MTC and NUST partner in San Tech Project

WINDHOEK, OCT. 11 – Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) recently partnered with the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in a unique augmented technology driven project, which aims to highlight the rich cultural heritage of the San people of Namibia.

The project – a NUST initiative – aims to promote Namibian socio-cultural, socio-economic and inequality reduction via inclusive and sustainable national innovation system amongst the San community.

According to Professor Winschiers Heike, the project team comprised 15 urban-based San youth whose objective was to produce accessories and fridge magnets with augmented reality audio and video features, depicting their cultural heritage, songs and scripts of their choices.

The first of these prototypes were demonstrated at the launch of the Tech Hub, showing relatively easy realization of market-ready products.

MTC’s Sponsorship and Promotions Manager, Joseph Mundjindi said it was remarkable and commendable that the youth of the marginalized community was stepping up to practically contribute to technological innovations.

“We learnt that the San participants in the project did not own smartphones, thus cannot provide audio and video productions for their augmented reality application nor test and validate the applications in real-life settings or demonstrate the technology to fellow San in order to increase the product range or to potential clients. As a supporting move to encourage technology based inventions, we are pleased to donate smartphones to the group, and we believe that it will in effect facilitate the innovation process and aid in testing their Application (s).”

Prof. Heike concluded that “a tourist market study has shown great potential, with numerous possible feature extensions for future developments, which we are exploring simultaneously. Simultaneously, a group of San has developed their own personal augmented reality accessories to enhance their well-being through the display of selected media depending on their current state. This project is the first of its kind where indigenous youth has been involved in marketable tech innovation production.” – NDN Staffer