IIIT-H study shows why Indians don’t fully rely on fitness apps and what that means for global tech
The fitness landscape in India has evolved over the last few decades and how. At first, there were the traditional akhadas and the vyayam shalas frequented by wrestlers. With a rise in lifestyle diseases, and a focus on preventive health, the traditional setting has since given way to the likes of crossfit boxes, specialised studios and smart gyms. And the fitness story does look familiar – smartwatches track steps, apps calculate calories, and gym-goers check their phones between sets. But beneath this digital sheen lies a quieter reality. According to the ethnographic study titled, “Everyday HCI of Adaptive Fitness: The Bricolage of Self-Tracking in Urban India”, authored by Shivam Singh, Raagav Ramakrishnan and Chetan Mahipal under the guidance of Prof. Nimmi Rangaswamy, Indians are not simply following what their fitness apps tell them. Instead, they are constantly negotiating, adjusting, and even ignoring the data.
IIIT-H & ITDA Uttarakhand sign MoU to boost Innovation, Research, and Digital Capacity
The Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IIIT-H. The agreement was signed by IIIT-H Director, Dr. Sandeep Shukla and ITDA Director, Alok Pandey. Under this collaboration, experts from IIIT-H will assess the state’s IT infrastructure, conduct research, and identify gaps. Their recommendations will help improve the systems and strengthen cybersecurity. This partnership marks an important step toward enhancing innovation, research, and capacity building in the state – bringing together ITDA’s vision for digi-transformation and IIIT-H’s academic and technological expertise. The agreement was signed by Prof Sandeep Shukla, Director, IIIT-H, and Shri Alok Pandey, Director, ITDA, in the presence of IT Minister Shri Pradeep Batra, IT Secretary Shri Nitesh Jha (IAS), Shri Ashish K Upadhyay, CISA, CISSP (DGM), and other distinguished members.
IIIT-H’s smart wearables to improve golden hour safety
Accidents in high-risk industrial environments are an occupational hazard but what is disconcerting is that they often go unnoticed. A new wearable safety system developed by IIIT Hyderabad’s Centre for VLSI and Embedded Systems Technology aims to change that. In sprawling industrial landscapes like thermal power plants, oil refineries, construction sites, danger is often part of the job. Thousands of workers move through complex, high-risk environments every day, equipped with helmets, gloves, boots, and harnesses. But when something goes wrong, those protections can only go so far. What happens when no one sees the accident? That’s the problem Prof. Abhishek Srivastava and his team have set out to solve. Industrial accidents are more common than most people realize and more critically, they’re not always immediately reported. In many cases, help arrives late not because it isn’t available, but because no one knows something has gone wrong.
Landmark Learning & Longevity Symposium and New North
In a first-of-its-kind initiative in India, IIIT-H convened the Learning & Longevity Symposium (LLS) placing learning—not medicine, fitness, or finance—at the centre of the longevity conversation. Hosted by IIIT-H’s Third Age Learning (3AL) Research and Design Group, the symposium brought together leading voices from cognitive neuroscience, molecular biology, geriatric medicine, AI, game design, eldercare technology, and learning sciences. With an aim to explore a bold, unifying hypothesis — learning is the most powerful intervention for healthy aging. The symposium unfolded across three thematic tracks: The Biology of Longevity, Third Age Learning, and The Longevity Ecosystem. The format encouraged unlikely but necessary intersections — neuroscientists engaging with game designers, dementia specialists in dialogue with edtech entrepreneurs, and cognitive scientists exchanging ideas with architects of the emerging silver economy.
Prof. Hussain wins YFRF for sleep monitoring app
The selective national research fellowship is backing the development of a low-cost smart mattress by Prof Aftab Hussain that can detect falls, track sleep, and improve elderly care – offering a privacy-first alternative to cameras and wearables. The sunset years come with their own set of challenges. Ageing is one of the key risk factors for falls. According to the WHO, older people have the highest risk of death or serious injury arising from a fall and the risk only increases with age. In fact monitoring the elderly during sleep is just as vital as keeping an eye on them while moving. It is the reason why elderly homes, hospitals and now even families employ nursing staff or attendants to monitor the well-being of elderly patients through the night. At IIIT-H, Prof. Aftab Hussain, Centre for VLSI and Embedded System Technologies, is particularly concerned about falls that go unnoticed. According to him, “In many cases, help arrives too late – not because care is unavailable, but because no one knows an incident has occurred.”
Teaching Machines to Adapt: Inside a Drone Lab Where Uncertainty Is the Starting Point
From flood relief to farming and the frontlines, Prof. Spandan Roy is rethinking how machines learn to act in the real world. “Even if you don’t know the system… can you still control it?” It’s not the kind of question that usually opens a talk on robotics. But for Prof. Spandan Roy, it defines everything and sets the context for his work at the Robotics Research Center at IIITH. In theory, engineering is neat. Systems obey equations; forces can be calculated; outcomes predicted. In practice, especially in the world of flying machines, things are far less tidy. A drone in flight isn’t just governed by clean physical laws; it’s constantly negotiating wind, drag, shifting payloads, and environmental disturbances that are difficult, if not impossible, to model precisely. For someone without a traditional mechanical background, as Prof. Roy admits of himself, this gap becomes even more pronounced.
IIIT-H’s Social Tech Incubator & EPAM Launch 4th ESIIP Cohort for Deep-Tech Climate Impact
AIC-IIIT-H Foundation, the social tech incubator of IIIT-H, in partnership with EPAM Systems, has selected 6 high-impact GreenTech startups for its 4th cohort for the Akash EPAM-SIIP. Following a rigorous selection process, 11 applicants out of 130+ national applicants pitched to a distinguished jury, with 6 ventures selected for their potential to advance India’s UN SDG commitments focused on Climate Action (SDG 13). By bridging the gap between academic research and market-ready innovation, the program empowers startups to solve critical environmental challenges in sectors like Green Energy, Circularity and Climate Action. It offers a comprehensive growth platform, including a ₹5 lakh grant, access to IIIT-H labs, faculty and the Smart City Lab Test Bed for validation, along with mentorship and business coaching from EPAM experts and industry veterans to refine models for large-scale social impact.
IIIT-H hosts Roundtable on Quantum Technologies for Life Sciences in association with Frontier Tech Hub, NITI Aayo
IIIT-H convened an industry–academia roundtable and workshop on “Quantum Technologies for Life Sciences” in association with NITI Aayog. Bringing together researchers, industry leaders, startups, and policymakers to explore how quantum computing and sensing to understand the opportunities and use cases for Quantum Computing in life sciences can address complex challenges in healthcare, biology, and drug discovery. The event had brainstorming sessions, invited talks, and panel discussions among experts from academia, industry, and government, with the broader vision of understanding the potential impact of quantum technologies on various life science challenges where quantum technologies could fundamentally reshape research paradigms and enable next-generation innovations.
IIIT-H incubated startup BioReform bags global award for ditching plastic
A global award, a UN case study, presence in 8 Indian metros, 4 countries, 15 million plastic bags saved and speed tracked for foreign government collaboration. What makes the AIC-IIITH incubated startup BioReform, a great newsmaker is that it was also founded by a 21-year-old entrepreneur, with a fisheye lens of the world. BioReform, a rising star on the sustainability landscape, is making your life and mine, more mindfully impactful. The Greeny bag is a fully biodegradable alternative to the bane of modern civilization – the ubiquitous plastic bag. Manufactured from plant-based raw materials like corn starch and biopolymers, it will decompose naturally within months, assures startup founder Mohammed Azhar Mohiuddin, a young engineer from Hyderabad. BioReform came second among 300 startups from 40 countries at the international competition in Saudi Arabia, under the aegis of the Ministry of Haj and Umra.
R&D Showcase 2026
The 25th R&D Showcase at IIIT Hyderabad began on 14 March featuring over 400 research posters, demos and prototypes from 29 centres. The two-day R&D Showcase is the institute’s major annual exhibition where faculty and students present their latest research projects, prototypes and innovations to academia, industry and the public Themed ‘Trust in Technology – Security, Privacy and Transparency. The programme included spotlight sessions by the Centre for Security, Theory and Algorithmic Research (CSTAR) and the Cyber Manthan Centre (CMC), an inaugural keynote by Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, CEO-ANRF, and a panel discussion on “Building Trust in the Indian Cyberspace: Privacy, Security and Transparency in the Era of Emerging Technologies.” Prof Sandeep K Shukla, Director of IIIT-H, said, “It is encouraging to see our researchers engaging with industry, policymakers and the wider public to translate research into meaningful societal impact.”