Interview with Senegal

The second interview that I participated in included individuals from Senegal, Africa. Being able to interact one on one with people from a different country was an eye opening experience. No news channel or newspaper can fully depict the struggles that one country may face. Hearing their experiences first hand gave me a better understanding of Senegal and a new level of appreciation for this project.

Poverty in New York City is quite different than poverty in rural African villages. The Senegal developers explained how the goal of their application is to reduce poverty, to improve technologies and to create a sense of awareness among citizens. One of the main struggles in Senegal is getting around the capital. Dakar is growing every day, yet there is no official directional system that provides valid information. Many times, the people of Senegal are given the wrong information and travel further out of their way using taxis, buses and cars. This contributes to the release of green house gas emissions and pollution. To solve this problem, the developers want to create an Augmented Reality Program, similar to a virtual guide like IButterly (Link) , Google maps, or Metro Paris (Link ). Métro Paris, specifically developed for the iPhone 3GS, enables you to visualize subway stations and points of interest.. Through the developer’s new smart phone application idea, people can use cameras on their phones to locate local pharmacies, hospitals and other desired places. Direct routes allow easy travelling and will reduce pollution and energy consumption. Carpooling at these destinations was also an alternative that can promote environmental awareness if integrated into the application.

Because smart phones are not accessible to a large population in Africa, an SMS application may be a better solution. Originally, we discussed creating a message that would send you the address of your desired location in response to sending your current position. However, it is not possible to do this because SMS messaging cannot translate location, such as the nearest marketplace. Even if it was possible, the individual would still need to find a direct route on their own. Instead, an SMS solution could be successful in times of danger. All a person would need to do is click a button to send a mass message alerting all phonebook contacts and local police stations. Another idea related to protecting the people is creating an Android application. Although this development is similar to the SMS solution, it differs in that it will send your position if you are in danger and a message to the nearest police district. Here, the application is a function of both location and danger. Either way, the SMS and Android ideas can create a safer environment and present important information in real time.