The Echo Project
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The Echo Project aims to track real-time human actions indicative of foreign aid success by using low-cost sensors to generate "Echoes" of physical activities. These Echoes will be aggregated into standardized data streams that tell stories of aid progress through interactive visualizations. The initial phase will test this in New York City by collecting Echo data from a set of actions and making the data available through an API and displays to gauge shifts in public sentiment. If successful, the project will expand to more areas and data to directly connect communities through aid implementation activities.
The Echo Project
- 1. THE ECHO PROJECT and operation – of aid itself. In place of tracking dollars, or numbers of units delivered, we’ll track actual human activity. To accomplish this we’ll initiate the design of low-cost, lightweight, purpose-built devices that track SECTION I a finite number of physical activities. All in real time. The central problem of showing foreign aid success lies in the name itself: Collectively, the devices will utilize simple sensors, microcontrollers, and “foreign” aid. It’s being carried out hundreds or thousands of miles away, cellular telephones to transform physical actions and movements into difficult to see or touch. In a local community, if a neighbor’s house burns, data points. Human activities and movements, augmented with these we rush to help and see the success of our ongoing efforts to assist and devices, will generate “Echoes” with worldwide reach. rebuild. We feel empathy because of our proximity. What if we could make it possible to become as close as neighbors with distant people in Our goal is to facilitate the design and development of devices that track distant places? nearly any existing aid action. For example, tracking devices on a water pump will sense when the handle is operated and those on a syringe If we aim to raise awareness of the success of aid, we need to find ways sharps container will sense each time a syringe is discarded following a to shrink the world – we must directly connect communities separated vaccine injection. Likewise, pressure sensors in the entryway of a hospital by geography and build relationships between them. will detect the movements of people in and out of the building. This is the goal of The Echo Project, to enable the And these technologies are not future thought; they exist today, and everyday human actions of people to echo across the we’ll work with the best of industry partners like Green Goose (http:// globe as an indication of aid success. We’ll accomplish greengoose.com/) for low-cost hardware solutions. this by measuring actions that have previously been immeasurable, establishing a collection of real-time data 2. DATA GENERATING ECHOES streams, and using that information to tell meaningful stories of foreign aid progress. When a device is activated by physical action, it generates an Echo. Echoes are our universal file format – no matter the source, the data is 1. TRACKING ACTION IN A RADICALLY NEW WAY kept standardized and readable. As large data sets become more ever-present in the public sector, In its simplest form, an Echo represents basic on/off activity – nothing analyzing them will create new opportunities for innovation. But analysis more than a binary bit (either there is an action, or there is not). But an of existing data from aid donations will not yield revolutionary insight and Echo can also contain a name, a text description, GPS location, photos, subsequent perception change. To break new ground, we must tap into and more. The unified data packaging will maintain consistency across new types of data. many different aid efforts and keep data contribution, organization, and access simple. The Echo Project will adhere to open source development We aim to measure actions indicative of foreign aid success; principles and include a robust API, allowing any web-connected or simply tracking the arrival of an aid package at its delivery site will cellular device to send or receive Echoes. never be enough. Instead, we’ll track the actual implementation –
- 2. 3. WHY DO THIS? STORYTELLING. SECTION II By tracking activity and aggregating real-time data, we’ll create a unique To adequately validate The Echo Project, a Phase I experimental plan window into the world of aid implementation and its success – but this must first test the delivery of action oriented data sets in a controlled, data would be useless without meaningful display. For this reason, we localized area. For this initial trial, we will identify a set number of actions provide the other side of the Echo equation: Echo Streams. Our open throughout the New York City area and collect corresponding data API will allow anyone to tap into The Echo Project, requesting customized output in a custom developed server-side database. data streams such as those based on location, aid organization, type of activity, etc. The granted $100,000 allotment will be initially divided between hardware purchases from preferred technology partners (server hosting, We’ll create standardized data widgets to display these streams (for wireless communication devices, sensors + microprocessors) and internal use by online organizations that can’t commit resources to building billable hours devoted to design and development of The Echo Project their own) but the goal is to fuel a wide variety of data visualizations, “platform” (functionality and user experience design; database modeling interactive experiences, web and mobile applications, and public artworks and API development; etc.) and its associated experimental output created by third parties that convey the progress and effect of foreign aid. interactive displays and experiences. The Echo Project makes it simple to add a data layer to any product, We estimate that 15-20% of the grant will go towards purchasable interface, art project or event. Imagine drinking fountains that activate hardware with the remaining budget allocated to an eclectic team of when clean water is used in the developing world; an electric toothbrush user experience designers, creative technologists, and front-end and that receives a partial charge each time a child is vaccinated; and twinkling server-side developers. Pending budget flexibility following initial testing, lights in the hands of an audience at a concert that blink as patients move subsequent trials will be attempted in developing areas. throughout a new hospital. By giving people the ability to easily tap into this stream, we allow data to be stitched into the foundations of everyday At the end of the testing period, success will be measured via the life, creating daily encounters with the progress of foreign aid. accuracy of collected Echoes, integration into The Echo Project platform and resulting API, and impact of corresponding visualizations and tools created. These customized experiences will be publicly disseminated to measure shift in sentiment upon user engagement. Upon completion, overall program efficacy will be established and, if successful, widened to larger population areas, increased data sets, and more varied user action.