Need to Know
26 : 05 : 22

Munich – For years, object recognition apps have assisted visually impaired people to navigate the city by using the camera on their phones to identify the objects and buildings they encounter while walking in the urban environment. Taking it one step further, Dot Go is a platform that not only assists with object recognition, but connects identification with actions.

A user of the platform that encounters a bus stop, for example, can use their phone camera to identify the object and then buy a ticket or have the timetable of the service read out to them. Similarly, users who are visiting a museum can point their phones at an artwork and have the corresponding Wikipedia page read to them.

The platform goes well beyond mere identification to connect recognition to action, helping the visually impaired ‘navigate the world, find objects and automate daily tasks which enable them to lead a more independent life’. As a result, the project is giving everyday tech an inclusive overhaul.

UK – Relationship charity Relate is broaching the topic of sexual health among over-65s through an unconventional campaign. Entitled The Rise of Horniculture, the campaign features a series of vegetable-themed condom packet designs that have been displayed in independent garden centre Finchley Nurseries, alongside conventional seed packets.

Each illustrated condom packet is also a playful nods to sexually suggestive emojis, including aubergines, plums and courgettes. Through this tongue-in-cheek initiative, the campaign seeks to raise awareness of the importance of safe sex in later life, in a way that appeals to a generation that still largely feel a sense of stigma about the topic. ‘By bringing the sexual health debate to an unexpected environment like a garden centre, we’re once again trying to help break down taboos and get people up and down the country talking about the joy of later-life sex,’ says Anjula Mutanda, relationship psychotherapist and president of Relate.

This campaign also follows the charity’s previous efforts to spotlight sex and intimacy in older adults, recognising that traditional media and advertising often leans towards younger consumers.

Young people living in the Middle East and North Africa are facing an unemployment crisis, which is being exacerbated by the region’s existing inequalities. Research by Unicef reveals the scale of the issue, finding that the region needs to create more than 33.3m new jobs by 2030 to be able to absorb the large number of young people entering the workforce, and to stabilise youth unemployment.

Meanwhile, the research also shows that youth unemployment in these countries is almost twice as high as the world average, and grew 2.5 times faster than the world average between 2010 and 2021. Given this situation, there is a pressing need for improved education systems in the region, with curriculums that prepare people for the changing labour market in MENA.

As we explore in our Emerging Youth: Saudi Arabia article, some young people in this region are breaking into traditionally unequal sectors. Women, for example, are now able to work as hostesses, baristas and waitresses.