INK Fellow Anirudh Sharma appeals for cultivation of a spirit of innovation at the grass root level, in a chat with Gauri Rane
During college, building stuff and dreaming ideas was my favourite pastime, which didn`t quite fit within our rigid education system. My friends and I `failed` a lot of exams due to this, which rendered me unfit for any `regular job`. So I pursued what I knew I could do — innovate and create. I made friends with carpenters, radio repairmen and the like.
How can one describe innovations? Sometimes they solve a purpose; other times they are more of an artistic expression of magical ideas and storytelling. I have been inspired a lot by magicians in the past, who use technology, chemicals, music, and optics to create moments of surprise.
I have about 12 innovations to date. The haptic shoe for the visually impaired, the soot printer and the intelligent ruler are a few them which have been quite appreciated. At present people with limited or no vision depend either on other people or on walking canes, to help detect obstructions. The maximum technology that they can avail of is voice-based navigation aids, which can be very distracting for the blind as they mostly depend on their sense of hearing. Also, such devices are expensive to buy. Le-Chal or the haptic shoe goes a step further. It uses a language of vibrations to help the visually impaired to navigate. The unobtrusive design of the haptic shoe is its most significant feature. The system comprises of a mechanism that condenses complex geographical navigational information and lets the user feel the directional and proximity information through vibrations.
Another invention works on re-purposing the soot particles that are generated by sources of pollution through a contraption and mixing soot with vegetable oils to create ink that can be used in printers. I am now working on a device that can be attached to vehicle exhausts so as to convert fumes into ink.
Inventing is nothing but telling a story using a variety of tools. I can tell a story with technology, design, art and also music. Working with Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT Media Lab, which is an interdisciplinary research group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, I have got a huge opportunity to ideate and experiment. India has a great culture of innovating, for instance, a guy who is re-purposing his rickshaw as a juice-maker is an innovator. We need to create more opportunities for such `misfits` by giving them a place to foster crazy ideas. There is also a need for grass root students to invent more to create a better society around them. Gandhi with his wheel was an inventor—the wheel being his invention to create a social change.
