Design That Matters
Cambridge, MA
02142
USA
+1 877.820.8479
info@designthatmatters.org
The Kinkajou Microfilm Projection System is a low-cost teaching tool designed to improve and expand access to education by transforming night-time learning environments in rural, non-electrified settings. The projector represents an innovative combination of cutting-edge hardware, "abandoned" technology and the creative re-purposing of existing products.
The Kinkajou light source is a five-watt white LED, a rugged, high-efficiency alternative to the fragile, expensive incandescent bulbs used in most commercial projectors. The LED is rated to last 100,000 hours, or the equivalent of eleven years of continuous operation. As an alternative to expensive glass lenses, the Kinkajou optics assembly cleverly incorporates seven plastic lenses adapted from existing "View-Master" toys. The resulting projection system can cast an image up to three meters wide from microfilm onto practically any flat surface--big enough for an entire classroom to read.
By combining microfilm with LEDs, DtM has found a novel application for what was considered an obsolete technology. Microfilm is durable and cheap. A microfilm reel of 10,000 pages--enough to accommodate an entire reference library--costs just US$6. Local language curriculum and accompanying images can easily and inexpensively be published to the microfilm spools.
The design is optimized for its intended market of rural communities in developing countries, with simple user cues and a rugged, dust-proof housing. The design requires no tools more complicated than pocket change for maintenance, and includes a battery, charge controller and solar panel for off-grid use. At volumes of 10,000 units, the entire projection system costs US$150.
Through DtM’s collaborative design process, engineering and business students at MIT, Worcester Polytechnic, Babson College and Cambridge University in the UK collaborated in the design of a rugged, lightweight, low-power projection system, which uses a microfilm cassette to store up to 10,000 images at a fraction of the cost of paper books. The system also employs low-cost plastic optics adapted from Fisher-Price toys and state-of-the-art LED lighting to project an image large enough for the entire classroom to read. In 2004, with funding from USAID, World Education implemented Kinkajou Projectors in literacy centers in 45 Malian villages. After two years of use, over 3,000 adults have learned to read using these projectors.
Publicly available: yes
Countries where available: Worldwide
Price (USD): 150
Available online: yes
Countries where spare parts can be purchased: Please contact manufacturer