Fab five innovations of 2011 for the masses

BANGALORE, INDIA: Some people are just like that. They like to leave an indelible mark on society by doing something different, and making a positive impact on the life of a common man.

There are some others, who do things differently instead of doing something different. They have the flair and spark to do something innovative, something that can change the way people thought and lived.

CIOL brings you a few such people, who either did different innovative things or pulled those off differently.

Haptic shoes for the blind

The Haptic shoe, developed by a Bangalore-based engineer, Anirudh Sharma, can be of great help to the visually impaired. Named 'Le Chal' or 'Take Me There', this shoe provides tactile feedback to assist the user having a mobile phone with global positioning system (GPS).

The only thing is that the user has to spell out his final destination before the journey through an Android app, so that Google Maps fetches the direction and loads it into the shoe. When the user starts the journey, the GPS transmitter gets the location using Google Maps.

On turning points, a vibration feedback, activated in the shoe, indicates the direction of turn. The length of vibration depends upon the overall proximity from the destination, that is weak vibrations in the beginning and incrementally longer at the end of the navigation task.

Avaz for the voiceless

Ajith Narayanan, founder CEO of Chennai-based Invention Labs Engineering Products Limited, designed a product for spastic children. He says 'Avaz' enables a person construct phrases that are spoken out loud by an artificial voice through in-built speakers. The user can press icons and even type sentences, which the device then converts into voice.

Also read: A reality bite into success, failures of 2011

Avaz is expected to be a huge breather to the four million Indians, who suffer from either cerebral palsy or other kinds of disabilities that make speaking difficult.

A 'green' alternative to LPG

Think of a cost-effective bottled bio-gas fuel that not only acts as a substitute for your cooking gas, but helps you manage kitchen waste, too. Kunal Bhambani and Swagat Sharma of IIT-DM (Design & Manufacturing), incubated by IIT Madras, have come up with an LPG alternative that will revolutionize the renewable energy sector.

This green product – BAFF (Biofuel as Future Fuel) – will help you keep your environment clean. A bottle will be priced at Rs.. 100, less than the existing price of the gas cylinders.

Their dream: To see the BAFF logo all over India like that of Indian Oil.

A hand-held device for rural people

Chipmaker Intel has visualized, designed, and developed the Universal Hand-held device (UHD) to deliver financial and banking services in under-served rural areas. This device can automate and authenticate a variety of services provided by different applications, such as insurance and banking. The Intel Atom-based device has a 5.1” touchscreen, a biometric sensor, a thermal printer, GPS, WiFi/GPRS, LAN/USB port, and a built-in 2-megapixel camera.

Also read: Here are the top tech newsmakers

Intel claims the device helps people access various rural ICT services offered by government departments. It can also be used to access to micro insurance, NREG scheme, geographical information systems, crop insurance, public distribution system and fertilizer depots, etc.

A cost-effective water purifier

A water purifier that helps purify water at 25 paise per litre! A five-member team from IIT madras designed 'Acquaregia' that not only helps purify water at 25 paise, but also creates entrepreneurship opportunities in every street.

This device has two tanks with four purification bulbs placed in between. The impure water is poured into the top tank and it passes through the bulb, which is the combination of sand, saw dust, nano silver particles, etc., and what comes out is purified water. The designers claim this device has the ability to purify water of all impurities found in groundwater.

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