What if I told you an aesthetically stunning solar-powered bench could wirelessly charge your device, provide Wi-Fi and (perhaps most critically) track the “health” of your local environment? Would you be more curious if I explained there was a public safety aspect here too, as it tapped into an entire network of emergency call stations, making them available at the mere push of a button?
Smart city startup Strawberry Energy’s co-founder Milos Milisavljevic is harnessing the incredible power of the internet of things (IoT) with the Strawberry Bench.
For a fresh episode of new tech-for-good series The Trailblazers (backed by Telefonica) I shared a bench with Milos to talk about his aim to transform public spaces into hubs for clean energy and intelligent sources of information.
This bench is primed for communal urban areas such as parks, playgrounds and outdoor office areas – and is chock full of sensors that will track temperature, humidity, air quality and pressure, and even noise levels. See the bench in action in our video below.
I see benefits here not just for everyday citizens, but local councils, community groups and businesses that want to make their spaces cleaner, smarter and safer. It made sense to the judges of Verge Accelerate in San Francisco (Strawberry Energy won a prestigious award there in 2014) and the World Technology awards (it was a finalist in the environment category), which is no mean feat.
I’ve interviewed quite a few smart city project founders and most have confessed to coming up against some major roadblocks in bringing their concepts to market. Given this area of technology involves infrastructure deployment, approvals from city councils and regulatory oversight, I asked Milos for an honest view of his experience of taking the bench from idea to seeing it live on the ground.
The importance of a solid infrastructure network in fuelling our increasingly digital world is something that we are investigating in Telefonica’s upcoming Global Index on Digital Life. When it launches in March, the index of 34 countries worldwide will reveal the relationship between access, openness, confidence and entrepreneurship in establishing a balanced digital economy. The findings should give governments and local councils the knowledge they need to judge new concepts, such as the Strawberry Bench.
Milos himself already has ambitious plans for extending the reach of the product. He’s looking to offer smart city infrastructure to sports arenas, large retail spaces and university campuses.
With the Strawberry Bench bringing the IoT to outdoor spaces – 400,000 users and counting – this is indeed a shining example of tech being leveraged for wider social good.
I’d also hazard a guess the bench might be quite the conversation starter among strangers. While you’re wolfing down a sandwich and charging your device, the novel nature of this piece of outdoor furniture could help break the ice. You might even walk away with a business contact or two.
Shivvy Jervis is producer of The Trailblazers and Digital Futures. Follow her on Twitter @shivvyjervis
The Trailblazers is backed by Telefonica. Filming for series one has wrapped, but get in touch with @shivvyjervis if you’d like to nominate yourself for series two or to collaborate on the next edition being filmed in 2016.
This advertisement feature is paid for by Telefonica.
