In this pop-up city, innovators developed solutions that helped enable the safest Kumbh Mela on record. Solutions ranged from crowd management to food logistics, epidemic tracking, pop-up housing and 3D mapping. With its new focus on the culture of innovation, the city of Nashik is competing to be one of India's "smart cities."

In Hyderabad, the L V Prasad Eye Institute is sponsoring innovations for eye health. Medical professionals from major health centers in India and the US -- including L V Prasad and Mass General Hospital in Boston –- provide mentorship and guidance to ensure that the innovations are relevant and effective. Innovations being created in Hyderabad 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.

In Mumbai, the Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research (WeSchool) hosts a visual health diagnostic-focused innovation center. Innovators use the space and close guidance and mentorship with researchers and others to develop prototypes for solutions including systems for: 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, ad detection of the presence of carie-causing bacteria in saliva. 

In July 2014 the team ran its first Kumbhathon in Nashik, India, Professor Raskar's home town. The Kumbhathon has evolved to become a focal point of new technological ideas that have practical applications in Nashik.

By all accounts the 2015 Kumbh Mela was a resounding success. There were zero casualties, zero missing cases, and zero disputes. Now, Nashik is increasingly seen as an innovation hub with year-round innovation activities.

We have tested and proven the platform model in Nashik, India, the site of the 2015 Kumbh Mela. The Kumbh Mela pilgrimage presented an opportunity to access thousands of people for research and market testing, and to develop tools to empower smart citizens.

At the 2015 Kumbh Mela in Nashik, the team had a Health Pavilion. This station deployed portable instruments to test vital health statistics and oral and pulmonary diseases of visitors, and it mapped data sets to use predictive analytics and machine learning technologies to identify potential warning signs and diseases that have been undetected.

The effort in Guadalajara (Mexico) is an open co-innovation platform focused on spotting and probing healthcare innovations. This means identifying needs and solutions, and creating prototypes and testing them technically and in the market. This effort is led by Eduardo Bayro-Corrochano, Professor at Cinvestav in Guadalajara, Mexico. The innovation ecosystem includes bright innovators, government officials, educators, academic researchers and corporations.

The effort in São Paulo (Brazil) is hosted by Researcher & PhD Daniel Makoto Tokunaga at the Escola Politécnica da USP São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo. The team there has had a relationship for over eight years with the Media Lab’s Camera Culture Group, including multiple exchange visits and visiting scientists from the University of São Paulo. The center is also supported by Interlab, a research group manufacturing biochemistry products for healthcare. The São Paulo team works with interactive technologies, including Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and games; as well as innovation for engineering, education, heath and entertainment.