– Written by M. Manivannan

Thanks to the work of IIT Madras’ Experiential Technology Innovation Center (XTIC), India will become a global ‘Metaverse Corridor’. To build a Metaverse ecosystem by 2047, XTIC is establishing a Metaverse Corridor. This is a coined term similar to India, which is known as the ‘IT corridor’ of the world. XTIC emphasizes to students fundamental principles of the Metaverse, such as perceptual engineering, to make this utopian future a reality. We are emphasizing the basic science of the metaverse to the Indian youth so that we do not repeat the mistake of turning them into the world’s cheap labor, as was the case with the ‘IT Corridor’ initiative. CAVE (Extended Virtual Environment Engineering Consortium) is an XR (AR/VR/MR) industry consortium led by XTIC and has over 270 members, mainly Indian entrepreneurs, professional consultants, and companies. .

India is reaping the benefits of demographic trends. Half of the population is under the age of 30, and they are digitally connected and well-prepared for the Metaverse. India has the highest number of STEM graduates in the world and is well placed to contribute to the high quality digital talent requirement. India’s IT sector, startup culture and her government’s goal of a $5 trillion digitally-driven economy will attract a large and growing number of young people to the metaverse economy.

New startup culture and digital transactions like USSD, UPI, AEPS will drive India’s metaverse economy. The Metaverse can power gaming, education, e-commerce, and virtual real estate, creating new business prospects and revenue streams. Indian IT specialists have a new opportunity to leverage their expertise in the Metaverse.

Metaverse challenges include the linguistic diversity of India’s youth; Companies expanding into India have to choose from 122 recognized languages ​​and 780 dialects to communicate with children. The Indian market is so large that even “minority languages” are spoken by millions of people. The Metaverse may unite Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam beyond language. Meta’s No Language Left Behind (NLLB) initiative helps with its efforts to provide verified, high-quality translations across 200 languages, including 25 Indian languages, using an open source model. Professor S. Umesh of XTIC’s Speech Lab uses his NLLB model in Meta to develop his cascading models for a number of Indian languages. Its aim is to enable everyone in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam to communicate in their native language, regardless of their language preference.

Metaverse has great potential to democratize education in India as there are no language barriers, no geographical restrictions and easy access to quality education. While the Internet has revolutionized education by providing unprecedented access to information and resources on his 2D screens, the Metaverse, his 3D extension of the Internet, is a way for educators to engage and interact with students. It has the potential to provide a sense of immersion and shared space. The National Education Policy (NEP) emphasis on skills in education, especially employable skills, can be easily realized in the metaverse. Dr. V.Vijaalakshmi from XTIC, with help from Meta, is exploring various techniques to enhance learning in the Metaverse. By increasing student engagement levels and enabling personalization of learning (a focus of NEP) in offline, online and hybrid learning environments.

While the metaverse holds immense potential in India, it also comes with its own challenges to overcome. First, regarding internet connectivity, the Metaverse requires high-speed internet, but many parts of India still suffer from poor connectivity. Second, the Metaverse requires high-end devices to run smoothly, so it is affordable, and the devices currently available in India are limited, making it difficult for the majority of the country’s population to live in rural areas. Still expensive. Thirdly, regarding regulations, the Indian government has not yet formulated any specific regulations regarding the Metaverse, so it is of utmost importance to ensure that the Metaverse does not negatively impact or negatively impact society. XTIC leads the development of open source software on his Bharat OS (BharOS) platform for Metaverse built for indigenously developed hardware with Shakthi processors pioneered at IIT Madras intend to do something.

India is well-positioned to lead the world in the Metaverse as it is known for its spiritual traditions in the world where virtual reality or Maya is well understood. Unfortunately, Maya or the science of perception is covered with several semi-religious layers. Younger generations have a responsibility to peel back these layers and bring rigorous scientific approaches to uncover the science of perception and use it to create new metaverse technologies.

Ultimately, India will drive the metaverse in terms of technological, economic, social and scientific innovation. India’s understanding of human perception and a host of new fields such as perceptual engineering and perceptual algebra will steer the future metaverse, but India needs to gear up with a scientific mindset. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is possible only through India, which unites the world through Mayan science and not through religion, race or national borders.

India has more to offer the Metaverse than anyone could imagine.

(M Manivannan is a professor at IIT Madras.)

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