This internship project work is a part of C-DAC’s on-going project on "Interactive Kiosks in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum, Mumbai (formerly known as the Prince of Wales Museum). The project aims to install interactive kiosks in various galleries of the museum to provide a better experience for the visitors. To start with the project, a study of the visitors and the various aspects related to viewing artefacts in a museum was conducted to get design directions and understand the visitor expectations and problems. The study included visitor interviews (contextual inquiry), visitor feedback through questionnaires, and observation of visitor behaviour. The findings of the study have been presented as insights, design ideas, and recommendations. The study was conducted mainly at the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum, Pune, since the project office and resources are located in Pune. The findings are of a general nature; they can be considered to hold true in any general museum environment. The findings of the study are now useful in designing the content and interactions of the kiosk. Based on the available insights, the basic information architecture for the kiosk has been proposed with design recommendations, and the nature of applications therein has been thought over.

Hindustani Classical is a great style of singing and has been codified to extreme detail and is a science and art in itself. This project aims at supporting the process of learning to sing (Hindustani Classical vocals) in cases where the students do not get to spend more time with the Guru. The long gaps between classes and the lack of personal guidance during individual singing practise are major problems. By processing an individual’s singing using digital signal processing, feedback can be given on the pitch, timing, and energy of singing. These parameters are the digital counterparts of Swar (notes), Taal and Laya (beats and rhythm), etc. terms in classical singing, respectively. Design challenges like the acceptance and application of such an idea in the lives of the Guru and the students, an interface, and ways to give feedback have been attempted in this project. Through a combined effect of audio, text notations and real-time data visualisation, an attempt has been made to help a user understand the nuances of their own singing, which when juxtaposed against a reference can help a great deal in correction by comparison. The project also aims to help potentially good singers and aspirants who have never been to a class to discover and appreciate classical singing and, probably in the future, join a class.

Computer games take us to a world full of fun, fantasy, and engaging experiences. Computing power, coupled with beautiful animations, huge life-like landscapes open for exploration, and sounds, make these games addictive. Players play such games for long hours. This project started with the idea of making such rich, experiential games. User studies were done to understand computer games and players’ attitudes and responses. Future trends in gaming were also studied. It became clear that rich visuals and sound designs, which are "time and skilled resource’ intensive tasks, can convert simple activities into rich and engaging experiences. However, it was realised that the fun and social bonding that board games deliver was missing in computer games as well. It was hence decided to combine the advantages of board games and computer games. The proposed game, "GRAB," is a multiplayer computer game to be played on a multi-touch surface. The game will incorporate the feel of a board game and facilitate player-player and player-spectator interactions. The computing power and interactivity of computer games are employed to provide engagement and fun. The novelty of the multi-touch hardware and a natural way of interacting with the game will be an attractive factor for players. The game aims at improving hand-eye coordination, reflexes and boosting quick decision-making. The game can find a place in public places like malls, resorts, clubs, schools, etc. The game activity is intuitive enough to encourage learning the game by seeing other players playing. Several concepts for converting this game into educational and learning games have also been ideated.