Although, up until now, that's what they've been mostly about, gadget tales don't always have to be imagined fantasies. I mean, there are certain situations when people's dreams do become real with the help of the technology provided by some of the most important names in the CE industry, and that's exactly what we'll talk about as follows, namely Sony Europe's initiative of helping a team of young “Forest Guards” carry out their dream.

Back in early May, we ran a story about a very interesting initiative by Japanese company Sony, called the Children's Climate Call, which involved several teams of kids from all around the world who searched for solutions to make our world a better place. As some of you might remember, the “Forest Guard” team won the respective competition with a project that involved using solar-powered CCTV cameras and web-based citizen fire watch-towers in order to stop the spread of fires across Northern California.

And if you're wondering just why the team has chosen this particular region, the answer is a very simple one, namely the fact that the team behind the idea is from Northern California, where forest fires are rife and they are keen on highlighting that the carbon dioxide emitted during these fires can equal that produced by several millions of cars on the road in a year.

However, the story did not end with the team winning the competition; in fact, Sony Europe really proved that it's willing to back these kids in making their project come true. So, the members of the “Forest Guard” team were invited to Sony’s professional headquarters at Basingstoke in the UK to work with its engineers on making their idea come alive.

The emphasis for the two days the “Forest Guard” spent at Basingstoke was working with Sony specialists to hone and refine the idea, which was done through a series of workshops and brainstorming sessions, rather than the children simply standing on the sidelines while their idea progressed without them.

Morgan David, Divisional Director, Research and Development (R&D) at Sony, who led the team of engineers that worked with the youngsters to develop the "Forest Guard" technology, stated that “We were really impressed by this innovative idea and felt we were in the perfect position to bring our knowledge of technology and engineering to the project and help them make it into a reality. To help solve problems to climate change through technology is at the heart of Sony’s philosophy.”

The result of these joined efforts is the prototype you can see in the two exclusive photos, which is in fact extremely easy to put into practice. All we can hope for is that the solution will be adopted by officials from those areas where forest fires are a clear and present danger.

P.S. Here's a video of the kids from the “Forest Guard” team explaining their project.