New Delhi: The eXperiential Technology Innovation Centre (XTIC), an IIT Madras Institute of Eminence Centre in Virtual Reality and related fields, will be organising the first-ever international Extended Reality (XR) symposium for the Global South on November 28, officials said on Tuesday.
The symposium is being organised jointly by Oculus Co-Founders Steven LaValle and Anna LaValle, both from University of Oulu, Finland, and M Manivannan, Principal Investigator, XTIC, IIT Madras.
XR, or extended reality, is an umbrella term for all immersive technologies, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR).
XTIC is India's first research and product innovation centre for Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and Haptics, dedicated to research and product innovation. It supports academia, industry and start-ups by providing expert guidance, workshops, prototyping support, industry-academic collaborations and access to lab facilities.
According to M Manivannan, the centre emphasises immersive technologies and aims to accelerate translation from idea to product.
"The theme--'Frugal tech innovations transforming hardware and software solutions for XR in the global south' speaks directly to the need for cost-effective, scalable XR solutions tailored for emerging economies contexts. The theme centered on the global south, has been carefully chosen particularly in light of the current geopolitical dynamics shaping the global order, where India has the technology capability to cater to the area," he said.
The industry-focussed symposium will bring together global experts, innovators, researchers and industry leaders to explore frugal technology innovations in extended reality (XR), including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR) and haptics, with a focus on the developing regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
"The event will hold particular significance for the global south, where the need for affordable, scalable and context-specific XR solutions is rapidly growing across education, healthcare, skilling and public-service delivery.
"By spotlighting frugal innovation in hardware and software, the event aims to democratise immersive technologies and reduce the cost barriers that often limit adoption in developing Nations. The speakers of this event target resource-optimised solutions and affordable XR hardware and software, moving beyond approaches that cater primarily to high-income contexts," he said.
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