MIT project traces the afterlife of discarded devices

There is an afterlife for discarded obsolete electronic equipment like netbooks and smartphones —and the proof is displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A project by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) tracked used computers and came up with images of the gadgets' new owners in developing countries. "We turned used laptops and other electronic devices into independent reporters that document their ‘second life’, sending us images and GPS coordinates from remote places. The information they report back offers first-hand perspectives - glimpses into e-waste recycling villages, local thrift stores, public schools and libraries - that prompt a reflection on our society’s relationship with our electronic devices," said the team behind the project, dubbed "Backtalk". The project is now exhibited at the MoMA as the exhibit "Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects." According to the research team, it focused on two common scenarios that apply to obsolete electronics: e-waste disposal in urban centers, and the reuse of functioning devices in developing countries. "By collecting information form these devices we set out to investigate one of today’s key unknown stories – that of global e-waste," it said. A report on CNET said that the MIT Senseable City Lab researchers sent refurbished netbooks to developing countries via nonprofit organizations. With the new owners' consent, the MIT team set up the "discarded" computers to take images and record their locations, then send the data to MIT. The CNET report said the researchers used the open-source anti-theft software "Prey" to capture the data. The software records a computer's GPS coordinates and takes a picture with the computer's camera every 20 minutes. — TJD, GMA News