IIT-Madras has launched a mobile application that uses augmented reality and virtual reality together to capture moving models of memory. Called 'MovingMemory' app, it helps in digital reconstruction of a person's memory. This means that if a person is looking at something, maybe a monument, any associated memory (happy, sad etc) will be projected onto the screen in a virtual environment. The Centre for Memory Studies, part of IIT-Madras, has created virtual models of some of the famous places in India that a user can take tour of.
The 'MovingMemory' spatial app will be available on both Android and iOS or through browser-based platforms. It was released by IIT-Madras Director Professor V Kamakoti at a conference on Wednesday.
In what could be a potential advancement in the field of #metaverse world, @MemoryIITM, @iitmadras, has launched a ‘MovingMemory' app which is a #spatial app that uses technology of #AugmentedReality & #VirtualReality simultaneously. It makes use of digital reconstruction method. pic.twitter.com/vOEHwZFVOr
— IIT Madras (@iitmadras) September 21, 2023
"It is crucial that we foreground the urgent need to incorporate collective memory in our understanding and ability to anticipate policies related to ecological issues such as climate change. Human as well as non-human forms of memory (such as the memory of water and the memory of nature) may be studied through interdisciplinary and collaborative formats in order to further memory studies as a discipline," said the professor.
Dr Avishek Parui Associate Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT-Madras and Dr Merin Simi Raj, Principal and co-principal investigators of the Centre for Memory Studies (CMS) told NDTV that the app will allow a user to select any desired avatar and navigate through three-dimensional spaces. "It is embedded with additional layers of video, audio, 3D images, and interactive elements which may be used as models for sustainable and heritage-oriented pedagogic and research approaches," said Professor Raj.
This conference saw more than 600 participants from India and countries like the US, UK, Germany, New Zealand, Morocco, Canada, Sweden and Bangladesh.
