Kumbhathon innovators present progress at conference on 8/30

It was a busy and productive week in Nashik India as innovators gathered for Kumbhathon6 to finalize projects for the Kumbh Mela and the massive gathering at the first shahi snan. Mentors, professors and business leaders gathered on 8/30 at the conference hall on he top floor of city center mall to hear reports from the teams. Each team presented their projects, process and successes to the gathered crowd and the results were impressive. The day ended with a reminder that the Kumbhathon initiative will move far beyond this week. The momentum will continue as Kumbhathon innovators create a culture of innovation in Nashik. Kumbhathon teams are led by mentors from the MIT Media Lab and the Kumbhathon Foundation as well as by local business leaders. The MIT team is led by professor Ramesh Raskar and K6 was attended by John Werner, Pratik Shah, Mrinal Mohit and Maggie Church. The Kumbhathon Foundation Team includes CEO Sandip Shinde, Girish Pagare, Sunil Khandbahale, Sachin Pachorkar and Mahesh Gujrathi. Below find a recap of each team at the conclusion of the week.

View a video recap from John Werner here: https://vimeo.com/137911421

Crowd Steering

First up was the crowd steering team. Working with Google innovator, Ramakrishna, the team was able to present a heat map showing locations and density of crowds in Nashik. The team used data from mobile phone towers and collected and analyzed data to create detailed vusualizations showing the density of a crowd present at various places in and around Nashik. This was shared with administrative and government officials to anticipate and abate any problems related to large crowds.

Crowd Tracking – Ashioto

Innovators from the Crowd Tracking team – called Ashioto “crowd management by footcount” – showed their latest prototype which was installed near the Godavari River to track the number of people exiting after taking a dip. The mat withheld the massive numbers of people and was able to accurately track numbers. Many noted that this was some of the most accurate information that officials had to work with noting that normally numbers are a guess for locals and government officials at such gatherings. The team plans to use the mat for the next shahi snan as well.

Annandan-

After press early in the week and a large team with a clear focus, team Annandan was able to raise funds to distribute over 7000 packets of food. All food was packaged in eco friendly material and distributed by team members to pilgrims who were attending the Kumbh Mela. They worked with 4 distribution centers, employed 2 groups of women to do the cooking and collaborated with 2 NGO’s, Udhaan Foundation and Jeevdaan Foundation.

Epimetrics

The epimetrics team create an interface which digitizes medical logs and analyzes them in real-time to give medical professionals information. The team gathered a large amount of data and were able to track 2 clear health issues from information they collected from the 21st to the 23rd of August. Epimetrics team members are not releasing exact data and reminding press and collaborators that the success of the project shows the potential for it’s use in the future. Epimetrics is enabling a culture of precautionary and predictive healthcare.

Kumbh Sahayak

Kumbh Sahayak is an interactive voice helpline created for people visiting the Kumbh Mela without access to a smart phone. The IVR is available in English, Hindi and Marathi. From the data collected researchers were able to see that most patients were asking for Kumbh info and chemist info. Other options on the call included emergency info, hospital info, and hotel information. Of all calls that were placed to emergency officials during the Kumbh Mela, Kumbh Sahyak was responsible for receiving 10% of them proving the ease of and importance of the interface. This will be used more and more in the future as more people become aware of it. The call in number is:+918898086686

Meditracker

Meditracker is an android application which gives users quick access to urgent medical information in the city of Nashik. It features dynamic, real-time information about hospitals, medical professionals, and hospital bed availability. A convenient interface allows you to quickly call an ambulance in case of emergency. This allows people visiting the city to quickly navigate the system and access needed information. Meditracker was able to collect data from this week helping healthcare workers anticipate needs in the future.

Track Nashik

The track Nashik team formed at the beginning of Kumbhathon6. Even with the short amount of time the all girl team was able to create very comprehensive maps that undoubtedly helped many access and navigate through Nashik during the large volume crowds. The maps showed up-to-date information on road closures and suggested best routes to drive, motorbike an walk either around Nashik or to festivities on the river. This digital application proved far better than maps which were released in local papers which were hard to read and difficult for out-of-towners to understand.

The Nashik Trimbuk Kumbh App

Deemed the official app of the Kumbh Mela, the Nashik Trimbuk app boasted comprehensive information on all things Kumbh from history and cultural information, to routes to Nashik and Trimbakeshwar, to important dates and emergency info. The app was produced with Nebula Studios and can be downloaded at Google Play.

Wiki Nashik

The largest team from all Kumbhathon workshops was the Wiki Nashik team. Always showing up in large numbers with great spirit the team was able to make the most comprehensive Wikipedia page for Nashik India of any city in the world. The page incudes cultural and historical information as well as famous profiles, photos and government information. The previous page had outdated and irrelevant information whereas the updated page is a must see for anyone visiting or living in Nashik as well as those researching the Kumbh Mela. The new page is seeing 2000 page visits per day.

Popup Housing

The Popup Housing team was excited to show of 2 multi-level structures which were built in sadhugram. This is the first ever multi layer portable structure in the history of the Kumbh Mela. It shows a modular space which can be built and deconstructed as needed making it useable for many purposes. The vertical nature saves space for crowded pop-up cities. Both structures were used by officials and pilgrims at the gathering.

3D Maps

The 3D maps team installed 52 maps in the sadhugram area of Nashik. The maps featured easy to read icons and graphics clearly showing important areas in 12 sectors. This allowed for people from many areas speaking many different languages to understand and use the maps.

Book Ur Pooja

Bookurpooja,com is a pioneer in providing end-to-end software and other value added solutions for the online pooja booking. Presently the company provides pooja booking solutions in Nashik, Shirdi, Trimakeshwar, Shanishinganapur and other spiritual destinations across India. The end-to-end software solutions include e-booking of pooja, booked pooja management solutions, pooja tracking systems, Yajman information systems, Pooja management backed by a customer support centers.

At the end of the project descriptions Kumbhathon Foundation CEO Sandip Shinde addressed the crowd to congratulate the teams and thank Kumbhathon leadership. After 6 Kumbhathons, this was a momentous moment as so many projects were realized and presented to the masses during the Kumbha Mela.

The momentum will continue in upcoming Kumbhathons and as Kumbhathon fellows continue their work and continue to mentor their groups.

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Professor Raskar (far lef) congratulates the innovators as Nashik and MIT team take the stage post presentations.

Innovators and mentors take a quick break for a group photo.