So perhaps we should edit the script to reflect
more about the
open-source aspect of the technology and the fact that we're publishing how
to make your own over the internet. People could wire their own sensors as
cheaply or expensively as they like and we could provide the software at
some nominal cost - the software aspect of the project is the most
innovative/important part and we could eventually monetize expansion of the
project through metadata analysis if users choose to share their
information (anonymously) with gardenmesh.
Anyway, we're running out of time to finish and submit. Is anyone around
to help out today?
-Mario
On Aug 12, 2017 10:27, "Jorrit Poelen" <jhpoelen(a)xs4all.nl> wrote:
Hey y'all -
Just got back from a 3 wk hike in Oregon wildernesses, so my response to
the script is a bit delayed.
Cool to see that gardenmesh project is active and developing in sudoroom
and CCL communities.
If I understand the script correctly, it roughly claims:
(a) home gardening (similar to "victory gardens",
https://en.wikipedia
.org/wiki/Victory_garden) is the solution to feeding 9 billion people
(b) if low-cost sensors where available, you would enable the creation
of more "[...] sustainable home-use vegetable and community gardens in food
deserts across the US [...]".
Re: (a) -
I'd at least expect a reference to Victory Gardens, a pretty successful
effort that, without any sensors of sorts, has said to have produced about
a third of veggies in the US during ww2 (via wikipedia, Kallen, Stuart A.
(2000). The War at Home. San Diego: Lucent Books. ISBN 1-56006-531-1.).
Re: (b) -
First, I have some doubt that a cheap sensors enables the creation of
victory gardens. I imagine that a lack of desire, willingness or skills to
grow your own veggies cannot be solved by getting a "cheap sensor". Do you
really think that a Garden Gnode in North India is going to help create a
sustainable community garden?
Secondly, I think that the idea of a "cheap sensor" suggests that there
is a producer of cheap sensors and a group of consumers of those sensors.
To me, this no longer embodies the idea I liked about this project in
specific and sudomesh/sudoroom in general - a community project in Oakland
that brings folks together to openly educate each other, socialize,
experiment and get stuff working. In my mind, the idea of "cheap", creates
some expectation that this project competing with other sensor producers
(along the lines of Jehan's comment), which would create a dynamic of "if
it doesn't work, call customer service", instead of, "if it doesn't
work,
come over, share what is going on and help figure out how to fix it."
Also, if you choose to go for "cheap", I would like to mention that the
cost of a sensor is not just the cost of the hardware. It also includes,
software/hardware design and implementation, education, production,
communication, office space, legal, customer service, etc etc. Taking into
account these costs associated with traditional commercial exploitation of
a market, you might find that a $50 sensor bought at walfart is not as
expensive as you might think.
I hope my comments are somewhat constructive and I am curious to hear
thoughts of the community about this.
thx,
-jorrit
On Sat, 2017-08-12 at 03:07 -0700, Divine Adesida wrote:
Rough Script:
Hi All,
Sorry, this is late. I had Jury Duty for most of the week.
Everything I re-wrote/edited is in *Italics* and *bolded*.
I also deleated a few things.
Please feel free to use whatever you'd like.
Cheers,
Divine
*Script*:
Cell 1: My name is Mario Gabiati, *I'd like to share an idea that I
believe will help** us* feed *the *9 billion and growing number of
people across this globe.
Cell 2: (we were planning to show some poorly producing community
garden plots here as b-roll while I talked more about the program). Feeding
9 billion people on 100% industrialized agriculture is impossible *and
unsustainable, but that is the path the global agricultural industry has
been on until recently, with studies showing that more and more people*
are turning to home gardening as a way to get fresher, more* nutritious
*foods in their diets.* In the U.S., the* popularity of community and
home gardening has increased over *200%** since 2008 (link
<https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/3819/>)*, and now over a third *(Where
does this statistic come from? Please cite your data)* of US households
are growing *home-use vegetable gardens**. Now with the growing trends
of home-use vegetable gardens, how can we feed the 9 billion plus people
across the globe?** By learning to feed one. For me, this issue hits
home as I have my own home-use vegetable garden and have always had trouble
sustaining vegetable growth. I'd always wonder if I was using the right
soil, if my vegetables had enough water or if the soil was receiving enough
sunlight. Basically, I needed help or my vegetable garden
wouldn't survive. **I began looking for monitoring devices that would
analyze the data I needed from my garden and be easily accessible when I
needed it, say to buy the next batch of garden soil. Unfortunately,
everything I found sold in stores or an Amazon was too expensive, ranging *anywhere
from 50-100 dollars! Imagine, however, if one could *monitor these
home-use vegetable and community gardens* *with* nothing more than a $5
sensor and* a* smartphone?
Cell 3: (*M*: *now that I'm writing this out, we may want to change the
order - the intent was to briefly touch on the world-wide implications of
this technology, and our desire to bring it to nations where home gardening
may mean the difference between surviving and starving. D: This isn't a bad
idea I've kept it in because of the way I structred the above. *).
*That* very low price to build our sensor means *affordable* technology
in building *sustainable home-use vegetable and community gardens in
food deserts across the US and Western & Eastern Europe.* *This
technology could also be brought to places* where growing one's own
food means the difference between survival or starvation; places like *Northern
India and China, areas of the world where agriculture is the backbone of
the economy and a high percentage of the population use cell phones.*
Cell 4: (this will be b-roll of us installing the prototypes at East Bay
Vivarium on Friday and/or lush community garden plots with our sensors
in them). Incredibly easy to install, just activates and place - already I'*m
receiving* real-time data.
Cell 5: (*Info-graphic - yes!*). This technology requires no
configuration, it simply begins serving data as soon as it's installed,
giving *an individual* real-time access to their garden's data. *Eventually,
with the permission of each sensor's owner, our team would aggregate all
the data received from every available* and* active* sensor to begin
building comprehensive micro-climate maps that give suggestions on the
* types* of plants and vegetables* that grow best in each *sensor's
specific *region*.
Cell 6: (closure, a reiteration of the feeding 9 billion theme) Feeding
9 billion people isn't such a huge problem *when it begins with
learning to feed one. **Would you buy a sensor for $10 if you knew a
sensor just like yours would be given to a family in India, Yemen or
Rwanda?* *(**I picked countries that have a high % of their population
that usages cell-phone, but also have a high agricultural backbone would
actually use the technology)* Please visit our website below to learn
more!
On Mon, Aug 7, 2017 at 6:53 PM, Mario Gabiati <mgabiati(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Hi Divine,
Thank you for getting in contact, YES, I am very interested in your
help! We were busy at the lab making the prototypes, so I apologize for not
getting back to you then! Here is a link to the gardenmesh video I showed
you in the meeting (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJJiGtuPJF4). This
version doesn't have any of the text overlays that you saw but I think it's
helpful anyway. I have copied my cameraman Vassil, and the sudoroom
listserve so we can all benefit from your wisdom!
I obviously have no professional tools, but to help visualize what we
want to put together, I've made a little 6-pc storyboard, nothing is set in
stone though.
The main points we want to make in the video about the idea are 1) the
very cheap price, 2) the access to your own real-time data without any
configuration, 3) our plan to build philanthropy into the business model -
buy one, give one to a needy community, and 4) how this data can be used to
make better choices
In order to clench the NatGeo grant, we have to make it all pertain to
feeding 9 billion people.
Rough Script:
Cell 1: Hi, I'm Mario Gabiati, and I'm here to tell you about a great
idea that will help us feed 9 billion people, which sounds like a big
problem, but it starts with feeding just one. I was having a lot of
trouble feeding myself from my own garden because I was guessing all the
time; guessing what plants would do well in my garden, guessing they'd be
okay when I left for work or on vacation. I wanted to find something that
would let me monitor my garden when I was away or sleeping, but nothing on
the market could monitor everything I wanted, and were much more expensive
than I wanted to spend; anywhere from 50-100 dollars!
Cell 2: (we were planing to show some poorly producing community garden
plots here as b-roll while I talked more about the program). Feeding 9
billion people on 100% industrialized agriculture is impossible and
probably unhealthy, and studies show that people are turning to home
gardening as a way to get fresher, more wholesome food. The popularity of
community and home gardening has increased substantially, and now over a
third of US households are growing food! But what if we could grow even
more food in our homes and community gardens using nothing more than a $5
sensor and our smartphone?
Cell 3: (now that I'm writing this out, we may want to change the order
- the intent was to briefly touch on the world-wide implications of this
technology, and our desire to bring it to nations where home gardening may
mean the difference between surviving and starving). The very low price to
build our sensor means that we can bring this technology out of the US and
bring it to places where growing your own food may mean the difference
between survival and starvation or malnutrition. Would you buy a sensor
for $10 if you knew a sensor just like yours would be given to a family in
Venezuela or Yemen?
Cell 4: (this will be b-roll of us installing the prototypes at East Bay
Vivarium on Friday and/or lush community garden plots with our sensors in
them). Incredibly easy to install, just activate and place - and already I
can receive real-time data about my garden.
Cell 5: (Info-graphic? white-board animation? i can use all the ideas
you have!). This technology requires no configuration, it simply begins
serving data as soon as it's installed, giving you real-time access to your
garden's data. With your permission, we can aggregate this information
with all the other sensors on earth and begin building comprehensive
micro-climate maps that can help give you suggestions on what kinds of
plants and vegetables to grow in your specific area.
Cell 6: (closure, reiteration of the feeding 9 billion theme) Feeding 9
billion people isn't such a huge problem when it's fun and easy to grow a
percentage of your own food and these sensors make growing your own food
much easier at a price that brings it into the reach of billions of people!
Please visit our website below to learn more information, and lets mesh!
[image: Inline image 1]
Anyway, this is what I've got so far, let me know what your thoughts
are! Thank you!
-Mario
On Sun, Aug 6, 2017 at 3:51 PM, Divine Adesida <divine.adesida(a)gmail.com
wrote:
Hi Mario,
It's Divine.
We discussed that I would help with the script for the video this
afternoon.
Did you want to send me what you had?
Cheers,
Divine
--
Divine Adesida
--
Divine Adesida
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