Free Shade and Free Wi-Fi in Peruvian Beach from Shadow Wi-Fi
If you happen to be in Playa Agua Dulce in Peru, then you are in for some great freebies – free Wi-Fi and free shady spot where you can rest your skin from the heat of the summer sun for a few minutes.
Shadow Wi-Fi is a project by Happiness Brussells that aims to provide beachgoers a hangout place they can enjoy safe from the harmful rays of the sun while enjoying being connected to the rest of the world through free wireless Internet connection.
Shadow is a giant inflatable wall that casts a rectangular shadow onto the beachfront. It has an antenna that adjusts accordingly to the shadow’s location, aiming the best Wi-Fi signal towards the shady region. This means that to get connected, users need to move out of the sunlight and into the shade – basically what the campaign is for.
To ensure connection quality, a single Shadow wall can only provide Wi-Fi to a maximum of 250 users. It is assumed that the more walls, the more users can enjoy the free shade and free Wi-Fi. Although currently in a single location, the Shadow Wi-Fi project is slated to hit other beaches like New Zealand and San Francisco.
Besides offering free Wi-Fi and cancer-preventing shade, the Shadow wall also makes it more comfortable and easier for users to look at the screens of their gadgets as the sun’s glare causes displays to look dark and invisible.
Despite the project’s good intentions, though, some critics say the huge blue inflated wall only ruins the rather beautiful beach view, and does not do so much when the sun hits high noon. In fact, the giant wall does not cast any shadow at all when the sun is overhead. Perhaps the organizers assume people are not going to be in the beach at noon. Well, critics commented that high noon is the best time for beachgoers to relax off the waters and use their mobile devices, and during this critical time, the Shadow Wi-Fi proves useless.
