IIT Madras Virtual Reality Centre XTIC honours Music Legend Dr. A.R. Rahman ‘XTIC Award 2024 for Innovation’ for his VR film ‘Le Musk’

It will be presented on 17th Nov 2024 during ‘XR Summit’, India’s first Academia-Industry supported ‘eXtended Reality’ (XR) Summit by Oculus Inventors Prof Steven LaValle & Prof Anna Lavalle

CHENNAI : The eXperiential Technology Innovation Centre (XTIC), an IIT Madras Institute of Eminence Centre in Virtual Reality and related fields, will present the legendary music composer Dr. A.R. Rahman with the ‘XTIC Award 2024 for Innovation’.

The Award is being given in recognition of his visionary work on the Virtual Reality (VR) film ‘Le Musk’ (2022) during the two-day ‘XR Summit’, India’s first event on XR Academy-Industry meet, on 17th November 2024. It will be presented by co-inventors of Oculus Prof. Steven LaValle and Prof. Anna Lavalle who are Visiting Faculty at IIT Madras.

This award recognizes exceptional contributions to advancing immersive technologies and storytelling globally.

‘Le Musk’ is a groundbreaking 37-minute VR thriller that integrates multiple sensory elements, including scent, motion, and music, to deliver a deeply immersive cinematic experience. Directed by A.R. Rahman, the film follows the journey of Juliet Merdinian, an orphaned musician and heiress, as she sought to uncover the identity of individuals who changed her life, guided solely by the memory of their scents. The film’s unique combination of jazz, orchestral and world music, composed by Dr. A.R. Rahman himself, further elevated its sensory storytelling.

The term ‘eXtended Reality’ (XR) refers to Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR). IIT Madras is uniquely positioned to lead this effort, thanks to its cutting-edge Haptics Lab and the IoE Center for VR and Haptics.

Addressing the Inaugural session of the XR Summit at IIT Madras campus today (16th Nov 2024), Prof. Steven LaValle, American computer scientist and Professor in the Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Oulu, emphasized the importance of ‘Perception Engineering’, which is the foundation for innovation in XR technologies.

“Engineering perceptual experiences that are illusory and plausible in a scientifically sound manner is the core of XR innovation that XTIC emphasizes to all stakeholders heading towards the XR Corridor in India by 2047”, Prof. Steven LaValle added.

The Experiential Technologies Innovation Center (XTIC) at IIT Madras is a global research hub dedicated to advancing VR, AR, and haptics technologies. As part of the ‘Institute of Eminence’ (IoE) Research Initiative, XTIC fosters interdisciplinary innovation and collaboration between academia and industry in an event XR Summit on 16th and 17th November 2024. By presenting this award, XTIC underscores its commitment to recognizing trailblazers who push the boundaries of experiential technology.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. M. Manivannan, Head, XTIC, IIT Madras, said, “Le Musk is a bold and innovative experiment that successfully showcases the potential of XR and multi-sensory storytelling. Its reliance on specialized technology poses challenges in accessibility and scalability. This is where research and innovation can play a major role. The XTIC, Our global center with global leaders, is planning to address these challenges in the coming years.”

Prof. M. Manivannan, also a faculty in the Department of Applied Mechanics and Biomedical Engineering, IIT Madras, added, “This recognition highlights not only Dr. A.R. Rahman’s ingenuity but also IIT Madras’ pivotal role in shaping the future of immersive technologies. It cements XTIC’s position as a global leader in fostering cutting-edge research and innovation in VR and haptics, paving the way for revolutionary creative endeavours like Le Musk.”

The XR Summit is sponsored by Qualcomm which is making several specialized chips and platforms that support hand tracking, 5G, 360-degree videos and other features for XR devices.

The XTIC will also recognize XR Startups and honor them with awards in different categories as part of this award ceremony. In order to promote innovation, XTIC would be organizing workshops and hackathons for students working in XR field with participation from multinational firms such as Samsung and Ericsson

The XTIC is India’s First Research & Product Innovation centre for Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and Haptics. It is working towards creating an innovation corridor to support innovation in AR, VR and MR for IIT Madras projects and selected students in their pursuit to explore and guide to the journey of entrepreneurship.

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