and be able to figure out where the chainsaws were coming from,” he said. Mr White said the stakes are even higher on the Tembe reserva- tion in the Brazilian state of Para – ground zero of the fight over the fu- ture of the Amazon. Devices will be installed along the perimeter of the 6,000 sq km reserve. Once the system is up and running, alerts will be sent in real time to the about 30 tribe members who are the Tembe’s “rangers”, charged with repelling invaders. Despite its size Rainforest Connection is a two-man opera- tion, aided by volunteers – it has big ambitions. Mr White said: “We want to show that this is some- thing that can be used elsewhere.” ASTRID CHRISTOPHERSEN/SPARKNEWS MOVE over Baywatch. An Iranian robotics engineer has come up with a life-saving drone that is three times faster than a human lifeguard. Mr Amin Rigi, 28, hopes his in- vention can change the public’s perception of drones which are still regarded with suspicion. Mr Rigi’s drone was initially de- signed to fly above the sea and drop up to three lifebuoys to drowning victims. The latest iteration of his robot- ic lifeguard, however, can convert itself into a hovercraft and bring a potential victim back to the shore. “We think we can reduce the number of drownings and we can save lives,” said Mr Rigi, who op- erates from a 250-sq m London co-working space for start-ups. He hopes his devices can later be used to aid people who fall overboard from ships as well as those involved in car accidents, floods and fires, or people injured on hikes or stranded on oil rigs. “We are thinking of drones that can actually be part of rescue missions,” he said. Roboguard, his most recent model, is waterproof and can land on and take off from the water sur- face. It can carry up to 15kg of equipment and move at speeds of up to 50kmh. It can be outfitted with thermal cameras to aid in night-time res- cues. It also comes with detacha- ble arms and functions with more autonomy, relying more on GPS than on manual control. Mr Rigi hopes he can come up with a solar-powered landing plat- form where the drone can re- charge its batteries. Two summers ago, successful trials of his rescue drone were car- ried out in the Caspian Sea, where hundreds drown each year. The trials included a race be- tween the drone and a human life- guard. His first prototype named Pars, after the ancient kingdom of Persia, reached a potential victim three times faster than its human counterpart, in 22 seconds instead of 90 seconds. Today, the rescue drone is on the verge of test production, with a first limited run of about 200. Distributors from Brazil, Italy and Mexico have already bought the drone, priced at about 8,000 (S$12,000). Customers from eight other countries, including Austral- ia, Latvia and the United States, are in negotiations to buy it. Mr Rigi started RTS Ideas in Iran, but relocated his company to London last year, after he was ac- cepted to Sirius, an accelerator programme that brings young en- trepreneurs to Britain to help them launch their businesses. Now he receives help with living expenses, office space, mentoring and access to investors. Said Mr Rigi: “It’s not a matter of drones being good or bad. It’s a matter of why we are misusing these technologies.” MILDRADE CHERFILS/ RTS IDEAS /SPARKNEWS THE name Jib.li, which literally means “bring it to me” in Arabic, is apt for an online platform that offers fast and cheap package delivery services. The site was founded in 2011 by two Algerian computer scientists based in Paris. “There’s always someone in our neighbourhood who needs to send medicine from here (France) or bring back a document from there (Algeria),” said co-founder Riyadh Dahimene, 27. It works this way: A user who wants something delivered or to offer a delivery logs on to Jib.li via his Facebook account. Both parties negotiate a price. The fee, which can be paid by credit card, is deducted only after the item is delivered. The site charges a fee equivalent to 4.99 per cent of each transaction. Jib.li has nearly 4,000 users. SAMIR GHEZLAOUI/ EL WATAN (ALGERIA) During its trial in the Caspian Sea in 2013, the Pars rescue robot reached a potential victim three times faster than its human counterpart, in 22 seconds instead of 90 seconds. PHOTO: SAEID TALEBI The merry-go-round produces energy when spun around and powers electric lamps which the children take home so they can do their homework at night. PHOTO: L’ACTU-MON QUOTIDIEN Mapping out sexual harassment cases Sharing luggage space Iranian engineer sees life-saving function for his robots SNIPPETS Helping seniors with health, interaction Hello, the rainforest is calling Play puts fresh spin on producing power The lifeguard is a drone UNUSUAL PHONES Just replace the part, not the phone Technology SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2015 S A T U R D A Y D9
Transcript

THINK of it as Facebook forgrandmas and grandpas.Cubigo is an interactiveplatform bringing togetherhealthcare-relatedapplications for seniorcitizens. The digital platformhas a simple interface madeup oflarge cubes so thatthey are visible even forusers with poor eyesight.The cubes representapplications grouped undertwo main themes: Socialinteraction (such as a chatapp with large characters)and healthcare needs (suchas an app to set up medicalappointments and access toa 24-hour call centre).The project brainchildof Mr Geert Houben, 33 was launched this year. Ithas been named by Googleas one of the most promisingdigital projects worldwide.Registration on theplatform with some start-upcubes is free. The fullsubscription costs up to 30(S$46) a month. Cubigo hasclose to 14,000 clients.AMANDINE CLOOT/LE SOIR(BELGIUM)THE HarassMap is aninitiative launched by fourwomen confronting sexualharassment in Egypt.The initiative came as aresult of the rising rates ofsexual harassmentamidgrowing tolerance towardsthe phenomenon onEgyptian streets.The organisation operatesusing open-source softwareFrontlineSMS and Ushahidito create a system thatreceives anonymous reports.The data is then used tocreate maps for areas wheresexual harassmentoccurs.The HarassMap alsoorganises events such asworkshops and open mics,where victimsrecount theirexperiences. It recentlylaunched a video teachingwomen how to respond toharassers, focusing onharassment in universities.Since thelaunch, activistsfrom 25 countries havecontacted the group forhelpto establish similarinitiatives in their countries.OMAR ABDELAZIZ/AL MASRY AL YOUM (EGYPT)WHENhis digital camera brokeduring a vacation in Greece in2012, Mr Dave Hakkens decided totake it apart and see what hadgone wrong.He found the source of the trou-ble: The lens motor had died andcouldnot bereplaced. Hewouldhave to buy a whole new camera.Mr Hakkens, 26, wanted to findsomethingtochangethat.So,forhis graduation project at the Eind-hoven Design Academy,he decid-ed to try and upgrade anotherpieceofelectronicsalmostevery-one uses the smartphone.His concept was to design amodulartelephonebuiltofmove-ableblocksthatwouldallowpeo-pletoreplaceindividual compo-nents of their phonesseparately.Hecalledit Phonebloksandposted a short video explainingthe idea on YouTube in September2013. Within24hours, thevideohad more than a million views.In less than two months, he hadengaged 800,000 people in aThunderclap campaign to promotetheideaviasocial media. Offersfrompotential business partnerscame in. Then Google called.It turned out that its developershad been secretly working on amodularsmartphonequitesimilarto Mr Hakkens concept, underthe name Project Ara. He was invit-edtothe UStoseethe project,andGoogleofferedhimajob, hesaid.He turneditdown,andinsteadmadea deal withGoogle that itwould open up its product develop-menttothepublicandallowhim,and his new community ofmodu-larphonebackers,tobecomepartof the development process.I wasnt interest-edinworkingforaphone company,andI didnt reallywant to dedicatemyself to onecompany ei-ther, he said.He regularlyvisits ProjectAra headquar-ters and re-ports back tohis followersonsocialme-dia. ProjectAra is planning to launch a limitedmarketpilotofitsmodularphonethis year.Mr Hakkens Phonebloks sitehas become a campaign HQofsortsfor promotingelec-tronicsthatproducelesswaste.Whilethereweresuggestions on howtoleveragesupportforhisproject toraisecapitaland set up a company,he is not lured by theideaof gettingrich,saying: Theideaistokeepthingsopenand free, becausethat way everybodygetssmarterandevery-body wins.NINA SIEGAL/SPARKNEWSA US group has given theterm kids play a newspin.Empower Playgrounds, ahumanitarian group thatspecialises inelectricity-generatingplayground equipment, ishelping to generateelectricity in Ghana in anovel and fun way.In Pediatorkope, a tinyimpoverished island insouth-east Ghana, theresidents do not haveelectricity because the islandis not linked to the nationalenergy grid.Empower Playgroundscame up with the idea ofinstalling aspecialmerry-go-round in theplayground of a localprimary school. When thechildren push and spin itaround, it powers a turbinewhich creates energy.The merry-go-round alsorecharges batteries whichcan power energy-savingLED lamps for more than 40hours.The children areresponsible for rechargingthe batteries during theirplaytime. In the eveningthey take these lamps home.Thanks to these lamps which are less dangerousthan the oil lamps whichmany villagers use thechildren are able to continuestudying at home.L'ACTU MON QUOTIDIEN (FRANCE)INAnarrowpatchoftheAmazonrainforest,membersoftheTembeindigenoustribehavepinnedtheirhopesforsurvival onwhatseemslike animplausible idea: Equippingtrees with mobile phones.TheTembehavepairedupwithRainforest Connection, a SanFrancisco-basednon-profitwhichuses a treetop mobile phone devicetolistenforthetrucks,chainsawsand other telltale sounds of en-croaching loggers.The brainchild of physicist-turned-forest crusader TopherWhite, the device looks like adaisy, with a weather-proofed mo-bile phone from which solar panelsradiate out, to charge it. Hidden inthetreecanopy,thedevicetrans-mitsambient soundtothecloud,where software programmed to rec-ognise the sound of chainsawssends real-time alerts to rangerswhen such noises are detected.It hasbeen testedinWestAfri-ca and Indonesia, where it broughtan end to logging on a small sanctu-ary for one of the worlds most en-dangered primates, the gibbon.Mr White, 33, cameup with theidea while he was volunteering at asanctuaryforgibbonsinIndonesiain 2011. To give the gibbons a fight-ingchance, heknewtheirshrink-ing habitat had to be protectedfrom illegal loggers. I got to think-ingthatthebestwayofdoingthiswould be to listen for the sounds ofchainsaws, pick them up automati-cally from the forest and be able tofigure out where the chainsawswere coming from, he said.Mr White said the stakes areeven higher on the Tembe reserva-tion in the Brazilian state of Para ground zero of the fight over the fu-ture of the Amazon.Devices will be installedalongtheperimeterofthe6,000sqkmreserve. Once the system is up andrunning,alertswill besentinrealtime to the about 30 tribe memberswho are the Tembes rangers,charged with repelling invaders.Despite its size RainforestConnectionis a two-manopera-tion, aidedbyvolunteersithasbig ambitions. Mr White said: Wewant toshowthat this is some-thing that can be used elsewhere.ASTRID CHRISTOPHERSEN/SPARKNEWSMOVE over Baywatch. An Iranianrobotics engineer has come upwitha life-saving drone that isthreetimesfaster thanahumanlifeguard.Mr Amin Rigi, 28, hopes his in-ventioncanchange the publicsperception of drones which arestill regarded with suspicion.Mr Rigis drone was initially de-signedtoflyabove the sea anddrop up to three lifebuoys todrowning victims.The latest iteration of his robot-ic lifeguard, however, can convertitself into a hovercraft and bring apotential victim back to the shore.Wethinkwecanreducethenumberofdrowningsandwecansave lives, said Mr Rigi, who op-erates froma 250-sqmLondonco-working space for start-ups.Hehopeshisdevicescanlaterbe used to aid people who falloverboardfromships as well asthose involvedincar accidents,floods andfires,orpeopleinjuredon hikes orstranded on oil rigs.We are thinking of dronesthat can actually be part of rescuemissions, he said.Roboguard, his most recentmodel, is waterproof and can landon and take off from the water sur-face. It cancarryupto15kgofequipmentandmoveatspeedsofup to 50kmh.It can be outfitted with thermalcamerastoaidinnight-timeres-cues.Italsocomeswithdetacha-ble armsand functions withmoreautonomy, relyingmoreonGPSthan on manual control.MrRigihopeshecancomeupwith a solar-powered landing plat-formwhere the drone can re-charge its batteries.Twosummers ago, successfultrials of his rescue drone were car-ried out in the Caspian Sea, wherehundreds drowneach year.Thetrialsincludedaracebe-tween the drone and a human life-guard. HisfirstprototypenamedPars, after the ancient kingdom ofPersia,reachedapotentialvictimthreetimesfasterthanitshumancounterpart, in 22 seconds insteadof 90 seconds.Today, therescuedroneisonthe vergeoftest production,witha first limited run of about 200.Distributors fromBrazil, ItalyandMexicohavealreadyboughtthe drone, priced at about 8,000(S$12,000). Customers from eightother countries, including Austral-ia, LatviaandtheUnitedStates,are in negotiations to buy it.Mr Rigi startedRTSIdeas inIran, but relocated his company toLondon last year, after he was ac-cepted to Sirius, an acceleratorprogramme that brings young en-trepreneurs to Britain to helpthem launch their businesses.Nowhereceiveshelpwithlivingexpenses,officespace,mentoringand access to investors.Said Mr Rigi: Its not a matterof drones being good or bad. Its amatter of why we are misusingthese technologies.MILDRADE CHERFILS/RTS IDEAS /SPARKNEWSTHE name Jib.li, whichliterally means bring it tome in Arabic, is apt for anonline platform that offersfast and cheap packagedelivery services.The site was founded in2011 by two Algeriancomputer scientists based inParis. Theres alwayssomeone in ourneighbourhood who needs tosend medicine from here(France) or bring back adocument from there(Algeria), said co-founderRiyadh Dahimene, 27.It works this way:A userwho wants somethingdelivered or to offer adelivery logs on to Jib.li viahis Facebook account.Both parties negotiate aprice. The fee, which can bepaid by credit card, isdeducted only after the itemis delivered. The site chargesa fee equivalent to 4.99 percent of each transaction.Jib.li has nearly 4,000 users.SAMIR GHEZLAOUI/EL WATAN (ALGERIA)During its trial in the Caspian Sea in 2013, the Pars rescue robot reached apotential victim three times faster than its human counterpart, in 22 secondsinstead of 90 seconds. PHOTO: SAEID TALEBIThe merry-go-round producesenergy when spun around andpowers electric lamps which thechildren take home so they cando their homework at night.PHOTO: LACTU-MON QUOTIDIENMapping out sexual harassment casesSharing luggage spaceIranian engineer sees life-saving function for his robotsSNIPPETSHelping seniors with health, interactionHello, therainforestis callingPlay puts fresh spin on producing powerThe lifeguardis a droneUNUSUAL PHONESJust replace the part, not the phoneTechnologyS A T U R D A Y , J U N E 2 0 , 2 0 1 5 D9


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