South African based media company, Africam now offers Safari experience to the world by live streaming HD footage from waterholes at various locations across Africa. The live streams connect people all over the world to the African wildlife with an aim to create an online community that focuses on education and conservation. Africam grants viewers access to hear wild animals live and unscripted in their natural habitat.
Africam’s mission is to bring global awareness to the fight against poaching and they aim to achieve this through their large community of camera operators that monitor the system. They are equipped with real time alert functions that push directly to emails and other social media platforms. Every sighting is recorded and the photos are distributed daily via email to users. Africam is currently available on iOS app store and is looking to expand to Amazon fire, Android, Apple Tv and Roku in 12-months’ time.
See also: Kwese Gets Licence to Operate Free TV in South Africa
Paul Penzhorn, CEO of Africam said the platform is a means to open up a live window into Africa so the world can have a view without having to physically travel to the continent. Africam was one of a number of startups that participated in the AWS (Amazon Web Services) Pop-up Loft Johannesburg during the month of March.
Commenting on AWS, he also said “AWS is effectively a Virtual CTO that allows us to scale with the confidence that all the “moving parts” are scaling with us within the AWS / Elemental ecosystem. With AWS’s large global footprint – we also feel confident that we are getting the best value for our service and that AWS will always be at the forefront of new solutions. In terms of next steps, Africam will be gathering lots of data and security and encryption will play a big role in keeping it safe from poachers and other parties. Last, but not least, AWS is not just a tech partner but opens up more commercial opportunities that were never there before.”
AWS cloud allows Africam to set their live streams into the AWS ecosystem close to the source – this ensures that they stream in Full HD to any person in the world. The cloud and virtual servers also allow them add more servers to handle spikes in traffic without crashing. The cloud also allows for effective storing of all video highlights and snap-shots taken from the cameras.
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