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Uttarahalli bridge

CITY www.bangaloremirror.com/city BangaloreMirror | MONDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2010 4

IDEAS@WORK

is coming apart
MANU PRASAD
START-UPS WITH, AND THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE
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Futuristic touch
to digital design
Residents fear a disaster is waiting to happen as many schoolbuses use the 30-year-old
bridge that can collapse due to overload. But the civic body prefers to look the other way
MUTHU P

A
Suchith.Kidiyoor many vehicle users use this par-
@timesgroup.com ticular bridge to reach the Outer
Ring Road, Kengeri, Banashankari
and other areas.
small bridge in Panduranga, a resident, said,
Uttarahalli is posing a “The BDA has allotted hundreds
threat to hundreds of of sites to people in the area.
vehicle users. The dan- Many residential buildings are

F
gerously narrow 30-year-old coming up but the civic body is
Arun Yashwant... shaping everyday living
bridge built on a bund of Gublala reluctant to provide basic ameni-
lake may collapse at any moment ties. Roads in the area are in
due to overload and its precarious pathetic condition, lakes have rom multi-touch display tables to interactive
condition, but the civic body been encroached upon, but the floors and walls, OoBI (Out of Box
chooses to look the other way, BBMP is doing nothing to address Interaction) mixes real and virtual environ-
this, despite umpteen complaints these issues.” ments to explore new ways for users to
from residents. Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, engage with content. In conversation with its
N Muralidhar, a resident, said, the corporator of Uttarahalli ward, founder Arun Yashwant.
“Many school buses and vans ply K Ramesh Raju admitted that
on this bridge. It is so narrow that there was a problem. He said, “In ORIGINS
two cars cannot move simultane-
ously. Vehicles pile up on both the
the past, we did ask the BBMP to
reconstruct and widen the bridge.
OoBI is our first
start-up and its basis is
START UP-TO-DATE
sides when heavy vehicles like lor- Almost three years ago, there was the interaction design Company: OoBI
ries and buses cross the bridge. To avoid the metro work in progress on Kanakapura Road, many vehicle users a plan to rebuild the bridge with course at IIT Bombay. Domain: Interaction design,
Despite the danger posed to hun- use this bridge to reach the Outer Ring Road, Kengeri, BSK and other areas local development funds but the Our first setup as stu- hardware-software customi-
dreds, neither the elected repre- plan was shelved after the assem- dents, called sation for new media solu-
sentative from the area nor the the area fear a major tragedy. man the traffic even during peak bly was dissolved. After the BBMP Illumiletter, was fea- tions.
civic body has bothered to attend Satish, another resident, said, hours. In the past, there have elections, the civic body consid- tured on DD News. Founders: Arun Yashwant
to the problem.” “The bridge has no side walls, nor been many instances of cars and ered the project under a packaging Usually our projects Founded in: January 2009
The schoolbuses of Kumaran’s does it have any sign boards warn- two-wheelers losing control and tender but then again, the plans end up as a report Funding: Bootstrapped.
School, Home School, KSIT ing vehicle users of the bridge falling into the tunnel.” were abandoned following court book in the library, Mentored by Pratyush
Polytechnic and others use this that’s located on a sharp curve. To avoid the metro work in orders. I hope the bridge will be but we wanted to take Prasanna
bridge every day. The residents of The traffic police never turn up to progress on Kanakapura Road, rebuilt in the coming days.” our idea further and
design solutions that are futuristic yet simple to oper-
ate. We took up jobs in companies to get industrial

Now, Bescom faces meter shortage exposure. The passion to do something different
drove us to design and develop new-age applications
and hardware and we took the plunge.

Consumers have to wait in long queues for hours together to procure one, thanks to the energy dept’s eccentricities
ELEVATOR PITCH
We design digital artefacts, for work, play and
entertainment, virtually shaping your everyday life.

T
Niranjan.Kaggere Bescom decided to sell meters — Bangalore alone has 21sub-divi- We design and develop new media solutions that
@timesgroup.com procured from a private supplier sions and each sub-division merge real and digital into a creative environment
— themselves. However, the con- requires close to 500 meters every where people can touch, play, move, feel as they do
he deteriorating power sce- tract given to a private company day. “For new connections, tem- in the real world. These include multi-user gesture
nario in the state seems to be coincided with the entry of porary connections and replace- based solutions on table, wall and floor with input
showing no signs of recov- Shobha Karandlaje into the pow- ment of damaged meters, cus- by touch, air gesture and even mobile phones.
ery, though everybody thought erful energy ministry. “We are told tomers require new meters. But,
that the powerful Shobha that the new minister decided to thanks to a short supply of GAMEPLAN
Karandlaje would bring in some discontinue the services of a com- meters, thousands have been Average users are unfamiliar with out business
change. At a time when cus- pany which was supplying meters affected since the last few weeks,” so our priority is to educate customers and users
tomers are caught in a pincer at a cost of Rs 1,190 per piece and said Mahadev. about the possibilities. Our services work even for
between raging power-cuts and gave the orders instead to anoth- Commenting on the problem, those who are not familiar with computers. We
high cost of power, the Bangalore er company which agreed to sup- another electrical contractor says, have completed projects for a national PSU bank, a
Electricity Supply Company ply the meters at a cost of Rs 990 “You get the same meters private- Dubai-based mall for immersive advertisement
Limited (Bescom) is facing an per piece. Now, people are ready ly for Rs 500 to Rs 650. But media and IIT Bombay among others. We are now
acute shortage of electrical meters. to pay for the meters, but there Bescom engineers do not permit targeting showrooms, mall owners, design houses
Even if you get a power connec- are no meters with Bescom,” the use of these meters. If you go and advertising agencies.
tion, you cannot access it for want explains H N Mahadev, former to a Bescom subdivision to buy a
of a meter. vice-president, of the meter, there is no guarantee that THE CHALLENGES
Bangalore city alone, which Government Licensed Electrical you will get one. Officials at The hardware we need is costly so raising capi-
requires more than 5,000 meters Contractors’ Association, Bescom have now resorted to tal is priority. Since we worked on this while in dif-
on an everyday basis, is now strug- Bangalore North. making a quick buck, commission ferent cities, coordinating projects and sharing
gling to get the electrical meters. Although the meters are not is what they have in mind. We work is also a challenge.
Electrical contractors and cus- available in other places, they are hoped the entry of Shobha
tomers are forced to wait for hours available in Jayanagar and madam would ease the problems REWARD: FAME, MONEY, THRILL?
in long queues at every subdivision. Vijayanagar subdivisions. But to faced by the energy department. It is just the adrenaline rush that has driven us
A few years ago, trying to put get meters, one has to wait from But now, it’s getting worse with Bangalore city alone requires more to this level. We get a kick every time we see a twin-
an end to meter-tampering, morning till late evening. each passing day.” than 5,000 meters on a daily basis kle in the eyes of users while they use our solutions.

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