
Free For All
“When we put out the first design on our social media, a lot of doctors and hospitals got in touch with us,” says Shrivastava Chhabra. After more research, feedback from local doctors and almost 25 design iterations, they arrived at the current design. The shortage in the market was, of course, concerning, the other question was, “how do you create something which is really cheap, easy to make, and made for the local ecosystem?” The lack of logistical support during the lockdown played a huge part in the Maker’s Asylum team making the design freely available for anyone who wanted to make the shields. As an open-source community, it was natural that they upload their innovative design, complete with guidelines, on their website for anyone to use. At the time of writing, 15 makerspaces and labs across the country have been using this design to make M19 shields. These spaces are now part of the “M19 Collective”, named after the shields by the Maker’s Asylum team. “M as a tribute to the maker community and 19 as in COVID-19,” Shrivastava Chhabra says. “It’s Makers versus COVID-19.” In addition to hospitals, Maker’s Asylum is also distributing the shields to sanitation workers, volunteers, and the Mumbai Police. This is because, other than protecting one’s face, they also have the added advantage of deterring one from touching their face, one of the ways the virus is transmitted. Currently, the collective’s goal is to make and distribute 1,00,000 shields across 12 cities, out of which they have currently shipped 62,049. The numbers are constantly being updated on Maker’s Asylum’s website.