Emerging Worlds

Emerging Worlds is an MIT Media Lab Special Interest Group (SIG) focused on emerging opportunities for citizens in resource-limited settings. It is a co-innovation initiative to build platforms to solve pressing challenges in areas such as health, education, financial inclusion, energy and environment, food and agriculture, housing, transportation, beauty and selfesteem, and local business.

Emerging Worlds are vibrant ecosystems where innovative citizenbased technologies address wideranging needs of urban populations. These efforts operate year-round, punctuated with intensive in-person mentoring time with the MIT Media Lab team and other experienced professionals invited by MIT.

The Emerging Worlds platform is creating a model for “smart citizens” that has been proven in India, so that it can now be deployed in other non-metro cities around the globe that are home to a significant portion of the world’s population experiencing similar challenges.

It is extremely gratifying to be leading a global bottom-up innovation movement that is solving big problems. We are empowering citizens worldwide and stimulating economic development in the process. The excitement is evident in our innovators – in their passion and hard work, and in the impact they are having.

Efforts specialize in early stage innovation. The “spot” phase generates ideas for solutions, which will satisfy a significant need. The “probe” phase creates a working prototype to test the technical and business feasibility of the solution.

We foster a year-round, platform to address challenges with local human capital and technology. Now, having proven the platform in India, we are expanding the reach worldwide.

The Group has established and proven three innovation efforts in India: in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Nashik. Each has a unique focus, based on the needs, expertise and interests of the local stakeholders. With the expert guidance of the MIT team members, government and corporate mentors and others, our innovators are developing solutions that work. They are solving real needs

(*) Hyderabad, India -- In Hyderabad, the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute is sponsoring innovations that emphasize eye health. Innovations include systems for measuring peripheral vision in babies, training a lazy eye, creating an augmented reality for the visually impaired, and a prosthetic eye that fits well.

(*) Mumbai, India -- In Mumbai, the Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research (WeSchool) hosts a visual health diagnostic-focused innovation center. Innovations include a real-time emotion detection system, differential diagnosis of skin conditions, detection of infections of the middle ear, diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, monitoring of obstructive sleep apnea, and detection of the presence of carie-causing bacteria in saliva.

(*) Nashik, India -- Teams in Nashik launched innovations in a pop-up city at the Kumbh Mela festival that attracted 30 million visitors in one month. They successfully deployed systems including crowd tracking and management, temporary housing, navigation around the city, monitoring visitors’ health status, food logistics, and providing ambulance services.