Tech Companies At Kumbh Intending To Test Real Time Innovations


BENGALURU: As the world’s largest human congregation begun last month with flag hoists and celebration in the towns of Kushawart and Ramkund; it’s noticed that along with the sadhus and sannyasis, a new sect of visitors have entered the Kumbh Mela zone. They are Innovators from organizations like MIT, Nokia, Wikipedia, the Tata Center for Technology and Design, the IITs and Reliance Innovation Lab.

The aim of these in this religious affair is to examine the large crowds, study the strain of swift urbanization and install solutions in aspects like transportation, health, food housing, and payments. The 30-day event of Kumbh Mela will equip more opportunity for these organizations to deliver new scope of innovation for megacities and towns.

Sophie Vandebroek, chief technology officer and president of the Xerox Innovation Group addressed his team for this Kumbh as “Researchers at Xerox are addressing a wide range of urban challenges using a combination of mobile sensing, crowdsourcing, and prescriptive analytics to create actionable insights for cities and their citizens." When inquired about the goal of the company he said, “Our research team in Bangalore is looking forward to collaborating with MIT during the Kumbhathon in Nasik, to pilot innovations that will make a positive difference for rapidly growing communities.”

In collaboration these organizations tend to address the drawbacks and glitches of Kumbh Mela referred to as The Kumbhathon. It’s a year long program where each of these participating companies will contribute to the betterment of the Kumbh Mela. For example, a foot mat that can count footsteps is the recent hype discovered by a 17-year old who is recommended by MIT and a scholarship by Xerox confirmed Darnish Singh Kalra, co-founder of Lucid Lane, one of the participating agencies. He also said, "It can be placed anywhere and can help in sensing crowd movement, thus preventing stampedes."

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