Tag: iit madras

IIT-Madras Begins Draft Work on ‘Metaverse India Policy and Standards’ with Industry Veterans

The metaverse market, that is expected to grow at an annual rate of 37.7 percent in the next six years, is estimated to reach the valuation of $74.4 billion (roughly Rs. 6,20,918 crore) by the end of 2024. Gearing up to withstand the force of advancements in Web3, IIT Madras has begun drafting policies to oversee the metaverse sector. Called the XTIC (the eXperiential Technology Innovation Centre), a research and development body incubated by the IIT-M, has begun work around something called the ‘Metaverse India Policy and Standards (MIPS)’.

The XTIC has established a dedicated committee to conduct research around the predictable use cases and loopholes in the current metaverse ecosystem. The committee will address the technical and ethical shortcomings to make the industrial use of this digital technology safer and more advanced.

Rrahul Sethi, a veteran from India’s tech space who recently launched a metaverse experience centre in NCR’s Noida, is part of this committee. In conversation with Gadgets360, Sethi noted that the MIPS will not curate policies and standards around the metaverse on its own, but will collaborate with industry players, conduct dialogues, and publish reports for the government to refer to while centrally deploying Web3-related policies.

“The metaverse is a rapidly evolving concept. Experts and leaders from across India and from other parts of the world will join in here collectively to discuss these standards and create awareness around them,” Sethi said.

A fully-functional virtual universe, the metaverse ecosystem is built on blockchain networks. The technology offers a hyper-realistic virtual ecosystem where people can work, socialise, play games, and window shop from the comfort of their homes.

In a recently released report, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said that 92 percent manufacturing firms in the US are already exploring ways to add a metaverse twist to their existing business operations.

“The industrial metaverse, is projected to be a $100 billion (roughly Rs. 8,29,018 crore) market globally by 2030. The metaverse will propel the next phase of industrial revolution through the convergence of digital twins, a core building block of the industrial metaverse, and four rapidly evolving fields – spatial computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Web3, and blockchain,” the report had said at the time.

Now that IIT-M has kickstarted the process of drafting rules to oversee the Web3 sector, the committee will analyse the potential impacts of metaverse across sectors including education, healthcare, gaming, and enterprise, and propose strategies to maximise benefits.

Addressing ethical, privacy, and security issues linked to metaverse and collaborating with stakeholders from industry, academia, and government to gather diverse perspectives and insights are part of the committee’s agenda.

“These are major outcome goals but we are still deliberating on more. Government bodies will also use the reports to set standards,” Sethi added.

Back in January, China also formed a body that would set the standards for use and exploration of metaverse there.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article. 

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NASA, IIT-Madras Researchers Study Microbes on ISS to Understand Risks Associated With Space Travel

The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) researchers have studied the interactions between microbes in the International Space Station (ISS), the institute said on Friday.

A key finding is that a microbe that resides on the ISS, was found to be beneficial to various other microorganisms but hampered the growth of a fungus.

The study would help devise strategies for the disinfection of space stations to minimise any potential impact of microbes on the health of astronauts.

“Crews, during spaceflight, may have altered immunity and limited access to terrestrial medical facilities. Therefore, studying the microbes inhabiting the space station becomes important to understand the risks associated with short-term and long-term space travel on the health of astronauts,” the IIT-Madras said in a press release.

The present study was inspired by the earlier observations of the dominance of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a bacteria, on the surfaces of the ISS.

This pathogen has been known to cause pneumonia and other nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections. The researchers were broadly interested in understanding how this bacteria affects the growth of other microbes in the vicinity and the possible implications it could have.

The researchers analysed the microbial sample data taken across three space flights at seven locations on the ISS. The study found that Klebsiella pneumoniae, a major microbe that resides on the ISS, is beneficial to various other microbes also present on the ISS, especially the bacteria from the Pantoea genus.

However, it was found that its presence was hampering the growth of Aspergillus fungus. This computational observation was further tested through laboratory experiments, and it was found that the presence of K. pneumoniae was indeed detrimental to the growth of the Aspergillus fungus.

Dr Karthik Raman, associate professor at the Bhupat & Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences and a core member of the Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (RBCDSAI), IIT Madras, collaborated with Dr Kasthuri Venkateswaran, senior research scientist at JPL. The work has been peer-reviewed and published in the esteemed international journal Microbiome.

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Indian Railways, IIT Madras Collaborate to Develop Country’s First Indigenous Hyperloop

The Ministry of Railways will collaborate with IIT Madras for the development of an “indigenous” Hyperloop system and will also help set-up a Centre of Excellence for Hyperloop Technologies at the premier institute, officials said Thursday.

In 2017, the then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had expressed his interest in the Hyperloop technology, saying that India would be keenly watching the project and since then, several rounds of talks over the proposed project had been held between the ministry and US-based Hyperloop One, but nothing substantial emerged.

Hyperloop works on a technology that would use magnetic levitation in low-pressure tubes to transport people and goods at airplane-like speeds.

The low energy requirement and the significant role that this technology can play in making India Carbon neutral, makes Hyperloop mode of transportation an attractive proposition for Indian Railways, the ministry said in a statement.

“Ministry of Railways had therefore been looking for potential partners and domain experts for joint collaborative working on development of this emerging and evolving concept for transportation of passengers and cargo.

“The Ministry of Railways was informed that a team comprising 70 students, named “Avishkar Hyperloop”, formed by IIT Madras in 2017, has been applying scalability and frugal engineering concepts for development of Hyperloop based transportation system with an aim is to make India proud by showcasing its technologies to the world,” the statement said.

“Collaboration with IIT Madras for development of an Indigenous Hyperloop system and setting-up of a “Centre of Excellence for Hyperloop Technologies” at IIT Madras,” the Railways said.

The group had finished in top-10 global ranking at the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition-2019 and was the only Asian team to do so. The student team “Avishkar Hyperloop” had also bagged the ‘Most Scalable Design Award’ at the European Hyperloop Week – 2021.

IIT Madras approached Ministry of Railways in March-2022 with a proposal for collaborative working on development of contactless pod prototype and development of first-of-its-kind Hyperloop Test Facility at its Discovery Campus (at Thaiyur). Once established, the proposed facility would offer world’s largest Hyperloop Vacuum Tube that can be used as Test Bed for further research on Hyperloop by Indian Railways.

The institute sought support from the Railways for manufacturing assistance, formulation of safety regulations and access to its electrical testing facilities.

It has also requested for funding support by Ministry of Railways for taking this project ahead. The estimated cost of the Project, as conveyed by IIT Madras, is Rs. 8.34 crore.

The project deliverables for IR would included detailed design documentation for Pod, Tube & Track, detailed testing and performance data for pod prototype and vacuum tube, provide IR with Hyperloop track as a testing platform for development of Pod technology in the interim and provide training to Railway Personnel for Hyperloop technologies.

The institute has also proposed to establish a “Centre of Excellence for Hyperloop Technologies” at IIT Madras through existing CRR (Centre of Railway Research) at IIT Madras.

The existing CRR (Centre of Railway Research) at IIT Madras is located in MSRC building of the institute and has been functioning since 2017 with the funding support from Ministry of Railways.

Five projects are under progress with the existing CRR at IIT Madras and it has been providing training to railway engineers on subjects like Lean Manufacturing, Condition Monitoring and Concrete Testing and analysis. The plan, officials said is to build a 500m tube (diameter 2m) and track capable of supporting various propulsion and levitation system configurations to enable rapid development of pod technology. The tube will be at par with the Virgin Hyperloop facility in USA in terms of functionality but will significantly outperform it in terms of cost, the statement from the Railways said.

The hyperloop concept has been promoted by Elon Musk and SpaceX, and other companies or organizations have been encouraged to collaborate and develop the technology. Virgin Hyperloop conducted the first human trial in November 2020 at its test site in Las Vegas, reaching a top speed of 172km/hr (108mph).



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