Sem Dengue (Break Zika)

In 2016, a Brazilian start-up called Colab Tecnologia developed the Sem Dengue app to help contain the spread of the Dengue virus (Chikungunya and Zika) by crowdsourcing information about its carrier, Aedes aegypti (a tropical mosquito). Originally introduced in Notoroi, Brazil, the app enables residents to capture geolocated photographs of mosquitoes and larvae around their city. The data is shared with public sector agencies to indicate high-risk areas and prompt a visit from pest control officials. It also provides a platform for users to report their symptoms and detect whether they may be infected, data that can be used for epidemiological research. The app was adopted by two dozen other Brazilian cities and helps to bring awareness to residents’ urban surroundings and ecosystems while aiming to protect public health. While it is unclear how much impact this specific app has had on the prevalence of Zika in Brazil, it is one of many mobile apps that use crowdsourcing and mapping efforts to help prevent and respond to viral outbreaks. While such apps capture additional data on the geography of the virus and help to prevent its spread, they may also lead to some concerns around privacy as all data entered by users is available to partnered municipalities and government agencies.

More Ideas

Air Pollution Robot

The dangers of air pollution to human health are well documented, though the traditional methodology of collecting and reporting on sample lags behind the need to keep abreast and regulate air pollution in a meaningful amount of time. The use of drones and robots have been identified by researchers as resources that can be tweaked […]

Artificial Life, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Industry/Natural Commodities, Lifestyle, Monitoring

Telematic Rivers

Erica Kermani’s artwork seeks to answer a central question: if rivers were seeing an equal, living entity, would humans take issues like climate change threatening them more seriously? In his year-long art exhibition in 2017, Kermani, in collaboration with Diana Salcedo & Jeana Chesnik, created a new forum of interaction between humans and rivers to […]

Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies

Co-occupied Boundaries

Art is easily found in nature but rarely is what considered art today inherently natural. The concept of co-occupied mediums that serve to be both functional for nature and aesthetically pleasing to people is being actively explored by Asya Ilgun and Phil Ayres, from the CITAstudio at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In […]

Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies