designing empowerment

If design is about creative problem solving, we must address some of the most important issues of our times. This multi-disciplinary initiative explores the role of design as a catalyst for empowerment of the poor sections of our society. We have engaged in projects related to financial literacy, healthcare, communication technologies for poor and prosthesis for underprivileged.

laXmi

We are designing a financial literacy system for semi/illiterate women engaged in micro financing in rural India. The system will incorporate both an analogue and a digital component to facilitate comprehensible training for Self Help Group (SHG) members. It will be a language independent system with an engaging and interactive way of learning about the intricacies of financial literacy and financial planning

IMMUNE vaccination

More than 30 million children in India lack immunization, either because vaccines are unavailable, or because health care services are poorly provided and inaccessible. One of the largest medical problems in developing countries is the lack of a standardized system; that is, there is not a comprehensive system that keeps vaccination records easily accessible for health care workers. We want to help encourage and keep children in these countries healthy by improving the ease of immunization record retrieval for health care workers and keeping their caregivers involved with the process without putting unnecessary responsibility upon them

  • 2012 Winner of DesignforAll Foundation award
  • 2012 IDEA awards winner Bronze  

cell phone charger - two projects

Rural Kenyans have a limited access to electricity and depend on unreliable sources to charge their cell phones. The purpose of this project was to identify and design a new system or product that will allow people to reliably charge their cell phones off the grid. The possibilities of using different technologies was researched including: photovoltaic cells, hydroelectric turbines, steam turbines, peltier motor, and alternators. Our approach was to design a individual or community solution that would elegantly fit into the lifestyles of those living in rural Kenya.

jaipur foot

Design a foot measurement device to help jaipur foot organization in standardizing the sizes of prosthesis they produce. Our objective is to create a 3D model of a foot that is linked to a database of measurements. These measurements are  collected using an analogue device with a small learning cure so that it can be deployed in large numbers to collect sufficient number of measurements.