The Ulmer Nest project aims to protect those people experiencing homelessness from the cold. As well as thermal insulation, the pods have solar panels and those who want to use them aren’t required to sign up.
Throughout the winter months, German cities face freezing temperatures and people who are forced to live and sleep on the streets of these cities suffer greatly from the cold. However, one company has installed heated sleeping pods for those who are experiencing homelessness.
On January 8th, the large sleeping pods were installed in the German city of Ulm to provide shelter for those who need it most. The pods are made out of wood and steel and are thermally insulated.
“Today the two Ulmer Nests, were installed- a little delayed unfortunately, due to the ongoing pandemic, but just in time for the really cold nights” read a post on the Ulmer Nest project’s Facebook Page, which describes it’s goal as “to support existing measures to protect people from the freezing temperatures”
The idea of the pods is to shield their users from the wind, rain and damp and they are big enough for two people. The pod’s sensors are triggered immediately when somebody enters them as they don’t have cameras.
“We hope to be able to repeat last year’s positive comments and, in the long term, to offer a complementary measure to the existing protections against freezing temperatures in Ulm” they explained on Facebook and they also revealed some updates to the pods.
Some of the pod’s new characteristics include improvements to the internal thermal insulation to optimize the inside temperature, the installation of solar panels , connection to the radio network Ulmer LoRa Wan loT so that they don’t depend on mobile networks and an easier way to access them.
Flaco Pross, the pod’s designer, stated that people don’t need to fill out any forms to be able to use them, according to LadBible. Moreover, the installed sensors are activated every time the pod is opened or closed and immediately send a notification to the members of Ulmer Nest or the charity Caritas Ulm-Alb-Donau, who will then visit the pod the following day to offer help to whoever spent the night there. In the event that the pods should be damaged in any way, they are repaired as soon as possible.