Image Credit: The New Indian Express
India
Three Engineering Students Impress PM Modi By Designing 'Heritage Race' VR Game
|The game, designed by students from Thiagarajar Polytechnic College in Salem, Tamil Nadu, transports the users virtually to the heritage monuments of India and offers them a virtual view of most tourist and heritage destinations in the country.
A 19-year-old civil engineer student and his team have designed a virtual game that allows users to view historic monuments of India while cycling indoors. It has won accolades from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the grand finale of digital 'Toycathon 2021' event, which was organised by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), reported The Tribune.
Layer of Virtual Reality (VR)
Athik Mohamed, a 19-year-old civil engineering student and his team members, Deepesh M and Anung Yangfo K, from Thiagarajar Polytechnic College in Salem, Tamil Nadu, added a layer of virtual reality (VR) to the exercise cycle so that a rider "go somewhere" while cycling. The engineering students presented the digitally connected racer that promotes Indian culture and heritage to Modi in a virtual session on June 24.
PM Modi Appreciates Idea
Modi appreciated the new game idea and also suggested to his team that they should devise such a mechanism for a treadmill user. After the advice from Modi, Athik assured Modi he and his team would work on this idea.
During the live session, Athik explained that his "Heritage Race" game requires a VR headset, a phone and the app. He said that users on a regular bicycle can follow heritage routes and even listen to soothing Vedic music in the background while getting a 369-degree view. "I felt honoured. I will work on the ideas suggested by the PM to enhance the scope of this game," Athik told Republic World.
What Is Toycathon 2021?
Toycathon was jointly launched by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, DPIIT, Ministry of Textile, Ministry of Information and Broadcast and AICTE on January 5 this year, to crowd source innovative toys and games ideas. Around 1.2 lakh participants from across India registered and submitted more than 17,000 ideas for the Toycathon 2021, out of which 1,567 ideas were shortlisted for the three days online Toycathon Grand Finale. Only seven outstanding ideas were chosen to be presented to the Prime Minister and the 'Heritage Race' game was one of those seven ideas.
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