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A platform makes it easy to turn smartphones into multimedia museum guides
CategoriesSustainable News

A platform makes it easy to turn smartphones into multimedia museum guides

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Almost anyone who has been to a museum will be familiar with audio or multimedia guides – devices that provide still images, video clips, sound effects, music, and spoken commentary to accompany an exhibition. The first of these devices was developed in 1952 at the Stedlijik Museum in Amsterdam, and, over time, they have developed into the familiar iPod-like device still in use today. These bespoke devices can be cumbersome for users and expensive for smaller exhibitions. Now, startup Shoutr Labs has developed a system that is both easy to use and easy to develop.

Shoutr’s platform not only turns visitor’s smartphones into multimedia guides – it also makes it easy for museums and other attractions to develop those guides without programming expertise. It includes a content management system (CMS) with a drag and drop app builder, multilingual content, and the ability to easily manage content. Visitors can access the system on their smartphones without downloading an app.

The system is used together with the shoutr.Boxx, which saves all content in a local storage location. By allowing users to retrieve the data on the attractions’ local wireless network, the shoutr.Boxx removes the need for visitors to use mobile data (a potential issue for holidaymakers with high roaming charges or a poor connection). Shoutr also makes it possible for attractions to incorporate advanced features into their presentation, such as Augmented Reality.

Springwise has spotted several innovations that aim to make the arts more broadly accessible. These include a foundation using digital technology and a floating museum to bring contemporary art to the masses, and an AR art exhibition in the London skyline.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

13th May 2022

Website: shoutrlabs.com

Contact: shoutrlabs.com/en/contact

Reference

A metaverse marathon promotes online diversity and inclusion
CategoriesSustainable News

A metaverse marathon promotes online diversity and inclusion

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Called the Degree Metathon, and billed as the world’s first marathon held in the metaverse, an online race has raised awareness of the need for digital inclusivity. Highlighting the potential of the metaverse to truly reflect the citizens of the world today, deodorant company Degree partnered with Decentraland to improve the range of avatars available and map a running route that worked for wheelchair users.

Held at the end of April 2022, the metathon was headlined by paralympic sprinter Blake Leeper and recording artist Fat Joe. The race was held in a Decentraland metaverse space, and participants had the option to choose from a range of adaptive wearables for their avatars, including running blades and a wheelchair, to more accurately emulate their true physical experience of taking part in a marathon.

The Metathon is part of Degree’s five-year Breaking Limits youth sports support programme, and the teams behind the Metathon plan to continue the work to increase the visibility of online diversity. Two goals are to expand the range of available avatars and provide additional accessibility options such as audio description.

From a platform that analyses the diversity of media content, to a zine for women surfers, innovators are working to create positive portrayals of minority groups in popular culture. The Metathon brings this cause into the emerging space of the metaverse.

Written by: Keely Khoury

13th May 2022

Email: hello@decentraland.org

Website: degreedeodorant.com/us/metathon

Reference

Software automatically analyses the diversity of media content
CategoriesSustainable News

Software automatically analyses the diversity of media content

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Ceretai is a diversity tech startup on a mission to make the world a more inclusive and tolerant place. It does this by helping media companies monitor and improve the diversity of their content.

At its core, Ceretai believes that the media we consume has a direct impact on our values and beliefs. That’s why the startup is on a mission to create a ‘more equal and tolerant world by promoting conscious production and consumption of media and entertainment.’ In other words, Ceretai believes that the media we consume should reflect the diversity of our world, and that by increasing diversity and equality in the media, we can create a more inclusive society.

Ceretai’s Diversity Dashboard allows media companies to track gender representation, age distribution, and different measures of portrayal in their content. It also offers customised diversity reports and workshops for media executives. In addition, the company offers tailor-made services that allow companies to closely follow developments over time and evaluate the outcome of diversity initiatives.

Since its foundation, Ceretai has strived to ‘enable audiences to choose movies or books based on their values and to create awareness around how people who don’t fit the norm—such as women, people of colour, and homosexuals—are actually portrayed in the culture we consume.”

Since then, the startup has partnered with some of the largest streaming platforms and media companies – among their partners and clients are the BBC, Forbes, NDR, and Tagesschau. And as the demand for diverse content continues to grow, Ceretai is positioned to play a crucial role in shaping the future of media.

At Springwise we have spotted several innovations that are focused on boosting the quality and reducing the divisiveness of the content we consume. These include a media analysis platform that rates bias and reliability, an app and Chrome extension that contextualises news articles, and a crowdsourced website that helps readers find evidence-based information.

Written By: Katrina Lane

12th May 2022

Email: hello@ceretai.com

Website: ceretai.com

Reference

Digital technology and a floating museum bring contemporary art and culture to the people
CategoriesSustainable News

Digital technology and a floating museum bring contemporary art and culture to the people

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The impact of digital technologies on the world of art has been nothing short of transformative. From online platforms that make it easier for amateur artists to connect with their audience, to virtual tours that allow us to experience historical works up close, technology has completely redefined how we interact with, understand, and appreciate art in all its forms.

Perhaps no organisation embodies this shift better than Art Explora, a cutting-edge initiative that is shaking up the art world by making contemporary art accessible to everyone. The French foundation was created in November 2019 by entrepreneur Frédéric Jousset. Its mission is to reduce the cultural divide by bringing works of art to new, large, and diverse audiences.

Art Explora has developed a groundbreaking digital art history platform in collaboration with Sorbonne Université. This cutting-edge platform is designed to be accessible to users around the globe and offers intuitive interfaces that make it easy for anyone to explore art from all periods and styles. Through its unique journeys of discovery—which range from ancient Egyptian art to contemporary works—users of Art Explora are able to explore a wide variety of artistic styles and techniques in an engaging and interactive way. And by testing their knowledge through a series of quizzes and challenges, users can earn a valuable certificate that shows their level of expertise.

Another recent initiative from Art Explora is a new mobile museum, which has been christened the ‘MuMo’ and is a joint effort between Art Explora, the Centre Pompidou, and the MuMo Foundation. The truck will tour France in 2022 and Europe in 2023, bringing two themed annual exhibitions to each location. The exhibitions will be curated from the collections of the Centre Pompidou, as well as from other major European institutions. The MuMo will also host educational programs and workshops for children and adults alike. This unique opportunity to experience art from around the world will be an invaluable addition to the cultural landscape.

Art Explora also plans to bring art to the waves by converting one of the world’s largest catamarans into a mobile digital art museum. The floating museum is due to set sail from Marseille for various locations in the Mediterranean basin in September 2023.

Other Art Explora initiatives include the installation of ‘short story dispensers’ at the Armand Trousseau Children’s Hospital, and a residency programme enabling artists and researchers to carry out research and creation work in the heart of one of the most iconic and vibrant districts of Paris.

Other recent art and culture innovations spotted by Springwise include an online storytelling platform for female and under-represented filmmakers, an AR art exhibition embedded in the London landscape, and remote art tours via robots.

Written By: Katrina Lane

11th May 2022

Website: artexplora.org

Contact: artexplora.org/en/contact

Reference

Disinfecting water with sunshine – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Disinfecting water with sunshine – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Around the world, 1.8 billion people lack access to safe drinking water. To avoid water-borne disease, these people must treat the water available to them before they can drink it. But existing treatment solutions are associated with additional costs – both monetary and environmental. Boiling water, in particular, causes carbon emissions and air pollution.

But there is one way to treat water that involves no emissions and uses a free resource found everywhere: sunlight. Solar water disinfection (SODIS) is a process where the sun’s natural UV rays eliminate pathogens—such as bacteria, viruses and protazoa—from contaminated water exposed to sunshine. The difficulty is knowing when contaminated water has been exposed for a sufficient length of time for the UV rays to have rendered it safe.

This is where Austrian social enterprise HELIOZ comes in. The organisation has developed the WADI – a World Health Organization approved device that visualises the process of SODIS in water containers such as plastic and glass bottles. The WADI device, which can measure UV light, is placed alongside bottles of contaminated water exposed to sunshine, so that it receives the same dosage of UV rays. It can then be used to measure when the bottles have received sufficient exposure to render them safe – defined as the removal of 99.99 per cent of pathogens. This is done using reference values stored in the device.

The device is easy-to-use and designed for water treatment at the household level. Device users can look at a progress bar to track the rate of disinfection, and when the process is finished, the device displays a smiley face.

HELIOZ used the WADI devices as part of a campaign launched to coincide with World Water Day 2021. The campaign was focused on communities in India, Africa, and Southeast Asia. These communities received WADI devices, as well as water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) training. The results of the project were impressive: in the project areas, the rate of water-borne diseases was reduced by 80 per cent.

Access to clean drinking water is a key sustainability issue, and Springwise has spotted a number of innovations that rise to this challenge. These include a mobile filtration system, an app that helps communities to maintain water systems, and an off-grid desalination system. 

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

10th May 2022

Email: office@helioz.org

Website: helioz.org/en/wadi

Reference

A new generation of self-powered carbon-neutral tiny homes
CategoriesSustainable News

A new generation of self-powered carbon-neutral tiny homes

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: According to a recent report from the National Association of REALTORS, the housing shortage in the US is reaching critical levels. The report estimates that there is currently what the association calls an ‘underbuilding gap’ of 5.5 to 6.8 million housing units since 2001. This shortage is pushing house prices and rents higher. And it’s becoming increasingly difficult for people to find affordable places to live.   

One company that’s looking to address this problem is Cosmic, a San Francisco-based startup that is building tiny houses. The company’s founder, Sasha Jokic, believes that these houses can help fill the gap by creating new rentals. In addition, Cosmic’s houses are designed to be highly energy-efficient – helping to reduce carbon emissions from the housing sector.

Ultimately, Cosmic is working to tackle two challenges simultaneously: the housing shortage and climate change. First, by creating new rental units that can be placed in people’s backyards, Cosmic can help to ease the pressure on the rental market. And second, because tiny houses are much more energy-efficient than traditional homes, they have the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions. It’s an ambitious goal, but if they can pull it off, it could have a huge impact.

Cosmic’s ultra-efficient homes start at just 350 square feet, but they come packed with high-tech features that allow them to function as both a primary residence and a secondary getaway. The secret to the tiny house’s success is its standardised frame, which includes built-in solar power and batteries. Each tiny house also includes a built-in roof and floor, and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.

The modular design means that the houses can be assembled quickly and easily, without the need for construction crews. And because the houses are optimised to be energy-efficient, they can be powered entirely by renewable energy sources. Lithium-ion batteries store energy from the solar panels, with the option to return any extra energy produced back to the grid. Alternatively,t, the excess energy can be used to power the main house, or an electric car.

Financial models for the houses are being arranged, with prices starting at $190,000 (around €176,000). There might also be a second option starting at $150,000 (around €139,000), where Cosmic would own the renewable energy infrastructure and the extra power generated in return for free power for the backyard and discounted power for the main house.

Other tiny home innovations spotted by Springwise include tiny houses for the homeless, an off-the-grid house on wheels, and a tiny home using passive design.

Written By: Katrina Lane

9th May 2022

Email: info@cosmicbuildings.com

Website: cosmicbuildings.com

Reference

IoT system tracks real-time energy consumption
CategoriesSustainable News

IoT system tracks real-time energy consumption

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: It’s often easiest to understand something when it is made visible. Tunisian company Wattnow is using that premise to help businesses and individuals maximise the efficiency of their energy usage. The Wattnow platform provides a visual monitoring system for all energy points in a building. This system makes it easy to see where the most use is occurring. With hourly, daily, weekly, and annual comparisons, owners of a Wattnow system can see how a space’s consumption varies.

Available in either wired or wireless versions, the smart meters track energy use in both single and three-phase power systems. The algorithm-driven platform helps users save money and reduce pollution by identifying ways to consume energy more efficiently and by sending early alerts when maintenance is needed.

The plug-and-play system connects to an online dashboard accessible via both mobile and desktop, making it easier to respond to queries or alerts while on the go. And the AI puts together predictions for future use patterns, which owners can track against planned improvements to their systems and processes.

A variety of measurements can be recorded by the meters, allowing owners to get a full picture of the energy consumption of a building or space. Pricing for the service is available on request and based on a selection of case studies, including Tunisian Saoudi Bank and Carrefour.

Making resource use more efficient is the goal of many projects spotted by Springwise, from city-wide urban heat vulnerability assessments to a modular solar energy system that scales up and down as needed.  

Written by: Keely Khoury

6th May 2022

Website: wattnow.io

Contact: wattnow.io/contact-us-2/

Reference

Beehive monitoring technology for healthier bees
CategoriesSustainable News

Beehive monitoring technology for healthier bees

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: It has been over 170 years since the modern beehive was introduced, and beehive management hasn’t changed significantly since. And while apiculture has changed little, honeybee populations have been in decline in recent years. This is due to a variety of factors, including disease, pesticides, and habitat loss.

As a result, farmers are increasingly relying on other methods of pollination, such as mechanised pollen applicators or hand pollination. These methods may be effective in the short term, yet they are unlikely to be sustainable in the long run. Man-made devices simply cannot take on the vital role that bees and other insects play in crop pollination. This is why Tunis-based Iris Technologies is developing cutting-edge solutions to protect bee populations.

Since the company was launched in 2016, it has raised $380,000 (around €352,000) over three funding rounds. Its latest developments—SmartBee and SmartBee+— are both smart devices for beehive monitoring and tracking.

The sensors in the SmartBee+ device measure temperature and humidity. Every six hours, all the monitoring measurements are sent to the cloud for storage and data analysis. This number-crunching can be performed through a web interface or a mobile application. Beekeepers gain valuable insights into their hives, which allows them to optimise bee health and honey production. In addition, the SmartBee+ can be used to track the movements of bees and monitor their foraging patterns. This information can help beekeepers identify potential problems early on and take steps to mitigate them.

Other features include a theft alert that will trigger a GPS tracking system, and swarming alerts (still in beta version) where sound, temperature, and humidity sensors predict and detect swarming events. The interface also delivers weekly notifications related to the hive’s health and productivity, as well as tips from beekeeping professionals.

Bees are good for business and the planet and Springwise has spotted several bee-related innovations. These include bees that deliver organic fungicide, modular beehives that mimic the shape of trees, and sustainable beehives made from mushroom-based materials.

Written By: Katrina Lane

6th May 2022

Website: smartbeekeeper.com

Contact: smartbeekeeper.com/assistance

Reference

Global innovation spotlight: Tunisia – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Global innovation spotlight: Tunisia – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Global innovation spotlight: Tunisia

Global Innovation Spotlight

Reflecting our global Springwise readership, we explore the innovation landscape and freshest thinking from a new country each week. This week, we’ve headed to North Africa…

Tunisia Innovation Facts

Global Innovation Index ranking: 71st

Climate targets: a ‘conditional’ emissions reduction target of 45% below 2010 levels by 2030, an ‘unconditional’ target of 27% below 2010 levels over the same period. 

Sustainability challenges:

Waste Management – Tunisia’s waste management system struggles to cope with the 2.5 million tonnes of waste the country produces each year. Region-wide issues, such as high temperatures, are compounded by issues specific to Tunisia, such as a proliferation of illegal dumpsites for industrial and domestic waste. And Tunisian landfills do not meet the sanitary standards found in other parts of the world.

Pollution in the Gulf of Tunis – Marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Tunis are heavily impacted by domestic and industrial waste. In late 2021, about 3,000 people protested along the four most polluted beaches in the southern suburb of Tunis. Around 95,000 m3 of wastewater is treated in the suburb each day, with a significant proportion being discharged directly into the sea.

Vulnerability to climate change – Although it has improved its resilience in recent decades, Tunisia remains highly vulnerable to climate change, and is expected to experience negative impacts from rising temperatures and lower precipitation. The country is particularly vulnerable in regards to water security, agriculture, and livestock health.

Sector specialisms:

Software and data

Fintech

Social and leisure

Source: StartupBlink

Three exciting innovations from Tunisia

Photo source Pixabay

SOFTWARE AND ROBOTS HELP SMALL FARMERS IMPROVE AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT

The world will face increased water shortages and food supply challenges in the coming years. And Tunisia is particularly vulnerable to tensions for water resources between agriculture and humans. Ezzayra provides software and hardware solutions that allow farmers to get the most out of their fields. Their products include software and hardware to improve irrigation and fertigation, and a field robot able to perform the same tasks as a tractor. Read more.

Photo source Boba Jaglicic on Unsplash

BEEHIVE MONITORING TECHNOLOGY FOR HEALTHIER BEES

It has been over 170 years since the modern beehive was introduced, and beehive management hasn’t changed significantly since. And while apiculture has changed little, honeybee populations have been in decline in due to disease, pesticides, and habitat loss. As a result, farmers are increasingly relying on man-made methods of pollination. But these are unlikely to be sustainable in the long run. Iris Technologies has developed sensors that measure temperature and humidity to optimise bee health and honey production, while also tracking bee movements and foraging patterns. Read more.

Photo source Wattnow

IOT SYSTEM TRACKS REAL-TIME ENERGY CONSUMPTION

It’s often easiest to understand something when it is made visible. Tunisian company Wattnow is using that premise to help businesses and individuals maximise the efficiency of their energy usage. The Wattnow platform provides a visual monitoring system for all energy points in a building. This system makes it easy to see where the most use is occurring. Read more.

Words: Matthew Hempstead

To keep up with the latest innovations, sign up to our free newsletters or email info@springwise.com to get in touch.

6th May 2022

Reference

Smart threads make it easy to disassemble and recycle clothes
CategoriesSustainable News

Smart threads make it easy to disassemble and recycle clothes

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: In the drive to become more sustainable, the fashion industry faces a number of serious challenges. One major issue is how to recycle clothing that is made from several different materials. Taking the clothes apart in order to recycle their constituent materials is costly and time-consuming, and often leads to a large loss of usable material. Now, startup Resortecs has an innovative solution.

The company has designed ‘Smart Stitch’ threads that dissolve at different temperatures – either 150, 170, or 200 degrees Celsius. This makes it possible to disassemble garments in stages.

In addition to producing the threads, Resortecs has also developed a low-emission thermal disassembly system. Designed for recyclers, this system allows up to 500 kilogrammes of garments to be dismantled at one time.

By combining the threads with the thermal disassembly system, it is possible to recover up to 90 per cent of a garment’s fabric.

The benefits of this circular system could be extensive. In the fashion industry, around 50 per cent of carbon emissions and 75 per cent of water use occurs during the production and material processing stage. By making it easier to recycle, Resortec could reduce the amount of new material needed, leading to big savings in both carbon and water.

And there are also economic benefits to Resortec’s approach. The company claims its threads and disassembly system can deliver a saving of around €0.50 for each pair of jeans.

Springwise has spotted innovators taking a range of approaches to fashion sustainability, from the use of more sustainable materials to resale options for high-end items and closed-loop production methods. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

5th May 2022

Website: resortecs.com

Contact: resortecs.com/contact

Reference