Filed under: News
Rose Shulman and the Open Mind foundation are tackling the problem of bringing information access to areas too physically or politically remote to sustain an Internet connection. The project is called
Question Box, and it consists of one button and a speaker. Users in remote villages can push the button and have their questions answered by a multilingual operator with Internet access.
Open Mind has teamed up with National Institute of Information Technology in New Delhi to install two Question Boxes so far, in India's Ethida and Poolpur villages (roughly near New Delhi). The units are centrally located, near shops where they'll get the most use. Residents of the villages have already asked about topics as diverse as cricket scores, university exam results, and how to get a personal loan.
Question Box will expand as it gains funding, and hopes to allow villagers to dial the system from their home telephones. We think this is a fantastic idea: information should be available to people whether their infrastructure allows for an Internet connection or not. Look for Question Box to keep breaking down language and technology barriers in the future.
[via
BoingBoing]
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