When you think of Rio de Janeiro, you will probably think of its famously chaotic favelas, Sugarloaf mountain or even the scantily clad Copacabana beach, but few would think of it as a natural home of smart technologies.

But according to the BBC, this is all about to change due to a new project that is under way and one which the city’s government hopes will put Rio on the map as Latin America’s first smart city.

The project, co-ordinated by Unicef in collaboration with local non-government organisation CEDAPS (Centro de Promocao da Saude) has local teenagers digitally mapping five favelas in order to highlight some of the challenges for those living there.

Teenagers take aerial shots of their neighbourhood using digital cameras sitting in old bottles which are launched via kites – a common toy for children living in the favelas.

They then use GPS-enabled smartphones to take pictures…