Hero Group, Birmingham City University launch metaverse lab in Ludhiana

Hero Group Munjal family and the Birmingham City University, UK have jointly set up the Munjal Birmingham City University Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MBCIE) in Ludhiana district of Punjab. The MBCIE is a joint educational and research institute that offers programmes on the foundations and implementation of new technologies, promoting innovation, industry 4.0 and entrepreneurship, to boost the higher education space in the state.

“The lab named MBCIEverse is equipped with virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR), will offer candidates to the opportunity to learn, collaborate and create applications associated with metaverse across domains to enable them to apply the same in a real-world scenario,” Prem Kumar, Executive Director, MBCIE, told TechCircle.

He added that the total investment in building the lab’s physical facility and equipment was ₹8 crore.

The institute has introduced two short programmes ‘Introduction to VR’ for school students and ‘Build Your Metaverse’ for professionals, he informed. “The 16-week MBCIEverse programme for professionals will provide insights on Virtual Reality, 2D, 3D with cutting edge VR/AR headsets for teaching and research.

Experts from the UK will offer training how the physical world can be stimulated using modern technology that includes a variety of head mounted display (HMD) units and sensors, besides other cutting-edge equipment, that will help professionals work and ideate across the high-end metaverse.  

Kumar also said that the courses will be provided at nominal fee. For example, for students the four-week course fees are kept at ₹4,000 and the 16-week professional course at ₹5,000. The company also plans to come up with bachelor's programme on metaverse technology with a fee of nearly rupees two-lakh.  

He informed that the lab has an area of 10,000 square feet dedicated to metaverse and web 3.0 activities and can house around 200-250 candidates. “We have already signed in 100 students for the first batch, with courses to begin from the third week of October,” he said, adding that the courses for professionals would start from the first week of November.

“We have tied up with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Punjab and have spoken to 15-20 corporate for the course program,” said Kumar.

On completion of the course, participants will be offered a certification awarded to them jointly by MBCIE and Birmingham City University, UK.

“The key constraint with metaverse is the education and awareness,” said Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Enterprise and MBCIE while inaugurating the state-of-the-art lab in Ludhiana, adding that he believes the entrepreneurs of Ludhiana will also use this facility to become more competitive.

Munjal further said that countries such as the United States, France, and China have successfully implemented virtual reality labs in their schools to provide students with a comprehensive and imaginative learning experience. Given India's demographic dividend, the potential appears to be unrivalled and unprecedented. The challenge is making this technological adoption accessible to everyone - school students, college students and professionals. 

In July 2022, Tech Mahindra and Mahindra University launched a new 'Makers Lab' for research and development in quantum computing, explainable artificial intelligence and Metaverse in Hyderabad.

A recent study done by data and analytics company Global Data revealed that the global metaverse market is expected to reach $996 billion in 2030, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.8%, from the market size of $22.79 billion in 2021 and that India is becoming a key player in this space, paving way for more companies to set up research and innovation facilities in the country.