If the goal of monitoring our natural resources is to protect the environment, shouldn’t the technology involved be sustainable as well?
If the goal of monitoring our natural resources is to protect the environment, shouldn’t the technology involved be sustainable as well? That’s what VP Nguyen, assistant professor in the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS), is aiming to achieve under a $600,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to repurpose old smartphones into cameras and sensors that monitor the environment using renewable energy, battery-free computing and biodegradable materials.
“We want to make sure that the impact of our system to the environment is minimal,” he says. “We reuse what people throw away, and then we make sure that in its afterlife, the device will not hurt the environment.”
People change out their phones every two to three years, on average, resulting in a lot of technological waste—or potential, from Nguyen’s perspective. Even an old phone that no longer holds a charge likely has a camera that is more powerful than current monitoring cameras, and costs between $50 and $75, instead of $200 or more.
Read More at: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Photo Credit: StartupStockPhotos via Pixabay
