A.R. Rahman honoured with ‘XTIC Award 2024 for Innovation’ for VR film Le Musk

Oscar-winning music composer, A.R. Rahman, on Sunday received the ‘XTIC Award 2024 for Innovation’, instituted by Experiential Technology Innovation Centre (XTIC), an IIT Madras Institute of Eminence Centre in Virtual Reality and related fields, at IIT-Madras.

Co-inventors of Oculus — Professor Steven LaValle and Professor Anna Lavalle — presented the award to Rahman for his 37-minute virtual reality (VR) film, Le Musk. Directed and produced by Rahman, Le Musk integrates multiple sensory elements, including scent, motion and music, to deliver an immersive cinematic experience.

Commenting on the accessibility of the technology, Mr. Rahman said that VR is affordable. “You can get an Oculus for $300 and there is a Jio-set for ₹8000 or something. We need special cameras. We need calibration of these two cameras. And we still don’t have time to sync these two cameras. Right now, we just sync it through audio, but what we get out of it could still coexist with cinema,” he said.

He also urged students, who want to work in the VR space or contribute to the technology, to ensure that the next big technological leap happens in India.

“Whenever I go to Microsoft, Apple or Intel, I see a lot of Indians, and I was thinking, Why is the next Apple not coming from India? Why is it that the next Nvidia is not coming from India? I think the government has to help that happen. The next big technological thing should come from India,” he said, adding: “I didn’t want to do Indian content in the beginning because this is a project which required international importance, so I did it in English.”

Published - November 18, 2024 12:04 am IST