The “Satellite Camino” Starts up
Alter the successful pilot Project, the Fundación Tecnología Social (FTS) and the Asociación Gallega de Empresas de Tecnología y Comunicación (AGESTIC) choose “Casa de Galicia” in Madrid as their to present officially the “Satellite Camino” (“Camino de los Satélites”). This is a project that has as its goal to help people with disabilities, elderly people and those who like new technology to do the Camino de Santiago.
At this presentation were José Ramón Ónega, the director of “Casa de Galicia” in Madrid, Salvador Estébanez, the government delegate from Navarra in Madrid, José Maria López Bourio, the president of AGESTIC, Mauricio Blanco, director of Karakol Eventos, and the singer and athlete Serafín Zubiri.
Enrique Varela, the president of FTS explained during the presentation that the project has its name from the fact that in early days the pilgrims were guided by starts, but now we use newer technologies like satellites. “The pilgrim’s staff, the pumpkin and the pilgrim shell (used to drink from) used to be technological elements in a pilgrimage. Using today’s technology on the Camino does not take anything away from the spirituality of the Camino de Santiago”, says Varela.
The GPS is the fundamental tool used in this project. One particular model will be used, the Kapten, that works with voice control and it also permits the pilgrim to listen to music, radio and find useful information on the camino. Deaf pilgrims will be using a GPS with on-screen indication of were the Camino continues. Using GPRS technology of their mobile phones their exact location is transmitted back to the server and it keeps track of their exact location.
We should note that this Project does not end with the holy year 2010. It will be executed each year. The first 20 pilgrims will leave Roncesvalles this October 2nd and they are expecting to reach Santiago about 30 days later.
The selection of the members that will participate will be done online on their website. Each candidate need to explain why they would like to walk the Camino de Santiago.
The singer and athlete Serafín Zubiri that is also visually impaired will be participating on this camino with the rest of the group. Sefafín have cycled the camino several time, but this will be the first time he walks it. For this project he has composed a song called “Una línea en el cielo” (a line in the sky) that was performed at this event. This song will also be on his newest CD.
This whole experience with this first group will all be documented in a documentary, and will be broadcasted online vía TVip with daily summaries and live shoots.
The website will be up and working in January. The site will have some static content about the Camino de Santiago, its history, one part about this project “The Satellite Caminos” and some guides and advice. As things move along there will also be downloadable audio guides. The dynamic content on the site will be the various blogs. The site will also make it possible for its users to include their comments, and link to their Twitter, Facebook and other social network profiles.
Another technology that will be added to this project is e-Milladoiros. These are small beacons that will complement the traditional yellow arrows with RFID technology and bi-dimensional QR and/or DataMatrix. In addition there will be accessible guides, audio guides with 212 tracks including the most relevant places along the Camino like albergues and monuments. This will be available in Castilian, Galician and French.
Below you will find a video with the song that has been made for this walk called “Una línea en el cielo” by Zubiri:
