Where Art meets Science and vice versa.
In simple words, Synthetic Biology is about making living organisms do things which nature had not intended on them doing. Its about taking tiny bits of DNA, splicing them together and inserting them into bacteria. In effect, a bacterium could be made to change colour or made to be bright enough to be visible to [...]
Low-cost self-diagnosis tool for rural India
Primary health centers are the cornerstone of the rural health care system. In 1991, India had about 22,400 primary health centers, 11,200 hospitals, and 27,400 clinics. These facilities are part of a tiered health care system that funnels more difficult cases into urban hospitals while attempting to provide routine medical care to the vast majority [...]
NyayaBhoomi – A Service Design Venture for Auto-Rickshaws
Ever had to catch one of those New Delhi auto-rickshaws? You know that you are being taken for a ride then. The rickshaw drivers are rude, they refuse to go by the meter, they always seem to be going the opposite direction to where you want to be going. I have questioned the local transportation [...]
Kopernik : Connecting technology with people who need it the most
Incase you haven’t discovered the difference in the writing style – from well put together prose to someone writing a personal diary, here is the revelation. I am the person who does the videos and not the writing. That said, Ria is on vacation and will be back soon.
This morning I woke up and was [...]
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Mapunity – Social technology at work
Mapunity uses and develops technology to tackle social problems and development challenges in India. They provide map based services and design geographical information systems along with mobile technologies mostly for government departments and civil society organisations. They are also extend their services to R&D initiatives of commercial ventures.
Of all the various project Mapunity is involved [...]
BPL StudyLite by Studio ABD
In India, power cuts during exam time is every child’s biggest anxiety. One breaks into a sweat, starts pacing up and down and even goes to the extreme of praying to the Almighty; promising reforms, pledging away a life of sin and the long dreadful countdown to when the lights will turn back on.
This very [...]
Babajob.com – Connecting employers with informal sector workers
Babajob.com is a Bangalore-based start-up that uses the web and mobile technology to connect employers and bottom-of-the-pyramid (BOP) informal sector workers (i.e. maids, cooks, drivers, etc.) with the goal of creating a scalable, replicable and profitable solution to combat poverty. Babajob aims to do this by creating greater market efficiency in the informal sector through [...]
Jaaga – Creative Common Ground
Having spent a long weekend with Archana Prasad –Co Founder Jaaga, National Institute of Design alumnus and Bangalore based artist, in Pondicherry, where she was performing with her group The Manjunauts, (she is also a VJ) at the Freedom Jam; I had the chance to engage in a dialogue with her about Jaaga.
Jaaga’s name has [...]
Coming Soon – Designers as Change Makers – Part 4 | Ritwik Dey
Ritwik Dey is a computer engineer turned designer. He works as the Senior Interaction Designer for R/GA, a digital advertising agency in New York City. For the ‘Designers as Change Makers’ feature, Ritwik, amongst other things talks about the ineffective education system of India. He emphasizes on the fact, that the system needs to change [...]
Jugaad – The spirit of indian innovation
Flickr picture by lakshman_M.
“Jugaad is a vehicle assembled by carpenters and low skilled people much like what the Flintstones did for their cars. The basic form of the vehicle is a cart fitted out with a diesel pump used as an engine. A big rod with a wheel at the end serves as the [...]
The next billion mobile users
VNL | Meet the next billion mobile users from VNL on Vimeo.
Vihaan Networks Ltd., an Indian telecommunications company known as VNL, won the Bronze award for a solar-powered base station to bring cellphone access to remote rural villages. The inexpensive base station can be quickly assembled and set up by unskilled villagers, and can run [...]
The $10 Laptop by the Govt of India
The laptop has been developed by Indian Institute of Science (IISc) & Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai. Though technology has been developed by IISc & IIT, laptop will be manufactured in collaboration with a private company. The laptop is expected to be launched in another 6 months (which should be right about now). The [...]
Solar Rickshaws – The green wheels of India
The process of launching the soleckshaws – as solar rickshaws are popularly called – has been set into motion by municipal corporation, the UT-appointed nodal agency for the project. The venture is part of a central scheme being carried out in various cities of the country to promote the eco-friendly rickshaws.On a complete charge the [...]
Mera Nokia
MeraNokia is an information phone service from Nokia providing localised information in Agriculture, Education. The Enertainment section caters to Astrology and Ringtones. Depending on the service, you either subscribe to it, or download content when needed. If you subscribe to a service, the service sends you content messages to your MeraNokia inbox. At present, customers [...]
MobiGlyph: Phone concept for rural India
MobilGlyph: Making Data Tangible from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.
Adaptive Path, a product experience and strategy design company recently went to rural India to investigate the impact of mobile technology and developed concepts for new mobile devices for this market. Mobiglyph is one such concept that allows illiterate users to save contacts by using QR [...]