Using Augmented Reality to Fight Malaria

Most people get pretty excited about augmented reality. It helps us to do our jobs, play games, and organize and access information in new ways. It also draws a lot of attention. That’s why one global organization is using AR technology to draw attention to its most recent campaign.

Malaria No More

Malaria is a mosquito-borne deadly, though preventable and treatable, disease. While the disease isn’t a huge problem in most places with developed health and technology infrastructures, it remains a problem in a big part of the world.

Malaria No More is an organization dedicated to stopping the spread of the disease. No stranger to drawing people’s attention, the organization works with international soccer star and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham.

The organization’s current campaign, “Malaria Must Die, So Millions Can Live”, hopes to draw the attention of world leaders. Their aim is to do this with a voice petition. The voice petition consists of audio recordings of people around the world saying “Malaria must die.” By taking all those voices and combining them together to create one unique soundscape, the organization believes the leaders will then “have to listen”. The audio will then be played at an upcoming meeting of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

“It’s important to find new ways to echo and amplify the voices of those still affected by malaria, giving everyone the opportunity to speak out and demand action to end this preventable disease,” said James Whiting, Malaria No More UK CEO, in a statement shared with ARPost.

Using AR Technology

This campaign could have launched any time in the last one hundred years. If you think about it, all that it really requires is the ability to record and playback audio. However, some cutting edge technologies are giving the campaign some extra pizzazz.

The promotional video that launched the campaign appears to feature Beckham speaking nine different languages. Organization’s partners, a technology company Synthesia, created the video using AI video synthesis technology.  By creating a lifelike model of Beckham’s face, they could then change the language he speaks, and assign another language that a member of the global community recorded speaking earlier.

This week, the campaign also started using AR technology to reach out to even more potential supporters. The initiative involves an AR filter created pro-bono by Powster and Facebook and powered by Quividi.

“It’s exciting to employ our technical expertise to create a really cutting-edge experience that will capture attention and help amplify the Malaria Must Die message around the world,” said Abi Smith, Creative Director of Powster.

The filter is available on Facebook and Instagram.

“The filter simulates a swarm of deadly mosquitoes around the users head, which dissipate when the user ‘speaks up’ and return when they are silent, reinforcing the message that malaria declines with increased action, but can return with a vengeance when the fight is deprioritized,” reads the statement.

Raising Awareness

Users prize augmented reality for its ability to make a user part of the action. That’s precisely the aspect of AR technology that the Malaria Must Die campaign uses. By illustrating how every user can speak up for the fight against malaria, the filter is an evocative and powerful call to action.

Now, take a minute and go Speak Up.