For many homeless people, begging is one of the few ways that they can consistently get even a small pittance, so design student Tomo Kihara has created a new panhandling platform called 'Street Debater' that helps homeless people to earn money without having to sacrifice any dignity.
The product consists of a simple balancing scale with chalkboard surfaces on it. Homeless people can pose a contentious question, like "More immigrants?", and have each side of the scale represent a side of the debate, encouraging passersby to join the ongoing debate by placing money on the scale to cast a vote.
Not only does Street Debater serve as a sort of straw poll for the leanings of the immediate community, but it also empowers homeless people to show that they themselves have opinions about the political climate.
What's Driving This Trend
- Homeless Empowerment
- Opportunities for designing tools that empower and give dignity to homeless people beyond just begging.
- Community Engagement
- Opportunities for creating interactive platforms that engage communities in important conversations or debates.
- New Forms of Crowdfunding
- Opportunities for developing new forms of crowdfunding that are based on public opinion and debate.
Who This Affects Most
- Social Innovation
- Opportunities for social entrepreneurs and innovators to design solutions that tackle complex social problems like homelessness.
- Public Space Design
- Opportunities for designers to rethink the design of public spaces, making them more inclusive and interactive.
- Digital Crowdfunding Platforms
- Opportunities for the developers of digital crowdfunding platforms to innovate new ways of giving based on public opinion.
