‘LiTron’ turns Covid warrior at Durgam Cheruvu bridge
Hyderabad-based content creator Rakesh transforms into a ‘superhero’ to spread awareness on Covid protocols
Hyderabad: If you have been around on the Durgam Cheruvu cable-stayed bridge in the evenings recently, chances are that you might have seen ‘LiTron’, a white-clad superhero, roaming around, though not exactly swinging across the cable bridge like Spiderman across the Brooklyn Bridge.
LiTron, the Son of Moon, as the character is called, is the brainchild of city-based product designer and content creator Rakesh Chintapalli, who, over the last one month, has been donning the costume to spread awareness on the importance of wearing masks and of other Covid-19 preventive measures. Though LiTron took shape recently, the idea is three years old, says Rakesh.
“In 2017, I was experimenting with a form of photography called light painting and while I was doing that, I ended up creating a video with a unique effect. That made me explore it more and to add an effect, I started making videos with a white costume, so it would appear in a prominent manner with surrounding lights. After a few videos, I got the idea to create content based on a superhero, inspired by the likes of Marvel heroes,” he says.
Rakesh Chintapalli
Through the years, though he brainstormed over the characters and considered creating a series of videos involving this superhero and a super-villain, it didn’t materialise till the lockdown last year.
“During the lockdown, the healthcare company that I am a founding member at, was involved with a lot of Covid-19 related activities and I felt it was a good time to revive the superhero and utilise the character to spread awareness and messages related to the pandemic,” says Rakesh.
“I started building the costume in the beginning of January and it took me almost a month as it has over 450 LED lights programmed in a certain manner and I also built a ‘weapon’, which is an inverted trident with a holographic projector on top.”
LiTron’s ‘weapon’ has a holographic projector onto which he shows preventive measures and messages to create awareness. Another interesting aspect, according to Rakesh, is that even the superhero wears a mask. “I wanted to emphasise on masks and face shields and that’s why though LiTron is a superhero, he takes all possible precautions.”
While he is utilising the character to spread Covid awareness now, he plans on utilising the character to make more science-based informative videos in the future.
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