During the “Ekos Hackathon: Hands in the Forest,” held by Natura Campus in Belém from March 16 to 20, the 32 participants from various Brazilian states were divided into 8 groups to transform all the knowledge they accumulated after interactions with consumers, consultants, and local supplier communities of Natura into prototypes of solutions to connect Nature with people's daily lives.
We have briefly talked about the "Magical Backyard," the project chosen as the grand winner of this edition. Now it's time to learn more about the groups and ideas that were prototyped in the Amazon:
Group: Chaos
Members: Leandro Correia, Pedro Bulla, Karen Chavez, Joice Savietto
Project: The project presented by the Chaos group consisted of an application and a device aimed at encouraging users to engage in more outdoor activities and disconnect from their electronic devices, such as cell phones, during moments of relaxation. The application, by cross-referencing data such as geolocation, social media information, and other user preferences, would suggest outdoor activities in nearby locations based on the above information and evaluations of these activities by other users. The device, on the other hand, would stay at the user's home (or another location of the user's choice), and when the user's cell phone was placed on it, it would play nature sounds and display holograms of natural images (such as, but not limited to, trees, Amazonian fruits, etc.), in addition to charging the phone and putting it in “sleep” mode, allowing users to disconnect and relax.
Group: Colhetivo (Touch of the Forest)
Members: Samir Hamra, Leonardo Adami, Naíza Vieira, David Silva
Project: The Colhetivo group presented the “Touch of the Forest,” a multi-sensory board game that aims to convey information about natural assets (for example, fruits), particularly Amazonian ones, to children and other interested audiences in a fun way. Players would navigate a board as they correctly identified each of the 12 natural assets arranged in cavities on the board and numbered. For this purpose, each player could, in each round, use cards that would allow them to engage their senses of touch, smell, hearing, or sight to try to discover which natural asset was in question. In this process, they would have access to tactile, visual, olfactory, and auditory sensory stimuli, such as the texture of the asset, photos of the plant or its collection site, aromas, etc., and even testimonials from local community members about the characteristics of that asset. The group's idea is to allow the game to be customizable, meaning there could be different groups of fruits to be used, and the player could even easily create their own set. The game is not limited to a board game format and could even be extended to a virtual platform.
Group: Decompõe (Green Point)
Members: Desy Frezet, Luiza Barbosa, Sérgio Tafner, Tauan Bernardo
Project: The “Green Point” project, developed by the Decompõe group, presents a solution to the problem of the lack of green areas in urban centers. The physical part of the project consists of a modular garden, particularly vertical, easy to assemble, made with recycled or recyclable materials and with automatic irrigation. Each person who installs a kit becomes part of a network of nature enthusiasts who can point out their “Green Dreams” – setting up flower beds in neglected areas, creating gardens in schools, planting flowers, among others. The platform records the dreams and calculates what is necessary to realize them – number of people, cost, time required – and invites nearby network members to participate. With each action taken (implementation of green dreams or installation of kits), a green point appears on the regional map, visually showing the impact generated.
Group: Sense! (KYA)
Members: Edmar Gomes, Guilherme Atan, Susan Moreno, Rafael Guimarães
Project: With the goal of technologically empowering people and facilitating the sharing of experiences with Nature through Augmented Reality, the “Sense!” group presented KYA, a solution to democratize access to augmented reality. The project makes it easy to scan objects, such as elements of nature, in 3 dimensions and insert them into videos and images in the form of augmented reality. According to the group, this form of experience sharing has the potential to generate greater appreciation of sociobiodiversity, increase learning efficiency, and technological empowerment.
Group: VirVer
Members: Isa Sobrinho, Geisel Alves, Marcos Bustamante, Ingrid Fang
Project: The VirVer Project demonstrated, in its presentation, its concept for a moment of relaxation, anywhere, through a connection with nature. The device to generate this experience consists of glasses or a mask or another applicable object, with built-in headphones and a voice recognition system that, through user commands, transports them to natural environments through the sounds and aromas released. Although the user uses the device with their eyes closed, some lights are activated inside the device at a frequency to stimulate the brain through alpha waves, helping the user to relax. The project also features a virtual network, where users can unlock new experiences related to the natural places they have visited and share this experience with others through the device.
Group: Water Lily (Eco Therapy)
Members: Luz Ochoa, Douglas Freitas, Renato Rodrigues, Rogerio Ruivo
Project: The Water Lily group brought a virtual reality experience aimed at stimulating individual well-being in relation to nature, bringing it to those who are distant or unable to reach it. The proposed kit for the project would contain virtual reality glasses, magical textures that would provide tactile stimulation to the user, and an application that would control the experience. The application would offer various options for 360º virtual reality video and sound experiences, viewed through the glasses, which would also release related aromas. Additionally, the magical textures would simulate tactile and temperature sensations.
Group: White Paper (Naturino)
Members: Edson Renel, Rafael Bento, Fabrícia Leme, Felipe Móz
Project: The White Paper group proposed creating a lasting relationship with nature from an early age through education. To this end, they created Naturino, a group of kits for assembling science and technology experiments using elements from nature, through which children or other applicable audiences could engage with content from physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, electronics, and programming, as well as discover more about fruits and elements of Amazonian culture, but which could be expanded to other ecosystems. The project also features a virtual platform where each user can connect and share different projects they have completed with elements from the kit.
Group: Magical Backyard
Members: José Neto, Luiza Voll, Marcela Porto, Paulo Paciência
Project: The grand winner of the Ekos Hackathon was based on a common problem faced by many people, including themselves, which is the desire to plant and have a garden in their backyard, but not knowing exactly how. The project proposes a seed subscription club, with seeds chosen and sent on a pre-defined schedule (for example, monthly), which also comes with sensor kits that allow the plants to “communicate” with the person who planted them, providing information such as whether they need water, more light, in addition to an interface that shows when they will be ready for consumption. The group took care to use technology in a way that does not replace the person's contact with their garden through any kind of automation, but rather facilitates it, restoring people's connection with nature in their daily lives.
