I like slightly wacky ideas that can work. Well, who doesn’t.
Here’s an idea. If you work for a telecoms company or have a telecoms company as a client, could this work as a promo thing…? (Or perhaps for a client in another sector.)
(There’s also a build-a-business idea at the bottom of this blog post.)
Imagine you’re out with friends for the evening; you see a Hole Through the Earth™: the end of a large pipe sticking out of the ground. Put your ear up to it and you hear a voice. You can talk back — you’re having a conversation through the earth to people in another country.
Or at the weekend, with the kids — the kids can talk with people in another country through the Hole Through the Earth™.
Or at a festival — chat through a Hole Through the Earth™ to people at another event in another country…
The Recipe:
1. Build a thing that looks like the end of a hole through the earth. This could be the end of a wide pipe, maybe, with a grid over the top. At a good height so people can sit on the edge.
Make sure people know what it is — e.g. print on it the words “The Hole Through the Earth™”. Maybe an instruction: “Talk to people in Gondwanaland — speak into the pipe and listen for replies”.
2. Build another one, in another country.
3. Throw a phone into each pipe-end. Connected to each other. Always-on.
Well, don’t just throw in the phones: rig them up so if you speak into the grid at one end, your voice comes out the other end, in the other country. And so the voice from the pipe sounds like it’s coming from way down the pipe… through the earth.
4. Connect the Hole Through the Earth™ with your telecoms brand or other sponsor.
Some considerations:
– Waterproofing the telecoms equipment beneath the grid in the hole.
– There could be something that detects movement, and indicates to people whether there are people at the other end of the hole, even if they are not speaking — so people know there’s somebody there to talk to.
– Language: I guess the pipe-ends would need to be in countries where the people either speak the same native language, or where much of the population speaks English as a second language — such as the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries. Or perhaps the pipe can simply be in touristy areas in any country, where there’s likely to be a fairly high percentage of people who speak English.
– And of course time zones would play a part — people out partying on Saturday night would probably be best talking to other people out partying, rather than to Sunday morning dog walkers 
Though Holes at festivals could perhaps work with locations many time zones apart — for the simple reason that at festivals there’s often something going on at all times of day.
A business opportunity:
I am interested in hearing from you if you are interested in partnering in a Hole Through the Earth™ project.
Holes through the Earth could be permanent, semi-permanent, or temporary — temporary holes could be set up at festivals or other events, with corresponding holes at other events in other countries or regions.
Revenue would be from sponsorship — “BrandName Hole Through the Earth”.
Providing Holes at festivals strikes me as perhaps a particularly good potential opportunity: lots of exposure for the brand sponsoring the Hole; a great ‘sideshow’; and I believe people at festivals will be in the right mindset to chat through a Hole Through the Earth™.
As Wordfruit grows, our list of contacts across the world grows. Our clients are all people in marketing and advertising — you might consider Wordfruit an ideal partner for this.
If you are interested and you have the ability to make the project happen, please let me know.
Richard,
Good luck with your idea.
I think it has potential as technologically it doesn’t pose any difficulty. Rather than a motion detector, maybe webcams could be installed? Also rather than just one large pipe, you could have several small ones around it that are numbered for one to one conversations? This could also be a living sculpture. Now what town centre wouldn’t want one of those? I’m sure that you could link say Dublin and London without much of a problem and probably get an arts based grant too.
I think the biggest issue will be with time zones but you can choose your destinations accordingly. Now if a real time translator could be integrated, that would be amazing. Censorship also poses another potential issue.
Unfortunately, I am not in a position to help you make this reality, but I’m sure that you will find someone or make it work yourself.
I too am an ‘ideas’ person currently frustrated with a whole sack of potentials and no cash to release them into the world.
Again, good luck.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on The Hole
Re the several small pipes you mention, I hadn’t thought of that.
I was talking to a friend about the possibility of making it so the talk-thru bit is just in the center of the pipe, so there’s not a confused gaggle of voices coming through.
But we then thought, perhaps just let people organize themselves — might be more fun. I kind of like the idea of keeping it just a big hole, so people then find the best way to use it — people organizing each other so they can have a conversation through the hole I think might add to the fun.
Also I’m thinking one big Hole Through The Earth might have a better resonance as an object / identity, which could be good for a sponsor.
The webcam thing — again, I kind of like it as a ‘pure hole’ for voices. There’s a bit of mystery then, to figure out.
I guess though, it will come down to what’s most workable, and one or both of those ideas you mentioned might be the solution. Hope my response to them wasn’t too negative.
Cheers, Richard
Ps, Chris,
Your sack of ideas: I’m interested to hear, if they’re not top secret. Just out of interest — I’m not an investor.
This can easily be used for personal purposes and too costly. The costs outweigh the benefits and this reminds me of those Cisco Telepresence commercials where communities from two different parts of the world can hear and see each other. If you send me an email, we can further discuss ways to alternate on the business model and on ideas i have.
Hi Richard,
I think that your idea is really fun. Also that it could be educational, around themes like the environment, cultures, etc..
Could it also help with respect for equality and diversity?
School trips could incorporate a visit to your Hole Through The Earth.
What about looking into whether your equivalents of these types of organisations/ funding bodies could help with your idea, or help to fund it: Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Sally
Hi Richard,
While I do appreciate your idea of the hole in the earth phone, I wonder if we are limiting ourselves by using the hole as a communications tool only. I see the hole more as a climate equaliser. Giant fans at one end could blow cooling currents towards places like the New Delhi in June. And I am sure people in cold Scandinavian countries would really appreciate balmy and warming winds from some Mediterranean island. Let me know what you think.
Cheers
Alpna