MIT and The Shortcut to Nirvana
The colorful and chaotic Kumbh Mela (Kumbh, for short) is possibly the largest religious gathering on earth. The Hindu pilgrimage, which happens once in twelve years in an Indian city, draws millions of devotees. Now, thanks to Ramesh Raskar, a MIT Media Lab professor whose hometown, Nashik, is the venue for upcoming Kumbh, a group of tech-minded folks from Boston are pitching in with innovations to make the gathering safer among other things.
Raskar is the head of MIT’s Camera Culture Group and co-founder of EyeNetra, a Somerville startup that makes cellphone-based optometry products. He is also the brains behind Kumbhathon, an ongoing series of tech build-a-thons, the next which begins in January in Nashik, to address Kumbh-specific problems.
Though dubbed “shortcut to Nirvana,” the joyous festival has the kind of problems you’d expect when tens of millions of people crowd a mid-size city: children getting separated from their parents in the crowds, disease outbreaks, even deadly stampedes.
So for the upcoming Kumbhathon, the problem solvers are collaborating with stakeholders in Nashik, and at other institutes in India, to develop mobile technologies to keep Kumbh attendees safe.“This is a bottom-up approach to innovation,” said Raskar.
Already the tech types have designed EpiMetrics, an app that allows medical staff to track the spread of viral diseases and intervene faster. Another tool, MilApp, is designed to help police speedily reunite lost individuals with their loved ones. The teams also intends to pull data from cellphone towers so that they can tell authorities if a site is getting too crowded and have them re-route pilgrims accordingly.
Pickpockets could have a field day at the Kumbh, so innovators have also developed an app for cashless payments. Even an ascetic with no electronics on him can use the system by buying a kind of prepaid debit card, only in the form of a wristband with a barcode, that storekeepers will scan to receive payment.
The Kumbh offers an unparalleled opportunity to test products instantaneously, at scale, said Caitlin Dolkart, a MBA student at MIT who will attend the Kumbhathon. Its larger goal, added Raskar, is to create a new generation of social entrepreneurs.
The organizers say there could be takeaway lessons from Nashik for other emerging cities, large gatherings, and refugee camps the world over. Kumbhathon will take place in Nashik, India from Jan 24-31, of 2015; Kumbh Mela comes to Nashik in fall 2015.