0:00:00 > 0:00:01as minus six.
0:00:01 > 0:00:03Shortly, it'll be time for Newswatch.
0:00:03 > 0:00:04But first, here's Click.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35On Click we often look out for technology which can help
0:00:35 > 0:00:36save people's lives.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39For example, we went to Rwanda to look at how drones were speeding
0:00:39 > 0:00:42up deliveries of blood and recently closer to home,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45I looked at how the response times of the air ambulance in London
0:00:45 > 0:00:49were being improved by better connectivity.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54If you live in the developed world, you'll probably take it for granted
0:00:54 > 0:00:57that you can dial the emergency number, someone will answer
0:00:57 > 0:00:58and help will arrive.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Well, in Kenya, that's not the case.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04In the capital Nairobi alone, there are more than 50 different
0:01:04 > 0:01:07numbers for different ambulance services and if you need a fire
0:01:07 > 0:01:09engine, well, that's at least a dozen more,
0:01:09 > 0:01:15and even then there is no guarantee they'll be able to get to you.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Well, Kate Russell has been to meet a couple of entrepreneurs who have
0:01:19 > 0:01:23had the great idea of amalgamating them all into one service.
0:01:23 > 0:01:29Think Uber for emergency services.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32For most living in a modern metropolis, calling an ambulance
0:01:32 > 0:01:35involves dialling a single short code.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39But in a city more than 6 million people, Nairobi has no functioning
0:01:39 > 0:01:44central emergency number.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47With five public hospitals and dozens of private hospitals
0:01:47 > 0:01:50and clinics all operating independently, you have to know
0:01:50 > 0:01:53who to call if you need an ambulance here and hope there's someone
0:01:54 > 0:01:57on duty to pick up.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00Caitlin and Maria run a start-up in Nairobi hoping
0:02:00 > 0:02:04to address this problem.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08You just take for granted that 911 exists and we did as well,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12both of us had lived here for years and we never even considered it
0:02:12 > 0:02:15and we'd worked in health and I never even thought
0:02:15 > 0:02:16what I would do in an emergency.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19We just started asking people, have you seen an ambulance before?
0:02:19 > 0:02:20Who has an ambulance?
0:02:21 > 0:02:23We would go and meet and find ambulances in parking lots
0:02:24 > 0:02:26and we started a really simple tally of how many ambulances
0:02:27 > 0:02:27we could find.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31We realised there were so many ambulances and nobody has any idea
0:02:31 > 0:02:33where they are.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Flare's aim is to connect emergency response vehicles on an Uber-style
0:02:36 > 0:02:39platform that can route calls to an operator that can
0:02:39 > 0:02:41get their quickest.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44-- get there quickest.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47When the call comes in I get to know the patient's location,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51I click on the location.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54We can see all the vehicles that are within my range.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59I can select the ambulance service, which is six minutes away.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Let's click on the ambulance service I'm going to dispatch,
0:03:03 > 0:03:05it gives me the contact number and their location
0:03:05 > 0:03:07and the estimated time.
0:03:07 > 0:03:21It also gives me the direction route for them.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23Leah!
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Emergency!
0:03:27 > 0:03:29A busy city hospital, we left Patrick to his work
0:03:29 > 0:03:32and headed out onto the streets to see first-hand the traffic
0:03:32 > 0:03:36problems that make this kind of operator routeing a lifesaver.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38This was especially important when violence broke out
0:03:38 > 0:03:39during the October elections.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42Flare's ambulances were 33% busier attending to emergencies
0:03:42 > 0:03:46in these hotspots.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49The response times we've seen have gone down from 162 minutes,
0:03:49 > 0:03:53which is the average, which is nearly three hours,
0:03:53 > 0:03:58which is insane, to about 15-20 minutes.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00So far, the platform has 30 ambulances online,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04with a goal to reach at least 50 by the end of January next year.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07An annual membership fee gives patients access to the emergency
0:04:07 > 0:04:11hotline and covers the cost of any callouts, which otherwise would have
0:04:11 > 0:04:17had to be paid by credit card before an ambulance is dispatched.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20The fee is currently around $15-$20 but Flare say this might change
0:04:20 > 0:04:25as the service matures.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Eventually, Flare wants to add more concierge-style features
0:04:27 > 0:04:29for its members, like real-time updates and treatment information.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33The data being collected might also prove useful to help co-ordinate
0:04:33 > 0:04:39better service across the city.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42One of the things we recently learned is there's a lack
0:04:42 > 0:04:44of ambulances between 7am and 9am and the reason
0:04:44 > 0:04:48for that is that the night team is handing over to the day team,
0:04:48 > 0:04:51so all providers are doing that shift change, so there's a delay
0:04:51 > 0:04:54in that happening so then there aren't enough ambulances
0:04:54 > 0:05:02online to respond to the emergencies.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Fire means even bigger problems for emergency callouts in Nairobi.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07As well as the fractured co-ordination issues seen
0:05:07 > 0:05:10with ambulances, there is a desperate shortage of both
0:05:10 > 0:05:15trucks and water supplies.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Tragedies like this in Nairobi's vast clothes market Gikomba
0:05:18 > 0:05:21are all too common and often left burning for much longer
0:05:21 > 0:05:24than they should be because of a simple lack
0:05:24 > 0:05:29of access to resources.
0:05:29 > 0:05:30999 goes directly to the police headquarters,
0:05:30 > 0:05:38the police control room.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Once you call the police control room, they start looking
0:05:41 > 0:05:43for the nearest ambulance service or the nearest fire service.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47There's no radio linkage anywhere.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50The phones they have belong to individuals.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53The fire and ambulance service are controlled separately
0:05:53 > 0:05:55by different players.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58ICT Fire and Rescue is the first firefighting school
0:05:58 > 0:06:01of its kind in Kenya.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05I went to visit them and got to try out some training.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Flare is working with the school to add as many firetrucks
0:06:08 > 0:06:10as possible to their Nairobi coverage, as well as locating
0:06:10 > 0:06:18available public and private water supplies to add to the map.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21There are enough hydrants in Nairobi theoretically,
0:06:21 > 0:06:24they were planned for, but a lot of the hydrants have been
0:06:24 > 0:06:28built on top of, so we're surveying Nairobi to see
0:06:28 > 0:06:32where there are publicly available hydrants and where their private
0:06:32 > 0:06:36hydrants are that we can actually tap into.
0:06:36 > 0:06:42At this stage, it's unclear how the membership funding model
0:06:43 > 0:06:46will play out for fire cover as callout costs could be radically
0:06:46 > 0:06:48higher and more variable than ambulance work.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Flare has high hopes of becoming the 911 call equivalent
0:06:50 > 0:06:56for the whole of Kenya in the future.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13HotStepper is a wayfinding app that uses this scantily clad character
0:07:14 > 0:07:15to guide you to your designated destination.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19It is doing so by combining AR, geolocation data, and mapping,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22and while it's not the only app to overlay directions on the real
0:07:22 > 0:07:26world, it certainly has its unique character.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29He's just doing a dance for some people that are walking
0:07:29 > 0:07:33past the pub.
0:07:33 > 0:07:34You must be Luke.
0:07:34 > 0:07:35Hiya.
0:07:35 > 0:07:36Lara, good to meet you.
0:07:36 > 0:07:37You too.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39So why am I following this man around?
0:07:39 > 0:07:41Why have you designed him looking like this?
0:07:41 > 0:07:45After the year we have had in 2017, I think we all needed some humour
0:07:46 > 0:07:49so it just makes it more interesting to get from A to B.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51There are a lot of navigation apps out there.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Why are people going to choose this one?
0:07:54 > 0:07:56Some people find maps on their phones quite
0:07:56 > 0:07:58complicated to use.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02We have also put in gigantic 3-D arrows at the end of the road
0:08:02 > 0:08:05so you can follow him and can you also see from the arrows
0:08:05 > 0:08:07where you want to go.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10There are some challenges - we don't actually know where a road
0:08:10 > 0:08:14begins and a pavement stops, so we have to kind of do our best
0:08:14 > 0:08:16to calculate where we think that is.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19To make it look as believable as possible, what we're doing
0:08:19 > 0:08:22is try to find out where we think you are, what the weather
0:08:22 > 0:08:26is like where you are, so if it's a sunny day or a cloudy
0:08:26 > 0:08:28day, and then specifically the location of the sun.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33And if we can work out where the sun is, we can then render his shadow
0:08:33 > 0:08:34naturally to where to should be.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38But when you're not having fun on foot, then maybe you're trying
0:08:38 > 0:08:40to find a place to leave your car.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Well, AR measuring app AirMeasure are prototyping a function to help
0:08:43 > 0:08:45you parallel park - not something you would want
0:08:45 > 0:08:48any inaccuracy on.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51In the meantime, the app can be used for measuring furniture,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54creating a floor plan, or seeing how tall you are.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58But if you are more focused on finding your way around and have
0:08:58 > 0:09:00taken a shine to HotStepper, just don't lose your friend
0:09:00 > 0:09:03or you might lose your way.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07OK, you cannot miss that arrow but where has my man gone?
0:09:07 > 0:09:12Where is he?
0:09:17 > 0:09:21When James Bond used a jet pack to escape the bad guys
0:09:21 > 0:09:23in Thunderball, the world went jet pack mad.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26But the US military-designed Bell Rocket Belt that he used
0:09:26 > 0:09:32was later scrapped due to its high price and limited flight time.
0:09:32 > 0:09:38Almost 60 years on, science fiction is finally becoming science fact.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40Several companies, and even individuals around the world,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44have taken to the skies in recent years to show off their versions
0:09:44 > 0:09:46of a jet pack.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50And recently, I was invited to strap myself into one.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Fortunately, this was only in VR.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56OK, here we go.
0:09:56 > 0:09:57We are going to go up.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01OK!
0:10:01 > 0:10:04The real thing has been built and tested by New Zealand company
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Martin Aircraft, which has now been bought by the KuangChi Science
0:10:09 > 0:10:11company in China.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15First things first - technically, it isn't a jet pack.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18It lifts off using two ducted fans which are powered
0:10:18 > 0:10:22by a petrol engine.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26It is still in testing but the team hopes that by the time it is ready,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30it will be able to fly as fast as 40 kilometres an hour at an altitude
0:10:30 > 0:10:31of 2,500 feet.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35On a single tank, it should last for about 30 minutes covering
0:10:35 > 0:10:40distances of 20 kilometres, carrying about 100 kilos.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43And KuangChi says it will be used for far more than just fulfilling
0:10:44 > 0:10:46the dream of human flight.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49TRANSLATION:What can we do if there are people stranded
0:10:49 > 0:10:51in a high-rise fire?
0:10:51 > 0:10:54This jet pack can reach places where a helicopter cannot.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57A helicopter requires space but with a jet pack,
0:10:57 > 0:11:03you can get very near and hose the fire down.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Martin Aircraft has been developing flight technology for over three
0:11:06 > 0:11:08decades and previously thought it would start selling these
0:11:08 > 0:11:11by last year.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Now, the company hopes the Chinese financial boost will finally be
0:11:14 > 0:11:18enough to get it off the ground.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22Back at my VR demo, I am starting to realise I may not be the ideal
0:11:22 > 0:11:31jet pack pilot.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35Yes, that's quite enough for now.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39The full-length version it up on iPlayer.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41Thanks for watching and we will see you soon.