Giz Mag 21 July 2011 / MIT`s `BackTalk` project tracks discarded

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ELECTRONICS
MIT's 'backtalk' project tracks discarded
electronics
By Pawel Piejko
07:56 July 21, 2011
5 Pictures
MIT's backtalk project aims at tracing the journeys of discarded electronics by
applying location trackers to a number of products
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Have you ever wondered what happens to obsolete electronics once they are
discarded? How far do they travel and what are the "second lives" of donated
computers? MIT's backtalk project aims to answer those questions simply by
tracing discarded devices with location trackers applied to a number of e-waste
items. The tracking data will be available to the public in the form of real-time
visualizations, exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art in New York from July 24.
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Rapid changes in technology combined with the ever-quickening pace of the
introduction of new products to the market, makes e-waste a critical problem. The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that in 2009 there were 2.37
million tons (2.15 million tonnes) of electronic products ready for end-of-life
management in the USA, according to a report published this May. However, only
around 25 percent of those products were properly recycled.
Soft, submersible memory
device created
Sometimes e-waste must travel long distances to the proper recycling sites. For
example, there are only 13 facilities in the world, all in Asia, certified to recycle
cathode ray tubes that were utilized in old TVs, MIT researchers report.
To track the journeys made by e-waste, MIT's Senseable City Lab has developed
two types of tracking techniques. Working with several NGOs who ship used,
donated computers from the US to emerging countries, the backtalk team
programmed a number of refurbished laptops, enabling them to automatically
detect their location and capture images and videos via built-in webcams. The
collected data is sent to MIT labs in real-time, giving a glimpse into donated
computers' new lives. New owners were fully informed of what these computers
would be doing, MIT explains. Additionally, each laptop has a sticker explaining the
project in the local language.
The second part of the backtalk project is focused on the e-waste problem within
the US. A number of volunteers in Seattle, Washington, agreed to apply GPSenabled location trackers to their electronics, that were about to be dicarded.
Researchers were thus able to map the movement of batteries, cell phones, printer
cartridges and other electronics. Some of those products crossed the entire country
on their way to recycling facilities. "The project raised some important questions,
including whether the environmental damage from transportation emissions
outweigh the benefits of recycling," MIT concludes.
Vertical Vinyl plays off-thewall records
Scavenging ambient
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MIT's 'backtalk' project
tracks discarded electronics
Working on the backtalk project, the Senseable City Lab collaborated with
Qualcomm and LG to develop the tracking technology, and partnered with such
NGOs as World Computer Exchange, the Peace Corps and World Teach.
The following video is a presentation on the backtalk project:
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