DESIGNING TECHNOLOGY FOR EMERGING MARKETS - CASE STUDY FOR INDIA
AIM : To understand the scope and future scenarios of Sensing technology and the Internet of Things in India
A new paradigm shift in how we interact with the physical world is underway. For years, proponents of artificial intelligence, context aware technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT) have been anticipating a world where machine to machine to human exchange is common place. Technology such as Bluetooth, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Wi-FI, Telephonic Data Services, Embedded sensors, Real time location tracking, and many more fall under the wide umbrella of Internet of Things and Sensing Technology and have assisted in simplifying, sorting and striding quotidian life and it is believed that it will play out very differently in the Indian context where several cultures, languages, professional backgrounds and socio economic groups meet in contrast to the western world.
We worked in an inter-disciplinary team of two Social Researchers, a Product Designer and an expert from IT and Telecom Sector. After secondary research and expert interviews, our team formulated hypotheses that aimed at understanding (i) If IoT is an urban phenomena (ii) If there is a lack of understanding about IoT offerings amongst probable users in India (iii) If cost, security and privacy will be main concerns for embracing IoT in India (iv) If India’s regional diversity will affect its adoption and if it will have more scope in certain sectors over others.
Service Mapping for Water in Kharaghoda, Gujarat
Use of Creative tools and Methodologies for Research to map energy usage / appliance usage among others
Participatory Tools : Card Sorting and Story Telling exercises to gauge electricity consumption and use of solar/biogas appliances by the family
