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

The award is being given in recognition of his work on the Virtual Reality (VR) film ‘Le Musk’ (2022). The award will be presented during the two-day ‘XR Summit’, India’s first event on XR Academy-Industry meet, on November 17. 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 recognises exceptional contributions to advancing immersive technologies and storytelling globally, IIT Madras stated.

“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,” said Prof M. Manivannan, Head, XTIC, IIT Madras.

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 November 16 and 17. By presenting this award, XTIC underscores its commitment to recognizing trailblazers who push the boundaries of experiential technology.

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