KOCHI:
Kerala is experiencing a surge in technology that can benefit society in the aftermath of the August calamity that ravaged the state, going by an exhibition at the #Design Kerala Summit in this city.
A Maker Village display of innovative tools and applications at the Bolgatty Event Centre that is hosting a December 11-16 Kochi Design Week as part of the Summit has 20 stalls that relate to ways people can respond to and overcome a crisis following disasters like the floods and landslides Kerala faced four months ago.
For instance, there is a unit offering smart treatment solution to modular wastewater in housing complexes as well as small and medium industries. Brought up by Ecodew Pure Water Solutions, it exemplifies refinement of water in the aftermath of a deluge like the state witnessed this month: the system relies on a four-component solution that ensures clean and safe drinking water within 90 minutes of a simple operation.
For a state like Kerala, where houses continue to far outnumber apartments around urban areas, such a facility is of “great futuristic value”, according to M Sivashankar, Kerala IT Secretary. “A chunk of the state’s people lives in houses on small plots where both kitchen well and septic tank aren’t very far. It can invite communicable diseases which we need to avoid,” he points out. “It’s high time we in Kerala thought of locally purified potable water from systems that are used by individual units (families).”
Next to Ecodew’s exhibit is RDF. It stands for ‘refuse derived fuel’ and works as a household waste-processing solution that converts garbage into energy. That is by Scavenger WasteTech, another of the 68 firms that are incubated in Maker VillageKochi functioning since early 2016.
Maker Village CEO Prasad Balakrishnan Nair notes that the exhibition has been curated keeping in mind that the technologies should benefit the common people and go in tune with nature. “Also cutting-edge tools should come be designed aesthetically,” he adds.
Given that healthcare becomes a focal area in times of a natural calamity, a fully-automated SMART hospital room using intelligent machines gains vitality at the exhibition. Not only as it anAI-powered wearable ECG device for 24X 7 monitoring of persons with critical heart conditions; there is 3D scanning system for body mapping and virtual trial room to provide customised apparels within 90 minutes.
The hospital room has a customized SCARA Robot Arm For Human Machine Interface Testing. Brought out by Sastra Robotics, it automates the testing process and can be used to remotely operate critical switches during risky scenarios. Alongside it, Asimov Robotics’ customised AI-powered humanoid robot helps in automating nursing care at hospitals.
Ignitorium Technology Solution’s high-precision real-time indoor tracking solution helps track high-value assets and workforce/patients in large automated hospital environment. Evelabs Technologies has put on display a fully-automated IOT infusion monitor that can monitor and control IV medication, eliminating physical nursing care.
Desintox Technologies has come up with an advanced automated standing wheelchair that allows the user to stand on one own, thus help improving the mobility of the patient besides provide physiotheraupetic effects. Besides, Waferchip Techno Solution’s AI-powered wearable ECG device is immense help for 24×7 monitoring of persons with critical heart conditions, as it monotoring the patients’ heart condition when physical presence of doctors us not feasible during a calamity.
CEAD has its customised two-wheeler electric vehicle that can maintain a fleet of vehicles by charging through solar or battery banks when fossil fuel is scarce after a disaster. FeatherDyn’s autonomous unmanned medium-range aerial vehicles enhance logistic service and surveillance. They survey the extent of disaster and carry critical payloads like life-saving medicines to areas cut off during a calamity.
Westghats provides real-time demographic detection using vision processor and machine learning. It comes particularly useful in determining crowd profiles in areas of dense human congregation. Also, it detects signs of a probable stampede and evaluate demographics during rescue operations/evacuation.
Given that livestock is particularly vulnerable to calamities, Resnova Technologis has come up with cow health detection. Using predictive analysis, it enables early detection of communicable diseases that become rampant during natural disasters.
Nyokas Technologies has an e-textile solutions company focusing on developing intelligent textile. It proves useful for monitoring the safety of people, especially women, in risk-prone areas. PerfectFit Systems provides 3D scanning system for body mapping and virtual trial room to provide customised apparels within 90 minutes.
Cellular IoT modules and solutions with eSIM for global data connectivity through its platform is Cavallier Wireless’s solution. It provides a platform for movement of relief material even across countries.
HW Design Labs provides turnkey solution for vehicle-tracking and mapping in cities using FM communication in mobiles. The application works without a cellular network and enables broadcast of messages to mobile phones (which may fail in network during calamities).
