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| A BRCK. Mobility comes in many guises. Ushahidi |
The “cloud”
is great for places that enjoy uninterrupted power and internet connections.
But for large swathes of the world, where blackouts are common and connections
unreliable, accessing files stored remotely on the internet is a massive
hassle. Forget about downloading Adobe Creative Suite. Simply working on a
Google doc can be aggravating.
That’s why
the people behind Ushahidi, open disaster-mapping software, built BRCK
(pronounced “brick.”) BRCK is a wi-fi router and mobile modem in one, with
eight hours of battery life to keep it going when the power runs out. It can
sit in an office connected by ethernet and switch seamlessly to a 3G or 4G
connection if the line goes down. It can also support up to 20 wireless
connections and has 16 gigabytes of storage so it can work as a back-up network
drive. Connect it to some processing power, such as a Raspberry Pi cheap
computer, and you have yourself a mini-server.
Erik
Herzman, an Ushahidi co-founder, dreamed up BRCK more than a year ago as a
solution to connectivity problems at the iHub, Nairobi’s best-known space for
hackers to congregate. The result is a working prototype and a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that’s raised more than a third of the $125,000 target in
less than five days. What makes BRCK stand out from Kickstarter’s clutter is
that it solves a very real need: the iHub, for instance, currently has four
internet providers to ensure connectivity, and a BRCK could lessen the need for
so much redundancy.
Philip
Walton, who heads software for BRCK, says there is more to the device than
back-up internet for offices. It can work anywhere there is a mobile connection
and can also be plugged into solar power chargers, making it well-suited for
field work. Unlike similar devices like the MiFi, it is designed to handle the
heat and dust typical of the developing world.
Ushahidi is
making 2,000 devices for the initial, Kickstarter run. Once the team has
mass-produced the first version, it aims to bring the price down from the
present $200 (early funders get it for $150) so that the price-sensitive market
at which it is aimed can afford to buy it.
The idea,
according to Walton, is for the BRCK to function as one component of a larger
ecosystem of development. “A brick is component of a structure. It’s not the
end thing itself. So this idea that together with other bricks and mortar, it
can form something is much greater than itself,” he said over the phone from
Nairobi.
The device
is made to work with third-party hardware and applications; it has an application programming interface to make it easier for people to write software around it.
Walton sees it being used as a remote monitoring device for climate-data
collection or anything else people can think of, and not just in Kenya. “In
building a solution for Africa, you have to take into account that just getting
across town requires a four-wheel-drive,” says Walton. “So if I build something
that survives in these conditions here in Africa, it’s going to survive
anywhere.”
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