New Delhi: Google has developed a tablet to be used by workers battling Ebola in Sierra Leone. The Sony Xperia tablet features a protective shell and can withstand high chlorine dousing and exposure to high humidity and storms typical of West Africa.
Medical personnel on site are required to be fully encased in protective hazmat suits, complete with goggles and wearing multiple layers of gloves, to avoid contact with infected bodily fluids in the highly toxic environment.
Given the high risk of infection even a piece of paper possesses, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) doctors on site had to resort to shouting patient notes to workers on the other side of the protective zone fence, making the task tedious and prone to errors.
To address the issue, MSF challenged a number of technology volunteers to create an 'Ebola-proof tablet' to improve efficiency. This collective, which included Whitespell's Pim de Witte and Hack4Good's Daniel Cunningham, grew to include a member of Google's Crisis Response Team, and it was this group that developed the device, a report in HotHardware stated.
The Ebola-proof tablet is encased in polycarbonate with industrial level waterproofing and all sharp edges removed. It can be used wearing protective gloves and can be dipped in a 0.5 per cent chlorine solution (which kills Ebola, and which if used with unprotected hands can cause chemical burns) and removed from the treatment zone.
The device can be charged wirelessly and can transmit data to servers on the outside of the zone.
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