VR the future

Say you are a Harry Potter fan and have spent your entire life waiting for that letter from Hogwarts — would you like a device to bring you the experience?
Pop on your Oculus Rift over your eyes, lock your door and prepare to become Harry — well, almost him — for as long as you want! That’s what virtual reality does — brings the world to you.

And that, in a nutshell, is what VR and augmented reality has meant to most of us over the recent past, be it young fans of pop-culture or avid gamers.

But what are the other fields around us, the ingenious concept can lend its diverse applications to? The answer, in all probability, is anything and everything!
Quite recently, film audiences were treated to ambitious announcements from industry stalwarts like A.R. Rahman and S.S. Rajamouli that they were making one-of-its-kind virtual reality films. Simultaneously, doctors in the country started claiming that VR therapy alleviates a patient’s pain significantly during cancer treatments and fitness  freaks enthusiastically embraced the concept of virtual gyms. Not to forget, educational platforms are fast imparting this tech to provide an immersive learning experience for the students and even the Indian military service realised the potential VR has in its simulation wing.  

Though there are several challenges, multiple sectors have started taking VR seriously — and our country, as a whole, is taking giant strides in the present, to make the tech a more viable option for the future, in multiple facets.

Let’s take a look at some of the more popular options available today — which could change the lifestyle scene in India, with time.

IN ENTERTAINMENT
Providing a radical, new experience
Music composer A.R. Rahman, who is making his debut as a director, with the world’s first virtual reality multisensory episodic feature film, Le Musk, shares with DC about how he got inspired to take up this project and how it will provide an entirely new experience to movie-watchers.

“The idea came to me when I was discussing a project based on VR with my wife and since she’s into perfumes, she suggested incorporating the scent/smell angle and subsequently, I shared the entire story idea with Intel, who were interested and participated with seed funding. They also brought Positron on board for the project,” he says.

The Oscar-winning composer adds, “Le Musk is a ‘stereosmokic’, multi-sensory experience that includes smell. It also has ‘Voyager’, developed by Positron, which is a full motion cinematic VR chair. We also have a haptic sub bass elevating the experience with 3D and 360. For a normal movie watcher, it will definitely be a one up experience than watching a regular movie or a 3D movie. 

The only difference is the screenplay, which is different from a regular ‘tried and tested’ methodology. But I did not struggle to adapt because I did not have to unlearn anything!”

From a first person point of view
Actress Ritu Varma, who has become India’s first real-time VR character in Rajamouli’s film, The Sword of Baahubali, feels that the making of a virtual reality film is completely different compared to the conventional ones. “Though I had a little bit idea about this technology, shooting for the film was entirely different. When the team approached me with the brief, I was instantly excited,” she states.

“First, we went to the US for facial scan and further body scan. There, we went to a studio and I had to give some 20-25 expressions, and each one was captured from every possible angle by several cameras. Though I couldn’t get to know the technicalities, when I saw the teaser, I was awestruck!” the actress recalls.

Challenges
But what were the challenges involved, we ask ARR. The Mozart of Madras explains, “The challenges were trying to explain the actors and every person who were involved on this project on how this is very different. I had to literally play and show the pre-visualisation that we had done in Chennai and that helped a lot. I was carrying an HMD (head mounted display) that we would play to everyone including family members of the actors so they believe in the project!”
 
Scope in the future
Speaking about the scope for making VR films in the future, Rahman feels that though there is a lot of passion, we still have a long way to go.

“Imagine transporting people to places they have never been to, with almost an 80 per cent impact; like sending people on a virtual reality pilgrimage or being on top of the tallest buildings in the world or even seeing a volcano erupt. All these things which may be impossible to achieve for a lot of people can be made possible by making them be in the midst of it in an immersive environment through VR. But presently, there is no ROI (Return On Investment) model for VR. Unlike a regular movie, where one can project and calculate numbers, this is done only with a lot of passion. Further, there are no theatres catering to VR — however we are talking to a few theatre chains to be the first in the world to implement this. In the future, I feel VR can be a game-changer in terms of what it can achieve.”

IN MEDICINE
reasons to opt for this new-age therapy
Dr. Pramod Chinder, an orthopaedic oncosurgeon, has been using VR to treat his patients for the past one and a half years and he even claims that using this technology has helped in alleviating the pain by 30 to 40 per cent.

“Marrying technology with medicine sounds complicated, isn’t it? But if done in the right way, it can work wonders,” asserts the Bengaluru-based doctor.
As he begins to explain how this treatment works, he says, “I take care of bone cancer patients — mainly children and youngsters (between 1.5 years to 20 years old). One positive thing about bone cancer is, if it is detected and treated well, it’s a highly curable cancer. But on the contrary, it costs a lot of money and the whole treatment procedure can be exhausting — so I wanted to do something which would solve these issues.”

The effect
He continues, “The general conception when it comes to technology is that it is very costly. But you get Google Cardboard for $10, and this is the total amount it cost for me to impart VR! And one great thing about children is, they’ve phenomenal feelings and are very receptive to this technology. As the physiotherapy sessions can be quite painful, I used VR during such times and I was amazed when I realised that it reduced the pain by 30 to 40 per cent — this is phenomenal in medical terms.”

Creating the right content
Jignesh  Talasila, co-founder of Loop Reality, which has partnered with Pramod to help with VR therapy, says, “When I met Pramod, we were discussing about how technology can be used to divert pain of the patients who undergo physiotherapy during cancer treatment. As we were looking for options, we thought that VR, with the right content, can help in this regard. It’s immensely satisfying that it has been helping a lot of patients.”

Meanwhile, Pramod feels that more doctors can start adopting this method. “See, we always try to adopt methods that are carried out in the West. I’ve worked in countries like Singapore, Italy, France, Malaysia and I can safely say that the technology that is available here is better than several other countries — so why don’t we start using it? This is accessible, cheap and there are several startups to help you in this regard!”

Not restricted to therapy alone
Jignesh, on the other hand, claims that VR shouldn’t be restricted to be used for cancer alone — “We’re looking into how we can help people who are in rehabilitation. And apart from this, we are also trying to impart VR in CT scan and MRI scan for better visualisation.”

IN EDUCATION
For immersive learning
Ramesh Loganathan, a professor in co-innovation from IIIT Hyderabad, says education field can totally benefit from immersive learning experience that can be attained over virtual and augmented reality.

“Education is a big area. I’ve come across a few platforms which are already imparting VR and AR (Augmented Reality) for immersive learning and it’s also really engaging — all you have to do is, point your camera on something about which you need to know or learn and you’ll get all the content gets immersed into the screen. It’s terrific!”

Revenue model, a challenge
He also states, “Coming up with creative solutions is a challenging task, but many startups are already coming up with really good ideas. Even in IIIT-H, we are working on a  good project which is yet to be announced. But setting commercial model is a huge task — taking it to schools and colleges with a revenue model is tricky.”

OTHERS
Fitness
LoopFit, a flagship product of Jignesh’s Loop Reality, aims to create a virtual gym, which would not only make sure that the consumers don’t have a monotonous experience, but are also motivated. “As a product, LoopFit tries to provide solutions to big problems through VR. First is the motivation part — you will be given various challenges, which you have to overcome; you’ll also be able to compete with participants from across the world — something similar to the game like Counter Strike. Apart from this, it will also enable you to teleport into a new environment every time. Also, you’ll have access to personal trainers — say if you are jogging on a hill (virtually), your heart rate will consistently be recorded when you go up and down the hill and the computer would now be able to know about your body. The next day, you can ask for tips and suggestions from that!”
He also says that VR will also aide professional athletes and marathon runners in a big way. “For example, image an athlete, who is about to take part in a marathon in Sweden — he/she would have several challenges including climate, the route and stuff. But the person can get acclimatised to it months before the event by being there virtually!”

The Army
Jignesh also proudly says that the Indian army has approached the company regarding imparting VR in army’s simulation wing — “Indian army approached us with the idea of imparting VR in their simulation division — right from trucks to tankers to other machines, this technology can be used in everything. With the demo pieces in hand, members of the army can train via the projector screen — as in while they use gun, it won’t literally shoot, but right from loading to other processes, they would get a realistic feel.”