Abstract

Financial transactions are intimately bound with social interactions and woven into everyday economic lives. In this paper we focus on PayTM, a digital wallet, and a specific set of users of PayTM, street vendors in urban India. Through an ethnographic investigation we offer to unpack two questions: 1. Can digital forms of money create financial inclusion by opening up access to the marginalized 2. Can digital platforms amplify socio-economic capacities of low literate users enhancing financial literacy? We argue that digital and financial literacy are an immersive component of digital wallet use acquiring ‘everyday life’ in specific socio-economic ecosystems. Our study captures daily practices of digital money staking a claim in advancing the understanding of financial inclusion as a lived process accumulating habits, practices and stakes to expand socio-economic capabilities.

Abstract

Narratives of the gig economy are largely perspectives from the global North and the nature of their ride-hailing market. Freelancing or gigging offer contrasting connotations depending on the market and the labour it is situated in. India, with its demographic dividend and employment challenges, view opportunities arising out of the gig-economy differently. To investigate the impact of ride-hailing apps in the Indian market, and the challenges and opportunities it has brought in, we offer learnings from an ethnographic study of Uber drivers in Indi

Abstract

The present disclosure discloses methods and systems for enhancing shopping experience in physical stores. The method includes receiving at least one persona associated with a user based on one or more of: ethnographic data obtained from a user, demographic data associated with the user, buying behavioral data associated with the user, and social networking data associated with the user. After this, one or more historical activities of the user inside one or more physical stores are received. Also, one or more constraints associated with the user are received. Once received, the at least one persona, the one or more constraints, and the one or more historical activities are analyzed to generate a pre-defined number of personalized recommendations. Finally, the personalized recommendations are displayed to the user within a window of a user interface.

Abstract

Understanding people's attitudes towards and uses of technology is an essential aspect of a successful design process. Ethnography is a proven method for acquiring this understanding. However, there are challenges to incorporating fieldwork, most notably the time factor, considered by some as the greatest barrier. This is especially true for many technology companies whose turn-around time from concept to design to implementation is accelerated. We propose a solution to the dilemma between acquiring the benefits of fieldwork with the compressed timescales of many technology projects by using focused field trips as a method for gaining rich insights into peoples' uses of and attitudes towards technologies in real-world settings. In a short amount of time (one or two days), field trips sensitize design teams to the priorities of stakeholder groups. We outline a systematic approach to incorporating field trips as a …

Abstract

The disclosed embodiments illustrate methods and systems to recommend medical intervention activities for caregivers and/or human subjects. The method comprises receipt of medical data of a human subject and contextual data of a plurality of caregivers of the human subjects. The medical data includes periodic physiological data of the human subject received in real-time. A customized ontology is generated, from a pre-determined ontology related to a medical condition, based on the received medical data and the contextual data. Thereafter, a recommendation of medical intervention activities is generated for at least one of the plurality of caregivers and/or the human subject, based on analysis of the generated customized ontology, caregiver profiles, the received contextual data, and the periodic physiological data. The generated recommendation is transmitted to computing devices of the at least one …

Abstract

India is home to the largest under-25 demographic profile in the world, but lacks a job-ready educational system. It requires a wide-spread, skill-oriented educational model, equipping youth to thrive in highly dynamic job markets. As a response to the huge demand for technical education, a large private skill-tutoring ecosystem has sprung up in In-dia but remains geographically limited. This paper, drawn from a three-month ethnographic research conducted in Ameerpet (arguably India's largest IT skilling hub), probes the pedagogic style and characteristics of tutoring, and of-fers reasons why learners prefer to enroll into a physical model of classroom teaching over online courses. We make design suggestions for online learning platforms to attract students who are marginalized in the more formal and com-petitive education system, and opt for Ameerpet-like skill-hubs. Our primary offering is to suggest a shift in …

Abstract

The disclosed embodiments illustrate method and system for auto-generation of the sketch notes-based visual summary of the multimedia content. The method includes determining one or more segments, based on one or more transitions in the multimedia content. The method further includes generating a transcript based on audio content associated with each determined segment. The method further includes retrieving a set of images from an image repository based on each of the identified one or more keywords. The method further includes generating a sketch image of each of one or more of the retrieved set of images associated with each of the identified one or more keywords. The method further includes rendering the sketch notes-based visual summary of the multimedia content, generated based on at least generated one or more sketch images, on a user interface displayed on a display screen of the user …

Abstract

The Interactions website (interactions.acm.org) hosts a stable of bloggers who share insights and observations on HCI, often challenging current practices. Each issue we'll publish selected posts from some of the leading and emerging voices in the field.