BIZ-KL-KSUM

Kerala govt inks pact with US firm to develop AR, VR ecosystem

Kochi, Jan 16 (PTI): Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has

tied up with Unity Technologies, USA, to develop an augmented

reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) ecosystem in the state

by opening a centre of excellence here.

The centre would come up in the newly-inaugurated

integrated startup complex at Kalamassery, a press release

from the KSUM release said Wednesday.

Through the centre, Unity Technologies would support

startups developing products, services and

games on platforms, including mobile, PC, and various AR and

VRhardware, the release said.

The centre would also have special focus on providing

different levels of training on AR and VR developer tools to

students and professionals, it said.

"The AR and VR market is expected to witness huge

growth globally in the next 5-6 years, the release said.

The growth would be accompanied by the sprouting up of

a new set of businesses, it said.

"The centre of excellence for AR and VR developer

tools with Unity Technologies is a step taken by the

government of Kerala towards creating an ecosystem for new

businesses to grow and cater to the global demand,'' the

release quoted secretary to Department of IT and Electronics,

government of Kerala M Sivasankar as saying.

Sivasankar said the ICT Academy of Kerala and Centre

for developing of Imaging Technologies (C-DIT) have an

important role to play in the creation of the ecosystem.

"Unity Technologies is at the centre of the AR and VR

ecosystem, powering more than 60 per cent of all content. We

see this industry growing significantly over the next few

years," the release quoted vice-president (Asia Pacific) of

the US company Hubert Larenaudie as saying.

Talking about the tie-up, chief executive officer

(CEO) of the KSUM, Saji Gopinath said it was committed to

creating an enabling ecosystem for young ventures working on

various emerging technologies.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between KSUM and

Unity Technologies was signed by Gopinath and head (Asia

Pacific) of Unity Education and Centre of Excellence

Initiatives Anumukonda Ramesh.

The MoU was inked in the presence of Chief Minister

Pinarayi Vijayan on the sidelines of the inaugural of the

largest Integrated Startup Complex in the country two days

ago.

KSUM is the nodal agency of government of Kerala

for technical entrepreneurship.

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