A casual visit to an exhibition to while away his time in New York turned into a serious lifetime pursuit for S V Krishnan. The entrepreneur, who is using an ‘experiential entertainment hub’ at Inorbit Mall in Hi-Tech City, Hyderabad, to change lives, offers a completely immersive experience in total darkness to give sighted people an opportunity to explore the world through just four senses.

The exclusive India partner of Dialogue in the Dark (DID), founded by Andreas Heinecke in 1988, DID in Hyderabad is a journey through a series of galleries, each one offering a different experience while the participant is escorted by a visually impaired guide.

So, for Rs 300 per head, participants proceed from, say, a public park to a bustling city street, to a supermarket, a boat ride and even a game of cricket. Complete with voices, sounds, aromas, wind, changing temperature and textures, the journey is one that most sighted people have never experienced before. As it turns out, the Taste of Darkness restaurant has been listed among the 20 Must-Do Experiences by Forbes Magazine.

Welcome To The Dark

Krishnan, his wife Sudha and an angel investor launched Dialogue in the Dark with seed capital of Rs 2.5 crore. The franchise was launched by Krishnan’s company ACE Experiences Asia (Art, Culture, Entertainment) in January 2011.

Apart from being ‘entertaining’, the experience is also socially enlightening as it offers an insight into the world of visually challenged people. The exhibition is spread across a generous 4,000 sq feet. Participants are given a white cane and, as they stumble and shuffle through the galleries, they are guided by a wall on one side and a guide who encourages, cautions, coaxes and also instructs when necessary.

“There are around 15 million visually impaired people in India and the world doesn’t know how to deal with them. DID is thus an eye-opener to their world,” says Krishnan.

Coming Back For More

After Krishnan discovered the DID experience in New York, he returned to India and researched the entertainment space. He was convinced there was scope for an innovative idea like this to work here. “I found nothing immersive or experiential that one could indulge in for entertainment over the weekend. Watching movies etc is a passive form of entertainment. And, in the food and beverage space, no one was even thinking of immersive entertainment,” reasons Krishnan, who claims DID attracts an average 5,000 footfalls a month across all experiences. He adds that 25 per cent of his customers are repeat visitors.

Innovation Is The Key

To keep it fresh, the DID experiences are altered at regular intervals. One innovation was the inclusion of Cricket in the Dark during the IPL cricket tournament. “We keep changing the experiences. Initially, the setting of the old city of Hyderabad was exhibited. This was replaced by cricket, which gave way to a park and a jungle in the dark. There are also thematic experiences. So, if we are featuring an international city, the textures and aroma are typical to that country. The food we serve is also in line with the theme,” he explains.

Krishnan says DID is especially enlightening for young people. “The youth are not interested in mere talk about visually impaired people. But if there is an experiential effect such as a bungy jump, it gets their adrenaline pumping. When visitors emerge from the darkness and look at their guide, they tell themselves, ‘I never thought a blind person could be so good! Why haven’t I included them in society?’

Corporate Workshops

Since trust and collaboration alone can get you through the DID experience, it is also ideal for corporate workshops, points out Krishnan. These workshops, which last two and a half hours, focus on self-awareness, team-building skills and change-management.

“Typically, one engages in ‘judgemental listening’ at the workplace. We help participants break these barriers because, in darkness, the ownership and responsibility to communicate lies with you alone. If you sit in a corner of the room, you don’t exist at all! Employers usually complain that 20 per cent of staff do not participate during presentations. These business workshops draw you out of your comfort zone,” Krishnan explains.
 
And it seems to be working because, in India, DID has conducted over 100 workshops for the likes of Facebook, Google, State Bank of India, Aditya Birla Group, GE, Genpact, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Cognizant Technologies.

Eating In The Dark

Just outside the DID galleries is a 2,000-sq feet space, where, packages ranging from Rs 299 to Rs 750, offer participants a taste of another dimension of the world of the visually impaired. It’s called Taste of Darkness, a gourmet experience you guessed it in the dark.

“When you eat with your eyes, you tend to resist certain foods,” Krishnan explains. “But at this 16-seater restaurant, the menu offers just two choices a vegetarian meal and a non-vegetarian meal. Apart from that, the only other choice is between a combo meal or a four-course meal.”

It’s an experience that can help fussy eaters break food barriers! “After a family finished their meal, the mother and child were both astonished to find they had just relished broccoli cheese soup. The mother said, ‘I hate broccoli but I enjoyed the soup. Had I known it was broccoli soup, I wouldn’t have touched it.’ This is what happens when we judge food by the way it looks,” smiles Krishnan.
 
Employing The Differently-abled

At present, DID employs 22 visually challenged guides and trainers. “We don’t encourage staff members to work with us beyond two years as the idea is to expand the base to more and more people. Once their confidence levels rise, they seek better employment opportunities,” Krishnan reveals.

Every DID guide is trained for 45-60 days and spends another 15-20 days to orient themselves with the script. “Our staff is evaluated every month and we don’t employ on the basis of sympathy,” clarifies Krishnan. 
 
Not In The Dark!

Last year, ACE Experiences clocked Rs 4.5 crore in revenues and turned cash-positive with a surplus of Rs 30 lakh. “We are in the process of building a DID portable exhibition, which we will launch in Bangalore around September. Our third launch will be in Mumbai, Delhi or Chennai.”

Source: Moneycontrol