Nokia Research Centre (NRC) announced the winners of Bhasha 2011 Design Competition. ‘Kaccha Limbu’ concept from Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology; Bangalore emerged the winner while Pitara’ concept from Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore was awarded the runner-up place. The 3rd spot was shared by ‘Vijeta’ concept from IIT Kanpur and ‘Word of Snake’ concept from National Institute of Design.
Bhasha 2011, a unique national design competition held across India’s top design institutions, aimed to identify ideas and designs that will encourage the use of Indian languages on mobile phones and, as a result, possibly make users more literate in their native language through casual learning.
The winning concepts were chosen after being measured against preset objectives of promoting frequent use of local language on mobile phones, rather than only for special occasions; driving literacy in the language of choice as the result of the use of the concept; simplicity of the design that does not require any assistance for usage, and finally keeping the users engaged and self-motivated to continue using the design.
The winning team was awarded 200,000 INR and runner up received 150,000 INR. Both the teams at the 3rd spot received 100,000 INR each as prize money. Additionally, two teams from Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology; Bangalore and IIT Kanpur were nominated for the ‘Developers Choice’ award, offering them the opportunity to connect with developers and collaborate with them to realize their ideas into actual products.
Commenting on Project Bhasha 2011, Younghee Jung, Research Leader, Nokia Research Centre said, “Nokia has always been committed to shaping mobile experiences of Indian consumers by enabling them to do more. In a country like India with infrastructure challenges and low broadband penetration, mobile is the most viable medium to deliver services to people whether its information, education, banking or anything else.
While the proliferation of mobile telephony has reached critical mass in India, consumption of services amongst non urban and rural consumers remains a challenge due to language. The aim of Project Bhasha was to address this challenge by engaging the best young design minds in India and developing real workable concepts. We received some great designs and ideas and it was a difficult decision to arrive at the winner teams.”
The competition began in January 2011 and was open for all students from top four institutes – IIT Kanpur, National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Bangalore), Sristhi School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore and Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune. It received an overwhelming response with over 50 student teams sending in their entries.
Several rounds of review sessions were held between the teams and faculty at the institutes together with mentors from Nokia before final submission presentation were made by the teams on campus to a jury comprising of Faculty and Nokia. Nine finalist entries were selected for the final round in Bangalore, where teams presented to an eminent jury comprising Prof. Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology, Newcastle University; Prof. Mahendra Patel, ex-National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad; and Younghee Jung, Research Leader, Nokia Research Centre.
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