02 January,2022 08:17 AM IST | Mumbai | Jane Borges
The Who VR team taking 360 degree photographs at Veerabhadra Temple in Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh. Pic Courtesy/WHO VR
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Earlier this week, when escalating COVID-19 numbers threw cold water on travel plans everywhere, we did a walk through the Veerabhadra Temple in Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh, from the confines of our Mumbai office. Navigating us through the tour was our mouse, which at a click, not only offered 360 degree views of the 16th century site, but also directed us through every tiny alley in the temple complex, allowing us to zoom in and out of structures and sculptures that caught our attention along the way. The virtual tour, an experience recreated by Who VR, a startup at the cusp of heritage-tourism-culture-wellness-technology-neurosciences, comes at an uncertain time for the tourism industry.
According to a report titled Indian Tourism Industry and COVID-19: A Sustainable Recovery Framework in a Post-Pandemic Era, published in October 2021 (Sage Journals), the travel and tourism industry in India, which employs around 87.5 million people either directly or indirectly, is at the risk of losing more than half of its workforce - up to 57 per cent - due to COVID-19. Can virtual tourism then revive and rebuild domestic travel in the coming years?
The answer came early, in August 2020, when the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, partnered with OutsiteVR, a travel tech startup, to boost its Incredible India campaigns. The experiential platform allowed people to explore popular local heritage sites, historical monuments and tourist attractions using their smartphones, desktops or VR headsets. "There is a deeper need now [more than ever] to connect with the world the way we'd like to [through virtual reality]," feels Ajit Padmanabh, musician, and founder and CEO of Bengaluru-based Who VR, which launched in the midst of the pandemic. "When we started in 2020, we were a little sceptical [because of how businesses had been hit due to COVID-19]. But, whoever we approached, only seemed enamoured by what we were doing," he recalls.
Who VR is an immersive edutainment product, which hopes to bring India's ancient heritage to life. "Metaverse is going to be the next big thing in the next two to three years," says Padmanabh, adding that his own startup was rooted in his desire to create an "Indic Metaverse, where people can travel from place to place within the realms of the virtual world, and experience it differently, beyond what the two dimensional world has to offer".
The idea for this project first came to Padmanabh in 2016, when he was looking to release his debut music album. "At the time, I was wondering how to perform this live, as the music was completely instrumental. I reached out to a few event management companies to create stage set-ups for me, which would pan out from one ancient city to another. I remember them giving me a huge figure for this experience." Since he was also a technologist working with Infosys, Padmanabh decided to try and explore VR for music concerts on his own. One thing led to another, with Padmanabh along with Radhakrishnan G Nair, launching Who VR.
At its core, Who VR offers temple experiences. One part of it includes 360 degree videos and photos, and the other involves creating time travel capsules. "Based on the history of the place and our research, including the documentation that we have access to, we try and recreate the temple to its past glory. So, just imagine Hampi being rejuvenated in virtual reality, revitalised with its shopping complexes and gold markets. When you walk through this experience, like you do in VR games, you will be able to absorb more of the history of the place and the time." The goal, he says, is to make history enjoyable.
Padmanabh says the "metaphysics, energy and magnificence" of temple structures and other historical sites in India lend themselves naturally to augmented reality and VR experiences. "We are also looking at other energy centres, including Machu Picchu [in Peru], Uluru [in Australia] and the pyramids [in Egypt]. That will happen once we've covered all the Indian structures, and are financially viable to travel the world."
The work is exhaustive. It begins with several weeks of research with the help of their knowledge partners, followed by taking 3D scans of the structure at the site, which includes scans of individual sculptures and pillars. "We take about a week to cover an area, assuming the ancient temple structures are huge. Once we scan, we port it into our game engines, and create 3D models out of it. We then move on to the environment creation, creating a daytime, noontime and nighttime view." The team also has musicians and sound engineers, who create immersive binaural and ambisonic sounds. "Overall, it takes around three to four months to make a site ready for a VR experience." Their content can be enjoyed on VR headsets, or even at different locations - airports, for instance - where Who VR is tying up with local management, to create kiosks to experience their content. "It's going to get cheaper and affordable in the near future."
Pankaj Manchanda is the founder and CEO of award-winning Delhi-based startup, Augtraveler, which launched in 2018. The platform creates enhanced AR-based multimedia experiences for visitors, to interact and engage with different points of interest at heritage sites and buildings of historical significance.
The idea for the project came about because Manchanda realised that World Heritage Sites in India, despite their scale and grandeur, lacked "authentic and accurate interpretation to the myriad audiences visiting them in their vernacular languages". "For the youngsters, these structures had become a picnic spot or a place for an Instagram opportunity," he shares in a telephonic interview. Tangible heritage, like arts and crafts, had also taken a hit, as tourism dollars were not reaching the artisans and communities, due to which many were moving away from their cultural arts and crafts to more mass-produced goods.
Augtraveler integrates AR, geo fencing and multimedia to enhance the visitor experience at the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India. The content is currently curated with support from the Archaeological Survey of India that has provided Augtraveler access to all ASI sites across India for video and photoshoots, as well as key knowledge partners, who are professionals from the cultural heritage and conservation domains.
The AR layer, accessible on smartphones after downloading the app, enables visitors to interact with relevant points of interest within the heritage sites.
This writer experienced the Jantar Mantar site in Delhi on the Augtraveler app, which took us through the different yantras (astronomical instruments), with accurate details and facts about each of them. One, however, has to physically be at the site to view the augmented feature. AR-VR enhances the existing experience, says Manchanda.
While Padmanabh sees a huge potential for heritage sites in India to be experienced through VR technology, Manchanda is sure these new mixed technologies will not replace physical travel. "I don't think so. Like you may have seen in the first and second wave of COVID-19, the moment people get an opportunity, they'd like to step out and travel. The audience that will consume VR [for travel] are really those, who are not immediately travelling to a place, but will want to travel there in the near future. These experiences work as a precursor. So, our idea of using AR on a mobile device is primarily to provide a precursor to cultural and heritage tourism of Incredible India, as well as build on enhancing visitor experience when they visit heritage sites and destinations. We also recently collaborated with TripAdvisor [online travel company] so that these places become discoverable to a larger audience," he says.
One way or the other, this will definitely help boost the travel industry, currently struggling in the pandemic. "It will make travelling more aspirational. Think of what Instagram is doing. When you see photos of places, people will actually want to visit the place to take that kind of pictures. AR-VR will broaden the scope," he feels, adding that it will allow startups like his to collaborate with every segment of the tourism industry, including hotels, airlines, tour operators, taxi services. "With this âCOVID ready' travel innovation, you can go as deep and wide as you want. The possibilities are limitless."
