How Kochi innovator Arvind Sanjeev saved you Rs 1 lakh

When Arvind Sanjeev was 10 years old, he took apart his new gift, a remote-controlled toy Ferrari. It exasperated his parents, Central Industrial Security Force scientists, Dr Sanjeev and his wife Usha.

But there were other signs that Arvind was going to become an inventor — visitors watched in awe as a hovercraft the schoolboy built during a local electronics exhibition took to the skies. Arvind's insatiable curiosity is still alive at 23.

It propelled the Kochi-based inventor to build his own version of the cutting-edge Google Glass — a head-mounted device that mimics its famous counterpart's specifics like first person video streaming and voice recognition.

Arvind's SmartCap is a rough-around-the-edges, do-it-yourself (DIY) project, but it took him just two weeks to build and cost him — wait for it — Rs 4,500.



How it all began

Arvind says that from the moment he first saw an advert for Google Glass, he was "pumped". He runs DIY Hacking, an initiative in Kochi that tutors students on hardware technology, egging them on to tinker with electronics and build their own cool robotics projects.

He was able to lay hands on Google Glass earlier this year during a trip to the Silicon Valley. What he loved about the groundbreaking spectacles was its sleek design. What he didn't care for was its price tag, close to Rs 1 lakh.

"The Glass had innovative ideas, but its price wasn't appealing," says Arvind. And so, he worked on the SmartCap, a DIY tutorial to encourage students to make their own head-mounted devices, using open source technology like arduino and Raspberry pi.

Among other electronics, Arvind attached a web-camera, hands-free tech and LCD display with some Fevicol glue onto his old hip-hop cap. Voila, virtual reality, like the original Google Glass. "The components are bulky, so I used a hat instead of spectacles," he says. It charges with an adaptor or cellphone battery.

Why do-it-yourself

Arvind's SmartCap fired up friends to come up with their own versions. One cap had an e-reader attached, while another was a unique auto-security system. "The wearer can gauge if the driver of his car is falling asleep at the wheel," he says.

SmartCap isn't for sale though. "I registered the prototype, but only developed my own version of Google Glass to motivate students to invent projects."

It's part of his website initiative DIY Hacking, which he started while still studying his bachelors in Electronics and Communications from TocH Institute of Science and Technology in Kochi. Arvind graduated in 2013, even while simultaneously being CEO and chief inventor of his company ARS Devices.




New ways of learning

The young inventor is faintly critical of how our education system encourages innovation. "I just passed through school. I was never an outstanding student. Our education system is outdated. DIY Hacking is a more pragmatic approach to education," he says.

Apart from authoring an e-book that collates a step-by-step guide on how to make 10 projects of head-mounted displays, home automation and connected devices, Arvind also gives lectures at colleges on rapid prototyping and hardware tech.

What keeps him going? "What I enjoy most is the process of making something. Adding things part by part, usually after sleepless nights, then experiencing the final version. That's truly sublime."