Expectations seem to be high in India for it to become a gateway to the Metaverse. The Experimental Technology Innovation Center (XTIC) at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras makes this possible. His target date for creating the Metaverse ecosystem is 2047. To achieve this, XTIC is building a metaverse corridor similar in some ways to India’s current IT corridor.
XTIC emphasizes fundamental concepts of the metaverse such as perpetual engineering to the youth of India. The Consortium for Augmented and Virtual Environment Engineering (CAVE) is a consortium of XRs led by XTIC. This digital space syndicate has over 270 members of his from various backgrounds including merchants, consultants and Indian companies.
It is a documented fact that more than half of India’s population is below the age of 30. Young people are digitally savvy. India also boasts the highest number of STEM graduates worldwide, allowing it to effectively meet the demand for a digital workforce. Along with India’s IT industry, the government’s goal of achieving a $5 trillion economy will help attract more youth into the digital space.
Startups and digital transactions like USSD, UPI, AEPS etc. will contribute to the growth of India’s metaverse economy. In addition to virtual real estate, Metaverse will also be responsible for enhancing gaming, educational standards, and e-commerce. This helps in developing new business concepts and means of generating revenue.
Language barrier is one of the hurdles associated with the metaverse as India is multilingual. In India, entrepreneurs will be faced with 780 different dialects and 122 different languages. Metaverse allows us to unite Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam across all languages. Meta’s No Language Left Behind (NLLB) initiative could solve this problem by using open source modules to provide certified translations into 200 languages. Professor S. Umesh of XTIC’s Speech Lab says he is using his NLLB module in Meta to develop cascading models for multiple Indian languages. Regardless of language preference, all residents of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam should have the option of speaking in their native language.
If language barriers do not exist, the Metaverse has the potential to democratize education in India. As her 3D extension of the Internet, Metaverse will be able to build on how the Internet has changed the way we view education. It can facilitate interaction between students and instructors. The National Education Policy (NEP)’s focus on professional education can be leveraged by the Metaverse. His Dr. V. Vijayalakshmi of XTIC, with the support of Mehta, is researching various ways to enhance education in the Metaverse. This applies to both offline and online learning.
All things considered, internet connectivity in India is below expectations. There’s also the question of whether the public can afford to stay online, given costs. The regulatory aspects of Metaverse are currently not enforced in India. Along with the Shakthi processor being developed by IIT Madras, XTIC is creating open source software on the Bharat OS platform to address this issue.
India has a promising future in the metaverse and virtual reality is associated with Maya, a term well known to Indians. The new generation must be able to distinguish between science and tradition. India’s participation in areas such as permanent engineering and algebra will help pave the way forward. As long as religion, race and tradition do not interfere with science, it is possible to realize Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
