IIT Madras launches India's first consortium for virtual reality

NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology, Madras has launched the country’s first consortium for virtual reality called ‘Consortium for VR, AR, or MR Engineering Mission in India’ (CAVE) at IIT Madras. As a group of academia, industries, start-ups, and government bodies, this consortium is being coordinated by IIT Madras, the institution said in a statement.

The main aim of this consortium is to enable members to create new advanced technologies and applications in virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality (XR) and haptics together. It aims to become a resource for industry, academia, consumers, and policymakers interested in virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, as per IIT Madras statement.

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“As XR is highly interdisciplinary, innovations in this field need a confluence of minds from different fields. While most of the research labs around the world are focusing on either the computer science aspect of VR or the robotics aspect of VR, the centre at IIT Madras is focusing on the fundamentals of VR - perception and illusion,” further added the statement.

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M Manivannan, CAVE coordinator, department of applied mechanics, IIT Madras, said: “A strong research group such as IIT Madras is needed for innovations in XR and haptics. As an academia initiated consortium, innovation is given priority, much more resource is available for every member, and together can reach a wider audience and achieve grandeur missions.”

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“In this era of ‘Make in India,’ an India-specific consortium for XR and haptics is important to make big impacts,” he further added.

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