S. Vishnu Sharma
XTIC will present the legendary music composer Dr. A.R. Rahman with the ‘XTIC Award 2024 for Innovation’. The award will be presented to the music legend on 17 November 2024.
The Award is being given in recognition of his visionary work on the Virtual Reality (VR) film ‘Le Musk’ (2022) during the two-day ‘XR Summit’, India’s first event on XR Academy-Industry meet, on 17th November 2024.
It will be presented by co-inventors of Oculus Prof. Steven LaValle and Prof. Anna Lavalle who are Visiting Faculty at IIT Madras, say sources from XTIC.
Recognition
This award recognizes exceptional contributions to advancing immersive technologies and storytelling globally.
‘Le Musk’ is a groundbreaking 37-minute VR thriller that integrates multiple sensory elements, including scent, motion, and music, to deliver a deeply immersive cinematic experience.
Directed by A.R. Rahman, the film follows the journey of Juliet Merdinian, an orphaned musician and heiress, as she sought to uncover the identity of individuals who changed her life, guided solely by the memory of their scents.
The film’s unique combination of jazz, orchestral and world music, composed by Dr. A.R. Rahman himself, further elevated its sensory storytelling, say sources from XTIC.
VR/AR/MR
The term ‘eXtended Reality’ (XR) refers to Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR). IIT Madras is uniquely positioned to lead this effort, thanks to its cutting-edge Haptics Lab and the IoE Center for VR and Haptics.
Inauguration
Addressing the Inaugural session of the XR Summit at IIT Madras campus today (16th Nov 2024), Prof. Steven LaValle, American computer scientist and Professor in the Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Oulu, emphasized the importance of ‘Perception Engineering’, which is the foundation for innovation in XR technologies.
Engineering perceptual experiences that are illusory and plausible in a scientifically sound manner is the core of XR innovation that XTIC emphasizes to all stakeholders heading towards the XR Corridor in India by 2047, he said.
Technologies
The Experiential Technologies Innovation Center at IIT Madras is a global research hub dedicated to advancing VR, AR, and haptics technologies.
As part of the ‘Institute of Eminence’ (IoE) Research Initiative, XTIC fosters interdisciplinary innovation and collaboration between academia and industry in an event XR Summit on 16th and 17th November 2024.
By presenting this award, XTIC underscores its commitment to recognizing trailblazers who push the boundaries of experiential technology.
Innovative experiment
Prof. M. Manivannan, Head, XTIC, IIT Madras, said Le Musk is a bold and innovative experiment that successfully showcases the potential of XR and multi-sensory storytelling.
Its reliance on specialized technology poses challenges in accessibility and scalability, said Prof Manivannan of XTIC.
This is where research and innovation can play a major role. The XTIC, Our global center with global leaders, is planning to address these challenges in the coming years, he said.
He further said this recognition highlights not only Dr. A.R. Rahman’s ingenuity but also IIT Madras’ pivotal role in shaping the future of immersive technologies.
It cements XTIC’s position as a global leader in fostering cutting-edge research and innovation in VR and haptics, paving the way for revolutionary creative endeavours like Le Musk, he said.
Sponsoring
The XR Summit is sponsored by Qualcomm which is making several specialized chips and platforms that support hand tracking, 5G, 360-degree videos and other features for XR devices.
The XTIC will also recognize XR Startups and honoring them with awards in different categories as part of this award ceremony.
In order to promote innovation, XTIC would be organizing workshops and hackathons for students working in XR field with participation from multinational firms such as Samsung and Ericsson.
Innovation center
The XTIC is India’s First Research & Product Innovation center for Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and Haptics.
It is working towards creating an innovation corridor to support innovation in AR, VR and MR for IIT Madras projects and selected students in their pursuit to explore and guide to the journey of entrepreneurship.
About XTIC
eXperiential Technology Innovation Centre (XTIC), is a Centre of Excellence that IIT Madras. It is India’s First Research & Product Innovation centre for Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and Haptics.
It is working towards creating an innovation corridor to support innovation in AR, VR and MR for IIT Madras projects and selected students in their pursuit to explore and guide to the journey of entrepreneurship.
They function as a catalyst that will accelerate growth, expedite the process, and envision a project or product to completion.
Also Read – IIT Kanpur conducts great 3rd edition of symposium