Frugal innovations: A “Necessary” Trend For The Future!

@2013, ICE, All rights reserved
A ―Necessary‖ Trend For The Future!
Frugal Innovations
Prepared by:
Ankush Samant,
Kiran Patil.
ICE, India

The Bigger Picture
• World population is growing continuously with more people living
on the Earth than ever before
• In 2007, humanity‘s total ecological footprint was estimated at 1.5
planet Earths;
– Humanity uses ecological services 1.5 times
as quickly as the Earth can renew them!!
(Source:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_footprint)
• Resources are becoming increasingly valuable as the Earth is the
only source till date and others planets are still to become a viable
source of these resources.

Ecological Footprint
• World-average ecological footprint in 2007 was 2.7 global hectares
per person, in total 18 billion.
• Biocapacity is the capacity of an area to provide resources and
absorb wastes.
– World-average biocapacity is 1.8 global hectares per person.
– Leads to an ecological deficit of 0.9 global hectares per person.
– Total world-average biocapacity deficit is 6 billion!
• Projections estimate that we will need the equivalent of two planets
by 2030 to meet our annual demands.
• We can reduce our footprint by producing more with less, and
consuming better, wiser and less.
• Increasing the efficiency of our buildings, cars and factories can cut
our total energy use by half.

The Way Forward: Better Choices

And ―Frugal‖ Choices
• With the current consumption rates, some ecosystems will collapse
even before the resource is completely depleted.
• This is why we need to make better choices in the usage of
resources.
• Frugal mindset: Doing more with less should become a trend!
– Frugal - ―Sparing or economical with regard to money or food.‖
– Frugal Innovation – “Functional solutions through few resources
for the many who have little means.”
• Major trends that encourage better choices:
– DIY (Do-It-Yourself) movement
– Frugal Innovations
– Jugaads

Key Principles

Frugal @ Home
8/11/2013 7

Self Repair - iFixit

Alternate Uses of Discarded Stuff
One can make this beautiful lamp using
an old toy truck, boat or even a
plastic barn letterbox, and the
simple tools widely available.
Tools used are wire
strippers, screwdriver, piece of wood
for plug, hole-saw drill bit, thread
pipe and piece of copper pipe that
will slide over it, lamp kit, light bulb.
Source :
http://www.diynetwork.com/decorating/how-
to-make-a-lamp-from-an-toy-
tugboat/index.html
8/11/2013 9
You can make this shelf in your home
by using tools and materials like
saw, level, drill gun, tape
measure, palm
sander, studfinder, vintage floor
boards, metal shelf brackets wood
glue, paintbrush, paint, wire
brush, and scraper.
Source:- http://www.diynetwork.com/decorating/how-to-
make-shelves-from-old-wood-flooring/index.html

Making Furniture Using Old Wooden
Crates
Using materials and tools like drill
or screwdriver, glue sticks and
hot glue guns, scissors, vintage
wooden box, mirror, glass
adhesive, picture hanger
kit, and rope, one can transform
an old wooden crate into a
fashionable mirror!
Source:http://www.diynetwork.com/deco
rating/how-to-make-a-mirror-from-an-
old-wood-crate/index.html
8/11/2013 10
With tools like
saw, scale, screws, and a
hammer, old wooden wine
crates have been turned into a
MiniBar in just eight easy
steps!
Source:
http://blog.diynetwork.com/maderemade/
how-to/transform-wooden-wine-crates-
into-a-great-minibar

Making Handbags from T-shirts
Using your old T-shirts
and a sewing
machine, you can
make amazing
handbags in just
nine easy steps!
Source:
http://blog.diynetwork.com/made
remade/how-to/upcycle-t-shirts-
into-handy-bags/

Tech for the Home
Remya Jose from Kerala has
developed a washing machine
which washes clothes while
letting you exercise at the
same time!
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/tools-and-
equipment-articles/green-grassroots-innovation-
manual-washing-cum-exercise-machine-
4739028.html
Mohammad Rozadeen has
modified the normal cooker
and made it into an espresso
coffee making machine.
Source:
http://creativityatgrassroots.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/4
98/

―Downloading‖ Your Own Furniture
AtFAB is one of the pioneers of a new
model of making things that are known as
―distributed manufacturing.‖
In AtFAB‘s version of distributed
manufacturing, plans for their
chairs, tables and stools exist solely as
―cut files‖ which can be sent to a CNC
router. Customers can head to a nearby
CNC router and get their furniture made.
Customers can download the plans for
free, purchase the raw materials and head
to their garage workshop to put together a
new furniture set all by themselves.
Source: http://qz.com/97059/atfab-future-
of-manufacturing/

Frugal Innovations For Social Causes
8/11/2013 14

Bringing Light to Darkness
This simple Solar Bottle
Bulb designed by MIT
students from plastic
water bottles, clean water
and bleach is lighting
thousands of homes in the
Philippines.
Source:
http://phys.org/news/2011-09-
bottle-brighten-millions-poor-
homes.html
N Das Jethwani of
Darjeeling has invented a
tubelight consisting of a
tubelight frame without
any choke or starter. It is
capable of using 80%
fused tubes which are
considered waste and are
usually thrown away.
Source:
http://www.indiabookofrecords.in/recor
ds-gallery/science-and-
technology/ajooba-tubelight
Martin Riddiford and Jim
Reeves, two London based
designers, have come up with
GravityLight, a simple device
charged by a bag that is filled
with approximately 9kg of
material and hung from a cord
below the light. As the bag
descends, a series of gears
inside the device translates this
weight into energy, providing 30
minutes of light.
Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artand
design/architecture-design-
blog/2012/dec/14/gravity-light-

Alternate Energy Sources
Mathew K Mathew has developed a
solar mosquito killer, which makes the
use of the smell from the septic tank
to attract the mosquitoes. Once
mosquitoes get trapped inside the
device, they cannot get out and the
heat built up inside the device as a
result of direct sunlight exposure, kills
them.
Source:
http://www.technologyreview.in/energy/24113/
Mehtar Hussain and Mustaq Ahemad have
developed a drag type, low-cost, low-
height wind mill for lifting ground water and
can pump water from the depth of about
50 feet.
Source: http://www.nif.org.in/bd/product-detail/low-cost-
wind-mill

Making Water More Accessible
Hippo Water Roller is a barrel-
shaped container; its innovative
design allows for 90 liters of
water to be placed inside a
rolling wheel.
Region – Africa
Source: http://www.hipporoller.org/product/what
In Japan, the social enterprise Nippon
Basic has developed the
Cycloclean -- a bicycle that purifies
water. Taking one of the greatest
needs of poor communities and
using a ubiquitous piece of
technology -- the bike -- designers
use pedal pressure to force water
through a carbon filter, pumping up
to six liters a minute.
The bicycle is now in heavy demand
in Bangladesh as well!
Source:
http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/05/features/frugal-innovation
http://cycloclean.com/

Use of Mobile Tech
Cardiopad is a touch screen medical tablet
that enables heart examinations such as
the electrocardiogram (ECG) to be
performed at remote, rural locations while
the results are transferred wirelessly to
specialists who can interpret them.
Region - Africa
Source:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2012/02/09/young-
african-invents-touch-screen-medical-tablet/
M-PESA is a service that enables people to
save, spend, transfer money using their cell
phones without having a bank account.
Region - Kenya
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa

Making Use of Waste
Swedish Peepoople has
developed the Peepoo
bag, a portable low-
cost latrine. The bags
are safe for burial
underground, and
within 2-4 weeks, their
contents are converted
into fertilizer.
Source: http://www.peepoople.com/
EcoFaeBrick turns cattle waste
into bricks that are greener,
stronger and 20% lighter
than regular clay bricks.
The Indonesian
organization was set up in
early 2009 to tackle the
problem of excessive waste
in local farming areas.
Source:
http://www.designother90.org/soluti
on/ecofaebrick/
Los Reciclados is an orchestra of 25
children from Cateura, Paraguay
performing everything from
Beethoven to Beatles in concerts
around Central and South
America, using
violins, cellos, saxophones and
drums handmade from trash like
empty oil cans, cello frames, etc.
The project was started by social worker
Favio Chavez, who wanted to
keep local kids occupied and away
from selling trash.
Source:
http://www.forumforthefuture.org/gree
nfutures/articles/making-music-trash-
paraguay

Child Healthcare
Dr. S. R. Daga, formerly a
pediatrician at Cama
Hospital
Mumbai, India, has
developed a low-cost
incubator from
polystyrene boxes for
preventing hypothermia
among babies.
Source:
http://www.bu.edu/today/2008/a-
cooler-for-beer-no-a-warmer-for-
babies/
At $200 (£123) each, the Embrace
baby warmer is a far cheaper
alternative to expensive
incubators for use in rural
hospitals such as the SVYM
Hospital in
Sargur, Karnataka, India, sho
wn here. Initially designed in
California and further refined
in Bangalore, the reusable
sleeping bag-style warmer
can maintain infants‘ body
temperature by using phase-
change wax that stays around
37 degrees celsius for up to
six hours.
Source:- http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/05/features/frugal-
innovation
Odon device is a suction
cup with a polyethylene
bag that‘s used to pull out
a baby from the birth
canal. Invented by
Argentinian Jorge Odon, it
assists with tricky
childbirths.
Source:
http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/ar
chive/2013/05/features/frugal-
innovation

Boon For Farmers
Bhagwan Singh Dangi of Madhya
Pradesh, India, has developed this
machine which makes harvesting
easier and reduces manpower
requirement along with being cost
effective.
Source:
http://www.hindu.com/seta/2010/09/02/stories/2
010090250011400.htm
Bullock-operated sprayer designed
by Radhey Shyam Sharma in
Madhya Pradesh, India, can
cover 3.5 acre/h and thus
reduces the labor cost drastically
as well as avoid the hazards of
traditional spraying.
Source: http://www.indiabookofrecords.in/records-
gallery/science-and-technology/bullock-
operated-sprayer

Frugal Digital Initiatives
Frugal Digital‘s Clock Sense, designed in
Copenhagen after research in India, uses
an analog alarm clock body to measure the
amount of oxygenated hemoglobin in the
blood. Thanks to two LEDs and a simple
light sensor -- from a TV remote -- the
device can provide a simple reading of the
overall health of a patient. Other sensors --
such as a temperature-gauge pad -- can
also be connected via USB.
Source:
http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/05/features
/frugal-innovation
Frugal Digital has often developed products in India
from mobile devices: it used a 3G smartphone to create
a battery-powered projector, using locally-sourced
components, for use in remote schools. Insert a
memory stick to the USB in FD‘s Darshana device and
you‘ve got a cheap, durable AV teaching aid. The
projector has data connectivity, and the touchscreen of
the phone can be used as a track pad.
Source:
http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/05/features/frugal-
innovation

Frugal Innovations in Small Scale Industries

Lemon Cutter
M. Nagarajan, from Tamil Nadu,
India, has developed a lemon
cutting machine that can help
in the pickles industry, which is
suffering from huge shortage
of labor.
Source:
http://www.nif.org.in/lemon_garlic
_machine

Milking Machine
Raghav Gowda from
Kerala, India, has developed a
manual milking machine that
can milk 1.5 to 2 liters of milk
per minute!
Source:
http://www.outlookindia.com/articl
e.aspx?227940

Mini Sanitary Napkin Making Machine
A. Muruganathan has developed
a technology to prepare
sanitary napkins with industry
standard raw materials while
cutting down the cost of
production. It is a set of four
different small
machines, viz., defibration
unit, core forming unit, sealing
unit and UV sanitizing unit.
Source: http://newinventions.in/

Rural Egg Incubator
An egg incubator developed by
Milan Jyoti Das from
Assam, India, runs on electricity
as well as kerosene, and is
much cheaper than the ones
usually available in the
markets, thereby providing a
good alternative for rural poultry
farmers.
Source:
http://www.nif.org.in/bd/product-
detail/rural-egg-incubator

Reversible Reduction Gearbox-Marine Engines
Mohanlal from
Kerala, India, has
developed a reversible
reduction gearbox and a
manually tiltable Z-drive
system for small capacity
diesel engine. The use of
this system reduces the
daily fuel cost by about 60
to 70% by enabling
fishermen to shift from a
kerosene-run outboard
engine system to a diesel-
powered inboard engine
system.
Source: http://www.nif.org.in/bd/product-
detail/reversible-reduction-gearbox-
for-marine-diesel-engine

Frugality In Private Sector Innovations

Siemens - Healthcare
Siemens has developed a low-cost Fetal Heart
Monitor for developing markets that uses
inexpensive Microphone Technology rather
than costly ultrasound technology.
Source:
http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/news/2
011/fetal-heart-rate-monitor.htm
Digital X-ray
Created by Siemens engineers in
China, the Multix Select DR Digital X-ray is
a third cheaper than comparable
machines. Costs were cut by dropping
features such as wireless data.
Source:
http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/0
5/features/frugal-innovation

GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare‘s MAC line of
electrocardiogram (ECG) systems is
a success story of innovation in
India, for India and the world.
The MAC 400 is designed for
developing market conditions. It is
highly portable and can be easily
carried to a patient‘s home. It has an
easy two-button operation that
makes training quicker, and it can
operate on battery. Above all, the
MAC 400 costs around
$800, compared to other hospital-
class units from GE Healthcare that
range from $2,000 to $10,000.
Source:
https://www.scu.edu/socialbenefit/in
novation/frugal/corecomp.cfm

Electronics Devices
Zeebo is a low-cost gaming
console targeted at
consumers in
developing markets.
The console uses only
one watt of power!
Source:
http://www.zeeboinc.com/
Aakash is a seven inch, touch
screen, Internet-enabled tablet computer
launched in 2011. Datawind, a UK based
company, is supplying the first 100,000
devices to the Government of India at $50
each. Aakash is built on a three-pronged
strategy: data compression technology
that shifts the burden from the device to
servers; a monetized-, app-
based, operating system and most
importantly high levels of vertical
integration in Datawind that keep
manufacturing costs low.
Source:
http://www.nesta.org.uk/news_and_featur
es/frugal_innovations/aakash
Cherrypal Africa is a 7-inch mini
laptop, designed for developing
countries and sells for USD 99.
The company buys excess
inventory and discounted
components to keep the price
down, which means that only
minimum specifications are
promised on the site.
Source:
http://www.trendwatching.com/tren
ds/functionall/

Lighting Solutions
• With the goal of replacing dim-lighting
kerosene lamps, the Kiran solar lantern
provides up to eight hours of bright light after
a day's solar charge. Both durable and
weather-resistant, the Kiran lantern is
designed based on research in rural India. It
is available for 10 USD.
• In June 2009, Swedish furniture and lifestyle
brand IKEA launched a functional lamp
called the SUNNAN. It uses solar cells. The
product retails for USD 19.99, and for every
unit sold in IKEA stores worldwide, another
one is donated to UNICEF to give to children
without electricity in refugee camps and
villages in remote areas.
• Philips has developed a range of lighting
solutions aimed at consumers without
access to electricity. The Uday mini solar
lantern provides 4-5 hours of bright white
light from a full solar charge and the
Dynamo Multi LED is a flashlight which
offers 17 minutes of light from two minutes
of winding by hand.
Source:
http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/functio
nall/

Godrej - Chotukool
Godrej Chotukool is a low-cost
refrigerator weighing just 7.8
kgs. The appliance uses half
the power of a conventional
device and can also be run on
a battery!
Source: http://www.chotukool.in

FLAP Bag
Timbuk2, the messenger bag
company, has designed a bag
in collaboration with Pop!Tech
and Portable Light, featuring
photo-voltaic panels for
capturing solar energy, an
internal USB charger for
electrical gadgets and a
flashlight for night-time vision.
Source:
http://blog.timbuk2.com/2009/0
8/13/portable-light-on-your-
flap/

Drinking Water Solutions
TataSwach is a
water filter and
purifier that
produces clean
drinking water
through the use
of common ash
and doesn‘t
require
electricity!
Source:
http://www.tataswach.com/
The Waterward solar water purifier is an
economic, chemical-free way to
guarantee that you have ultra pure,
potable drinking water. It uses no filters,
has no electrical or moving parts and
each panel can produce clean water on
a moderately warm day and much more
in tropical climates or when the impure
water supply is pre-heated. By using
both infrared and ultraviolet rays from
the Sun, the WaterWard purifier can
convert any source of contaminated
water into clean, drinkable water.
Source:
http://ideasbaby.com/ideas/7668
PureIt is a battery-powered
portable water-purification
system developed by Hindustan
Unilever. The system, which
costs USD 43, is sold through a
network of 45,000 women who
demonstrate the product in their
homes and sell it in their local
villages.
Source:
http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/functionall/

Scenarios

Scenario 1: Joy‘s GRAVITY Powered Gaming
Joy is a gaming addict and is gearing up for a
big tournament in 2025. He is aware
about his huge energy requirements to
run big gaming devices, and has
implemented many solutions in order to
save on those expenses.
He has connected his keyboard to a charging
station – so each click not just kills the
enemy, but charges a mini-station as well.
Of course, he realized that this will be a
little too less for his giant processors!
He researched a lot and finally found a
mechanism to generate power using gravity
– GRAVITY powered lamp. Using this
concept, he created an elevated platform
where he plays all his games. He will use the
platform as the weight to pull the pulley
down to generate power.
The platform will be pulled up using a hand-
pulley. As his platform comes down, the
levers charge his bigger power station. In
fact this trick has been so useful that he has
been feeding back into the grid instead of
taking something from it!

Scenario 2: NextGen Community
NextGen Society is a housing society that has come
up after a lot of crowdsourcing of ideas. People
from many professions came together with
planners and architects to build a self-sustained
community.
All the apartments in the community are of the same
area but they all have movable walls based on
the concept of space saving flat by Chang. The
movable walls give the house owner the
capability to give a different look and feel and at
the same time the flexibility allows to transform
spaces between the kitchen, bathroom, living
rooml and bedroom, saving unnecessary space
going waste. In effect every person requires
much lesser area than required.
All the community work is done by the people
themselves. They have all embraced the self-
repair manifesto and also employ the concepts of
TaskRabbit, therefore all the work is done within
the community. The members register themselves
with their skill set and according to their skills they
get task allocations.
In this manner, NextGen society has become a truly
self-sustained community.

Scenario 3: Wandering Doctors
Aakash calls himself the ‗wandering
doctor‘, though he is a data gatherer by
profession who picked up bio-hacking as
a hobby.
He goes to remote places that have no
access to a ‗real‘ doctor and sets up his
clinic. He uses his Smartphone as the
diagnosis tool, collects important data of
his patients and puts it up on his
collaborative medical forum using the
connectivity of Google Project Loon
Within minutes, he gets a crowd-sourced diagnosis
of the patient‘s health and recommendations on
the medical care to be taken.
More importantly, he gets information from his
database and other ‗wandering doctors‘ on
local medicinal substitutes that he can use for
the cure of his patients. So, he recommends
‗local cures‘ to his patients.
He is now moving one step ahead and creating a
‗wandering ambulance‘ that takes the doctor to
the patient rather than the other way round!

Conclusion
• Effective use of resources at each front—home, social and
business—is the need of the hour!
• The countries or organizations that are able to improve their
efficiency by utilizing less resources efficiently are more likely to
thrive.
• ―Frugal Innovation‖ can play a decisive role in crafting of future
scenarios.
• Frugal innovation is a trend to watch out for in the 21st century.

Address:
No. 184, Mission Street,
Puducherry - 605001
India.
Tel : +91 413 4210583/4/5
+91 413 4210583 / 4 / 5
ice.humanfactors.com/
facebook.com/uxtrendspotting
@UXTrendspotting
Contact ice@humanfactors.com for any further queries and
feedback.
8/11/2013 42
Thank You!

Frugal innovations: A “Necessary” Trend For The Future!

Recomendados

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

La actualidad más candente

La actualidad más candente (20)

Destacado

Destacado (20)

Similar a Frugal innovations: A “Necessary” Trend For The Future!

Similar a Frugal innovations: A “Necessary” Trend For The Future! (20)

Más de Institute of Customer Experience

Más de Institute of Customer Experience (14)

Último

Último (20)

Frugal innovations: A “Necessary” Trend For The Future!

Notas del editor