See more objects with the tag lighting, transport, education, learn, projection, literacy.

Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

2004

  • Work on this object began.

2016

2025

  • You found it!

Kinkajou Microfilm Project + Portable Library

This is a Project. It was designed by Design that Matters, Inc.. It is dated 2004. Its medium is 6061-t6 and 6063 aluminum, abs plastic, polycarbonate or pmma lenses, acetyl plastic lens barrels, stainless steel screws, glass-epoxy composite circuit board.

The Kinkajou Projector is a tool designed to improve access to education by transforming nighttime learning environments in non-electrified areas. The project’s mission is to improve adult literacy in rural West Africa, where up to 75% of adults are illiterate. Eliminating the need for books, which are expensive and difficult to distribute, Kinkajou combines the efficiency of LEDs with the durability and storage capacity of microfilm. Kinkajou’s primary beneficiaries are the most disadvantaged and hardest to reach individuals: poor, rural women.

Its dimensions are

H x W x D (Projector): 27.9 × 17.8 × 7.6 cm (11 × 7 × 3 in.) H x W x D (Solar Panel): 49.5 × 38.1 × 2.5 cm (19 1/2 in. × 15 in. × 1 in.) H x W x D (Battery Pack): 25.4 × 21.6 × 8.9 cm (10 in. × 8 1/2 in. × 3 1/2 in.)

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

For higher resolution or commercial use contact ArtResource.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/420778857/ |title=Kinkajou Microfilm Project + Portable Library |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=6 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>