India - Innovation Central
The Economic Times of India reports a number of "Bond-like" innovations:
- A bicycle that rides on both land and water.
- An electronic stick for the blind with sensors to detect water and the distance of objects.
- A long distance WiFi network to carry voice and internet access to rural villages (developed by Media Lab Asia.)
- An odor fighting ozone generating machine, to make bearable the burial traditions of one the world’s oldest religions.
- A film projector costing 1/10th the price of traditional projectors.
In an article published in October, Wired Magazine reports on even more innovations from India:
- Hewlett Packard’s Script Mail, an electronic pad for emailing in languages that are difficult to type in (you handwrite the messages, a dying art in the U.S.. )
- K-Yan developed the Compact Media Center which incorporates a TV, PC, and projector for use in large group learning.
- The International Institute of Information Technology has developed Shakti, English translation software. Director Rajeev Sangal describes why India is likely to develop better translation technology:
"Western nations that usually pioneer research have no real motivation to be involved in language translation because they are chiefly monolingual countries. That’s why India is crucial here. Just about a billion people in this world speak English. The rest may need Shakti"
“The motivation for developing this device was the recognition that English is not very widely used, and people want access [to e-mail] in their local languages, specifically those that are not [based] on the Roman script,” said Gita Gopal, associate director of HP Labs India.
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[…] So this got us started on the subject of innovation for bicycles in the Base of the Pyramid. Have people found ways to make bicycles more accesible and useful for the world’s poor? Here are few examples we came across (and don’t forget our previous find of a bicycle that rides on water). […]
Pingback by the BRINQ Blog - » Bambucicletas and Other “Cycles” of Innovation - Business, Poverty, & Innovation in the Base of the Pyramid — 4/25/2007 @ 21:32 EDT