Project Future Sense started with the optimistic view that the cost of technology and hardware was dropping and the world is becoming increasingly connected. The team initially focused on human needs within the water and sanitation, agriculture, health and energy sectors of emerging markets. Through research we found a lot of opportunity in agriculture, and specifically how knowledge was shared by smallholder farmers growing local crops in East Africa and Southeast Asia.

Because of the project’s blue sky nature, we designed our own lens or metrics to aid in decision making. We judged ideas against a clear and actionable value proposition, whether or not we had a partner to execute, potential for scalability, and the viability of the technology.

Our final product was called the Betel Meter and helped farmers in Northern Myanmar apply consistent amounts of moisture on crops from farm to farm. The device accounted for variable rainfall in any region and provided LED feedback to the farmer. One light meant to keep irrigation open for another 5 minutes, two lights for 10 minutes, and so on.

You can read a full article I wrote about the prototypes here and more on the project here.