The aim of this research is to understand how the communication medium allows for the development of particular patterns in the construction of social bonds among students pursuing technical education. After reviewing some of the current research, we rely on empirical studies of the uses of the mobile phone and mobile instant messaging applications in India to discuss how this particular repertoire of instant messaging relationships has gradually solidified as these technologies have become more widespread and as each additional communication resource has been made available to users. The major purpose of this study is to understand how communication technologies relate to face-to-face interactions from a coexistence and substitutionary angle.

Goffman (1969) makes a distinction between expression and communication. Expression consists of the gestures, signs, vocalisations, noises, and movements produced by individuals, usually involuntarily. These acts remain connected to their sources and have meaning only in their original context. Their meaning is relative to the person who produced them. In opposition, Goffman limits the notion of communication to the use of linguistic signs. In this particular and narrow sense, `communication' is related to symbolic and intentional utterances concerning things, events, or ideas.

In a country like India, students are bound by many social norms and stigmas. This highly influences face-to-face communications, whereas screen-based communication has already broken down huge issues like the opposite gender being able to communicate freely when there is a screen in front of them rather than an actual human [6]. Though this medium was mainly to bridge gaps, students have found their own ways to use it to form social bonds, and this also varies highly with respect to personal friend groups, class groups, family groups, and so on.

An intern is a student or a trainee who works without pay in the form of a stipend to usually gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a qualification.

Internships are for a temporary period and generally fall into specific categories. Internship opportunities in India are career-specific. College students often choose internships based on their field of study. Students often perceive it as a way to develop their capabilities by practically applying their degree while learning in a professional work environment.

Most students apply for internships during their summer and winter breaks. In some universities, internships during college breaks are mandatory and part of the curriculum. It is common for previous interns to become employees of the organisation once they have acquired the necessary skills and experience.

Generally an internship consists of an exchange of experiences between the student and the organisation. The organisation makes use of the student’s skills, while the student can determine if he or she has interest in a particular career, would like to continue, or wants to create a network of contacts.

In a research internship, a student does research for a particular company or organisation. The company can have something that they feel they need to improve, or the student can choose a topic within the company themselves. The results of the research study will be put in a report, which often has to be presented.

Time-use studies rely on either participants keeping track of their activities or on data collectors observing and interviewing participants. This is effort-intensive relative to the quality of the data thus collected.

In this project, I attempt to create a time-use data collection tool that is context-aware, effortless for the respondent, and saves data in a research-convenient format. Samay Lekha is a smartphone application that attempts to make entering data as easy as any daily routine for the respondent. The researcher gets an activity data sheet along with the context of the occurrence of the activity and the entries in the form of tags, consequently solving the problem for both the researcher and the participant.

This project conducted two experiments,

1. An experiment was conducted to investigate micronavigation for the visually impaired. To investigate this, a prototype was created using instructions from a visually impaired volunteer and compared with Google Maps. We found that visually impaired participants navigated with fewer errors, recovered by themselves, and reported less work load while using the prototype with instructions from a visually impaired person than Google Maps.

2. Spatial accuracy in the perception of binaural audio by visually impaired people was investigated. 3D audio recordings were made in the bus stand using binaural microphones at 12 locations. Participants localised sound with respect to angle and depth. Sound sources at 45° and 90° had higher localization accuracy as compared to other angles. Participants could not differentiate between sound sources located directly in the front and back. It was also found that visually impaired participants could differentiate between front and back angles better than their sighted counterparts.