What is Cineboda & Why?
Cineboda; created from the words ‘cine’, relating to all things cinema, and ‘boda’, an east African term for a motorcycle to be used as a taxi, or to transport goods.
This is the story of how the team at Conficio came together with Cineboda to work on a project which truly, and literally, focuses on product design for education.
Cineboda approached the team at Conficio, to create a motorbike-based cinema. Cineboda’s objective, was to provide a tool that would allow their team to take educational content and deliver it to those who do not ordinarily have access to the sort of content that you or I take for granted. The team aim to educate, inform, inspire and encourage debate.
The Product Overview
Our instruction was to take off the shelf components and design a housing that allowed the components to be fitted into a suitable carrier. Made from carbon fibre housing and aluminium casing, this is a lightweight and easy to set up bit of kit; the technical minds behind Cineboda have really considered how best to make this solution practical.
The Cineboda mobile cinema can be operated by a single operator, making it a truly lean, practical and accessible solution. The unit allows both front and rear, short thrown projection for that cinematic experience. With 210 watts of crisp sound, Cineboda can play effectively, to audiences of up to approximately 250 people.
With an on-board wireless microphone, the operator is able to announce their presence to the local community on arrival. This means they can draw a crowd of participants and create a buzz, so the locals can decide if they would like to join in.
Uniquely, the operator is able to capture and edit HD footage on the go, which really introduces cinema as a participatory event. The information from within the system is reported back to a PC, and exposed USB ports provide additional connectivity for webcams, audio and cellular modem.
Using our experience in power supplies and control, Conficio were able to add charging technology which can be controlled without user intervention. Whilst you can plug in and charge via the mains, you can also charge on the go. The technology uses the alternator, as well as a solar charging feature to achieve this function.
Product Design for Education – What the Team Have to Say
Cineboda’s founder, Chris Milner, worked closely with the team at Conficio Product Design, to ensure the best possible iteration of the product was created, and plans to revisit the project on an ongoing basis. The aim is to keep ahead of technology and ensure the product continues to perform to the highest level.
On working with Conficio Chris says: “During our discovery phase, the team made sound judgements and professional recommendations as to the best way forward that really set us on track for a fruitful partnership. Although they were essentially pitching for the implementation phase, they did not shy from hard truths or honest assessments of what we could achieve with the resources and I really appreciated that.”
Andy House, Managing Director of Conficio comments “We’ve really enjoyed getting stuck into this project. The product is so unique and so are the associated challenges with realising Chris’ vision. We worked hard to ensure the product would withstand different climates, be robust enough and small enough to travel on a motorcycle without rattling around and breaking. We also needed to make the product easy to use, whilst delivering high-quality output. We are pleased with the end result and we are really enjoy hearing about how Cineboda is benefitting communities that wouldn’t otherwise have access to educational and inspirational content.”
The team at Conficio have truly relished working on this project; product design for education is something the team are passionate about. This project has allowed us to help truly make a difference to the lives of people in communities who, ordinarily may not have the opportunity to access this sort of informative and educational content.
Chris at Cineboda is passionate about education, health awareness, peacebuilding and cultural expression in harder-to-reach communities.
The ability to adopt participatory film-making techniques along with the mobile studio and projection cinematic features of Cineboda, means communities can engage in more meaningful dialogue with the surrounding communities, and vertical advocacy campaigns.
Chris sums up the purpose of this project perfectly; “We are passionate about using the power of the off-grid cinema to help people connect with one another and increase shared knowledge and understanding. Because every voice matters.”
To find out more about how we can help take your project from concept to reality, drop us a line today at andy@conficio.design. Meanwhile, you can find our guide on how to navigate your own product design journey.
