Smart Lenses for Smart Cities
AIUSMA37 MakerEd and Technocreative Project — Master EdTech
Smart City Vigilance — Design Thinking Our Way to a Smart City Safety Device.
https://sanabria-z.medium.com/smart-city-vigilance-833c8aae9efd
Introduction:
Our generation has witnessed global challenges that change how we experience and navigate social contexts. Each country faces particular issues, and the communities aim to find innovative solutions to improve their local ecosystems; however, technology as part of our daily lives brings both solutions and concerns into a rapidly changing environment.
According to the World Economic Forum, “The world is about to experience an exponential rate of change through the rise of software and services,” Based on the report in 2015, there are vital shifts or tipping points that this generation is and will experience.
Kalus Shwab also supports the importance of understanding the megatrends mentioned in the World Economic Forum report; Shwab categorized these megatrends and provided a deep analysis and the impact and outcome of each tipping point. The main concern in the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Chapter 2, “Drivers” by Shwab, is the gap between technology and humans. According to Shwab, Innovation is a complex social process. How can we assure that the innovation is driven to the best possible outcome? Trust is the key to successfully implementing new “tools” in our society.
Our scenario is in Guadalajara, the second-largest city in Mexico. Many initiatives and projects nurture the city’s cultural, artistic, and innovative foundation sponsored by state funds and private and public resources. Guadalajara is a center of active tourism and innovation; however, the city still faces multiple societal issues.
Mexico implemented a law in 2007 known as the General Law of Women’s Access to a Life Free of Violence (Ley General de Acceso de las Mujeres a una Vida Libre de Violencia). This law provides the National System the power to prevent, address and punish violence against women. Domestic Violence is a public problem that affects society in different levels, but it is a crime that often is difficult to prove until the victim is killed. As a certified Domestic Violence advocate, I witnessed cases where women couldn’t prove that there was constant physical abuse in their home.
Could Guadalajara implement technology to provide security in these cases? What if we have a tool that offers factual scenarios where a woman can testify against an abuser? The community needs to step back and start from a local, more inclusive process to find the right solution for a complex issue.
Tim Brown, Founder of IDEO, says that “We need new choices — new products that balance the needs of individuals and of society as a whole; new ideas that tackle the global challenges of health, poverty, and education; new strategies that result in differences that matter and a sense of purpose that engages everyone affected by them.” Our team has decided to create a prototype to minimize violence against women as we are using IDEO’s design kit to prototype and develop our tool.
We started with an “Expert Interview” from the Inspiration phase. It can help us understand Guadalajara's gaps, laws, and innovation more extensively. Experts on the subject can provide us with insightful information and a different perspective of the critical institutions in the community.
We will interview the Mayor of Guadalajara, The police Chief of Guadalajara, and the community’s primary faith and non-profit leaders.
After talking with experts, it is time to think of ideas. Brainstorm Rules from the Ideation phase is an excellent way to gather new information and transform them into ideas. We need to have rules to assure that the brainstorming is valuable and practical; some of them are: Defer judgment, encourage wild ideas, build on the opinions of others, etc. The only way to have the best idea is to be opened to exploring all types of ideas.
After deciding and working on the idea, our next step is to get feedback from those who will use the tool. Getting feedback is a continuous process, and it is essential to find ways to improve the idea. After creating our prototype, we want to evaluate the concept and define successful measurements. This process will also include the community, key partners, and leaders who use our product.
Our process took us to create a Smart Contact lens for 18–23 years old in Guadalajara.
The contact lens is part of the initiative of Smar Cities and tackles some of the challenges mentioned in the community. Our team has designed a prototype based on The Technological Tipping Points Report, including “Shift 4: Wearable Internet, Shift 8: The Internet of and for Things, and Shift 10: Smart Cities,” Having a tool that records assaults, kidnappings and crime could reduce the number of victims dramatically and provide justice in the court.
On the other hand, there are many questions and concerns about unlimited recording and the law of privacy in Mexico. Even if there are big questions about the control of the smart lens, There is already a big industry for smart lenses that is expected to reach $7.2 billion (USD) by 2023.
Personal reflection:
This assignment was engaging and practical. Global Shapers from the World Economic Forum was one of the first places I learned the importance of creating a local network to address local and regional challenges. As a Global Shaper, I value the innovation of solutions to improve our communities. Each city has a Global Shaper that creates projects and initiatives for the community; projects vary from responding to disasters to building inclusive communities. I learned that the Guadalajara Hub is active and currently working on over nine projects to support its community.
Our cities can build a strong network and we can use Human-Centered Design to assure that our products and services are taken into consideration by the community that will be affected by the outcome.
References:
Tritle, A. (2021, December 7). Wearables for the Eye: Smart Contact Lenses — Omnidya AI. Medium. https://medium.com/omnidya-ai/wearables-for-the-eye-smart-contact-lenses-bc8bda3be83
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (n.d.). Refworld | Mexico: Domestic violence, including legislation; protection and support services offered to victims by the state and civil society, including Mexico City (2015-July 2017). Refworld. https://www.refworld.org/docid/59c116e24.html
Brown, T. (2019a). Change by Design, Revised and Updated: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation (Revised, Updated ed.). Harper Business.
