‘Pitara’ concept from Srishti
School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore was awarded the runner-up place
while the 3rd spot was shared by ‘Vijeta’ concept from IIT Kanpur
and ‘Word of Snake’ concept from National Institute of Design.
A first of its kind national design competition focused
on creating concepts for mobile applications or services that will encourage
mobile users to interact in their local language
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.
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,”said Younghee Jung, research leader, Nokia
Research Centre.
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.
By Telecomlead.com Team
