On November 10, Cisco announced its plan to open a new design center for developing next-generation semiconductor devices in Spain. Chuck Robbins, Chair and Executive of Cisco, made the announcement in a meeting with H.E Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister of Spain.
Cisco’s global strategy is to enable a scalable, reliable, and sustainable global semiconductor supply chain. Therefore, it plans to set up an engineering design center for designing and prototyping next-generation semiconductor devices under the Spanish strategic project for the PERTE Microchip (Recovery and Economic Transformation of Microelectronics and Semiconductors).
With Cisco’s knowledge and experience, the new center can help grow the European chips ecosystem. Pedro Sanchez stated that Spain is on its way to becoming a significant player in achieving the EU objective of reaching 20% of the world’s chip market by 2030. Spain has approved the PERTE Microchip and has roadmaps, incentives, and reforms to attract talent and strengthen the current Spanish ecosystem.
Cisco’s long-standing committee helps strengthen Spain’s digitalization by encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation, growing digital infrastructure and skills, and enhancing cybersecurity. Cisco is also helping Spain develop critical technologies such as 5G/Wi-Fi, cloud, AI, and next-generation networks.
Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration Program, Digitaliza, was launched in 2019 in Spain. As per Digitaliza, Cisco has planned to educate and reskill 40,000 workers, students, and unemployed people in digital technologies for the next 12 months with the non-profit Cisco Networking Academy. This can increase the number of Spanish people participating in Cisco Networking Academy courses to 300,000 by the end of 2023.
HPE, or Hewlett Packard Enterprise, announces two versions of its Cray supercomputers to make supercomputing accessible and more affordable for enterprises. The expanded Cray portfolio will include the new HPE Cray EX and HPE Cray XD supercomputers and deliver end-to-end compute technologies built on purpose.
The HPE Cray EX2500 supercomputers share their architecture with the Cray EX4000, the fastest exascale-class system in the world. The plus point is that EX2500 is roughly 24% smaller than its predecessor, making it easier to fit in an enterprise data center. Additionally, it also features 100% direct-liquid cooling for enhanced efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
The HPE Cray XD2000 and XD6500 supercomputers offer use-case-specific servers made to integrate HPE and the Cray portfolio for advanced workloads and AI modeling. The resulting supercomputers are compatible with traditional data centers with standard CPUs, accelerators, interconnect, storage, and cooling options.
Both types can support the latest GPUs and CPUs. HPE Cray EX2500 will support the 4th-generation AMD EPYC processors and the 4th-generation Xeon Scalable processors. Whereas the XD6500 will support 4th-generation Xeon Scalable processors and NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs.
HPE aims to help enterprises harness meaningful insights, solve complex problems, and innovate faster with its energy-efficient supercomputers. These supercomputers will provide artificial intelligence at scale for data-centric workloads, speed up machine learning jobs, and smoothen product delivery to the market.
Nike is launching a new web3 platform, “.Swoosh,” to offer its NFT and virtual apparel on Polygon. .Swoosh will be the epicenter of Nike’s web3 explorations and will enable future clientele to become co-creators and transact digital product royalties.
Grab your kicks 👟 + BRING 👏🏽 YOUR 👏🏽 A 👏🏽 GAME 👏🏽@Nike is building their web3 experiences exclusively #onPolygon 💪🏾
This is the first step of the journey, and we can't wait to see how Nike engages its community through #web3https://t.co/bk19RLNodX
The NFT apparel will now be minted on Polygon, an Ethereum-based sidechain network. Polygon is a layer 2 blockchain technology that helps improve transaction speed and lowers costs without duplicating Ethereum’s functionality.
After acquiring RTFKT, a digital creator platform using blockchain, augmented reality, and NFT, Nike established itself as one of the greatest digital fashion leaders in the world. Nike’s first virtual kicks, the RTFKT x Nike Dunk Genesis CryptoKicks, performed well in the metaverse. Since then, the company has been working to bring itself into the space.
Now, the .Swoosh platform will be a launch hub for Nike’s virtual apparel, including t-shirts and sneakers for metaverse avatars within web3 games. Additionally, it will make use of Web3 technology to give consumers access to tangible benefits like special physical clothing or conversations with professional athletes.
As per Ron Faris, General Manager of Nike Virtual Studios, .Swoosh will shape a marketplace of the future and will be an epitome for web3-curios people. He added, “In this new space, the .Swoosh community and Nike can create, share, and benefit together.”
GO is a considerably more difficult game to master than chess. In GO, there are 250 valid movements in any given situation as opposed to the typical 35 in chess. A GO board can be set up in more different ways than there are atoms in the universe. As a result, a blend of critical thinking, strategy, imagination, and intellect is needed to solve the GO puzzle. For this reason, AlphaGo’s victory over Lee Sedol in the game of GO in 2016 is seen as a significant turning point in the development of artificial intelligence technology.
Since 2021, KataGo has gained popularity as an open-source AI capable of defeating the best human GO players. With several upgrades and enhancements, KataGo was taught using a method similar to AlphaZero. It is capable of reaching the top levels quickly and completely from scratch with no outside data, progressing purely via self-play.
A paper outlining a strategy to defeat KataGo by using adversarial techniques that exploit KataGo’s blind spots was published last week by a group of AI researchers from MIT, UC Berkeley, and FAR AI. A far inferior hostile GO-playing program can cause KataGo to lose by making unexpected plays outside of its training set.
The primary disadvantage of deep learning-based algorithms is that they are only as good as the data they are trained on. Consequently, introducing false data might lead to the deep learning model malfunctioning. A model may be subjected to an adversarial assault by being given false or deceptive data while it is being trained or by being given data that has been purposefully created to fool a model that has already been trained. The researchers looked for and discovered a vulnerability in KataGo in their latest endeavor.
KataGo might struggle against opponents who play in unfamiliar or unusual ways since it is trained on “standard” methods to play the game of GO. The researchers suggested that attempting to stake out a small corner of the board may be one approach to playing GO in a hostile manner. By controlling the whole rest of the board, this strategy deceives KataGo into believing it has already won the game. One of the principles of GO is that if one player passes and the other follows suit, the game is over, and the winners are determined by adding up their points.
The opposition scores more points and triumphs because it receives all the points for its little corner territory, and KataGo does not receive any points for the undefended territory that has adversarial stones. In this manner, the adversary wins by fooling KataGo into prematurely stopping the game at a position beneficial to the enemy. Researchers reported that attack defeats KataGo with a win rate of >99% when no search is used and a win rate of >50% when KataGo employs sufficient search to be almost superhuman. The researchers point out that the trick only works with KataGo; attempting to use it against humans (even amateurs) would quickly fail since they will instinctively understand what is going on.
The key takeaway is that learning GO does not provide the opponent an advantage, nor is it superior than KataGo. The adversary’s primary goal is to exploit an unforeseen weakness in KataGo, which it easily does. This discovery has significantly wider ramifications because practically every deep-learning AI system may experience similar situations.
Adam Gleave, a doctoral student at UC Berkeley and one of the paper’s co-authors, explains that research demonstrates that AI systems that appear to function at a human level frequently do so in a very ‘alien’ way and as a result, might fail in ways that are unexpected to humans. Gleave claims that while this outcome in GO is amusing, failures of a similar nature in safety-critical systems might be catastrophic.
For instance, imagine a self-driving vehicle AI that runs into a very unusual situation that it didn’t anticipate, allowing a human to manipulate it into engaging in risky activities. This study underscores the necessity for improved automated testing of AI systems to uncover worst-case failure modes, not only assess average-case performance, according to Gleave.
Following the impact of FTX’s collapse, speculations began to circulate online that El Salvador was in trouble because it kept part or all of its Bitcoin assets in FTX. Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, took to Twitter last week to put these rumors to rest, sharing that he spoke with President Nayib Bukele, who denied that the country used FTX to store its Bitcoin. Most recently, President Bukele tweeted that ‘FTX is the opposite of Bitcoin,” while explaining the inner workings of the Bitcoin protocol, emphasizing how Bitcoin protocol prevents bad actors like FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried from financial wrongdoings.
FTX is the opposite of #Bitcoin#Bitcoin ’s protocol was created precisely to prevent Ponzi schemes, bank runs, Enron’s, WorldCom’s, Bernie Madoff’s, Sam Bankman-Fried’s…
The Central American country of El Salvador made history when it became the first nation to recognize bitcoin as a legal tender more than a year ago. In 2021, President Bukele bought about US$300 million worth of Bitcoin to help the Central American country build its infrastructure. With President Bukele’s decision, both Bitcoin and the US dollar, El Salvador’s other official money, can theoretically be accepted by all companies.
The government offered residents financial incentives to download a special cryptocurrency app called “Chivo Wallet” (chivo is Salvadoran slang for “cool”) in a bid to popularize and regularize its use. Each Chivo Wallet will include US$30 worth of bitcoin as a government gesture, and the Chivo app was stated to function in tandem with Chivo ATMs, where users would be able to swap their bitcoin for cash without paying any fees. When the bitcoin law came into effect, the app was downloaded by half of all households in the country. However, the most recent cryptocurrency crisis and the impending collapse of the FTX market have raised concerns about the project’s overall success.
The proposal had drawn criticism from major international financial organizations like the International Monetary Fund. According to numerous polls, a huge percentage of Salvadorans opposed the initiative. Trade unions and citizens also railed against the dangers posed by the volatility of bitcoin and its possible use for money laundering. In contrast, Bukele’s constant assurances that bitcoin usage will be voluntary, the established legal mandate that all businesses accept bitcoin payments was considered extremely alarming. On the other side, though surveys portrayed El Salvador as a nation that is plagued with cynicism, in reality, only a small number of individuals have demonstrated against the move amid the fears it would bring instability and inflation to the impoverished nation.
The decision to legalize Bitcoin by President Bukele was built on the belief that it would draw in international investment, create employment, and motivate cryptocurrency entrepreneurs to set up businesses in the country. In El Salvador, almost 70% of residents are without a bank account, although the majority have smartphones. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts have long touted the potential of new digital currencies to assist the unbanked and underbanked, and El Salvador is keen on employing Bitcoin’s ability to boost a population’s commercial and economic prospects.
Another benefit anticipated was that bitcoin would speed up and reduce the cost of remittances from the Salvadoran immigrant community, which annually provide US$6 billion, or one-fifth of the nation’s GDP. His aspirations went as far as creating a whole “Bitcoin city,” a tax-free sanctuary financed by the issuance of US$1 billion in government bonds. The idea was to invest half of the bond proceeds in the city and the other half in Bitcoin, with the earnings from the latter being used to pay back the bondholders.
More than a year later, there is more than enough proof to say that Bukele had no idea what he was doing. Before moving forward with his ambitious plans, Bukele, who had referred to himself as “the world’s coolest dictator” in response to criticism of his growing authoritarianism, did not conduct any research or publish even a single technical report weighing the benefits and drawbacks of making bitcoin legal tender. Pouring public funds into a scheme to replace physical currency with cryptocurrencies was a dangerous gamble in a nation where only about a third of the population has access to the internet, and some areas even lack power. In other words, Bukele’s ignorance of the relationship between Bitcoin and GDP made the idea of utilizing public funds to place significant speculative bets on bitcoin incredibly irresponsible.
In retrospect, the bungled technical and communication components of the original, seemingly hurried introduction of Bitcoin in El Salvador were the biggest disaster. Just 20% of Salvadoran families surveyed in a nationally representative study of 1,800 homes in February reported using Chivo Wallet to deal in bitcoin. Many Salvadorans said their US$30 registration incentive had been spent before they had access to the system, and there were numerous accusations of identity theft. On the comical side of things, many citizens downloaded the app solely to get their hands on the US$30. Additionally, there was a lack of clarity on the exact requirements of the Bitcoin Law, notably those that applied to merchants.
With the collapse of the cryptocurrency market, El Salvador’s ability to fulfill its upcoming bond payment and avoid defaulting on its financial obligations is becoming less and less feasible. El Salvador has two US$800 million bonds that are due in 2023 and 2025, and experts are questioning if the country will be able to repay those. To make things worse, the rollout of Bitcoin as a legal tender did not mention much about the purchases. Experts, analysts, critics, and advocates are still mostly reliant on Bukele’s tweets because his administration hasn’t disclosed the on-chain or off-chain location of their alleged bitcoin purchases. The value of the bitcoins that the Bukele government purchased for more than US$100 million is currently less than US$50 million. This would be devastating for the nation’s economy and the government’s capacity to carry out duties effectively. Things could be worse if the US$1 billion Bitcoin bonds proposal did not stall, mostly because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The state of emergency declared in the nation at the end of March due to gang violence also put brakes on the project.
Fortunately, there is a silver lining amid the losses. More often than most people realize, the usage of bitcoin to send remittances from overseas has been proven to be effective. Eight months after the Bitcoin Law’s passage, it was announced in May of this year that 1.9% of remittances to El Salvador, or US$96.3 million, were sent using cryptocurrencies. According to reports, Salvadorans spend US$400 million a year only on remittance costs. Assuming the addition of half-price costs to 1.9% of US$400 million, one can see that Salvadorans saved slightly under US$4 million in remittance expenses in the first eight months by switching to bitcoin. If Salvadoran acceptance of bitcoin for remittances increases by just 2% per year, the nearly US$100 million spent on Bitcoin network infrastructure may pay for itself in less than a decade.
Apart from remittance relief, President Bukele has shared that adopting bitcoin has helped in reviving its tourism industry. The World Tourism Organization reports that El Salvador has increased its tourism-related revenue by 6% in comparison to 2019 pre-pandemic levels. This analysis is in agreement with what the government has been arguing about the impact of bitcoin use in the nation ever since it became legal tender. The tourism sector has grown 30% since this incident, according to Morena Valdez, Minister of Tourism, who made this claim in February. With foreign tourism accounting for around 5% of Salvadoran GDP prior to the Bitcoin Law, a sustained increase of that scale could enhance El Salvador’s GDP by more than 3%.
Even Alphapoint, which offers software infrastructure technology to Chivo, shared its plans to ensure that Salvadorans of various digital literacy levels utilize the app securely and dependably. Alphapoint also added working on wider Chivo customer care support and improved merchant transaction processing speed.
To help El Salvador further navigate through its economic woes, China has recently offered to buy a large amount of distressed foreign debt. Though Vice President Felix Ulloa assured they would exercise caution before agreeing to the offer, this development can be assuring as the nation is working to reduce strain within its bond market and avoid defaulting on its dollar-denominated debt.
After El Salvador entered its bitcoin era, it did face many challenges ranging from project rollout to local violence and hacks. The nation is still keen on this initiative, in the thick of criticism by the likes of IMF and opposition, it is also trying its best to channel itself out of the economic fiasco.
The most recent creative platform to introduce a text-to-image AI tool is the online design and publishing app Canva. The feature was first tested in September, and it is now being rolled out to the app’s more than 100 million users.
With a few additional safety filters and a unique user interface to assist and guide Canva’s users toward the desired outcomes, the feature implements the open-source text-to-image model of Stable Diffusion. Anyone with a Canva account can use this feature to generate 100 pictures daily.
The Canva newsroom reports that text-to-image not only makes it possible for its users to produce visual material more quickly than ever before, but also signals the end of the creativity block. Users of Canva produced more than six million photos during the short time the app was in beta, according to the company, demonstrating the technology’s resounding popularity.
Similar to many other text-to-image generators, Canva’s app enables users to choose a style, including a picture, drawing, 3D render, painting, pattern, or concept art, and the Text-to-Image will generate a grid of four images to choose from and add to your design canvas. After creating an image, users may “enhance the photo” using Canva’s built-in photo editor, where they can change attributes like brightness, contrast, Autofocus, or add effects.
You can also report images that are biased or stereotyped, violent, nude, or that include hate speech.
In order to access this feature, log into your Canva account, click on “new design,” and then, on the left side of your screen, choose “more.” From there, you can either scroll down and look for the text-to-image beta feature or type “text-to-image” and select the icon that resembles the one shown below.
Now that you’re there, fill out the text box labeled “Describe the image you want to see” with a brief description of the image you’re visualizing. There are a few arbitrary descriptions under the “Need inspiration?” section if you’re stuck for ideas.
After that, check to see that “Choose your style” is set to your preference. Only one style can be selected at a time, or you can choose “surprise me” to receive two distinct styles. The final step is to generate your image and revise your description to get the best image results.
After the introduction of text-to-image feature Canva joins Picsart, a main rival of Adobe, which also launched a free and limitless text-to-image generator to its app, last week.
On Monday, the business process management unit of the Indian IT services firm, Infosys BPM, launched a unit for AI and automation in Lodz city of Poland, to assist global clients.
In collaboration with IBM, the new unit will use AI and automation to provide solutions for automation, productivity, customer experience, and lowering costs. The Center of AI and automation will offer Infosys BPM’s solutions, including Infosys Accounts Payable on Cloud, Infosys Intelligent Document Processing, Infosys Interaction Analytics, and Infosys Multilingual Conversational AI.
The company said the unit would assist organizations in analyzing workflows, designing AI-infused apps with low-code tooling, assigning tasks to bots, and tracking performance.
Marcin Gajdzinski, country general manager of IBM Poland and Baltics, said that IBM is focused on providing clients and partners such as Infosys the critical capabilities needed to scale AI for business. The newly opened Center of AI powered by IBM Watson in Lodz, Poland, will provide joint clients significant support in building the digital economy, as well as new skills and expertise in the field of AI and hybrid cloud, they added.
Infosys BPM and IBM, for two years, have collaborated to assist clients, identify new use cases, and build solutions. The company said that Lodz would be an innovation powerhouse and enable enterprises to address complex business processes.
Recent developments in machine learning and artificial intelligence have taken robotics a step forward and have increased human-robot interaction. The robotics industry is creating robots that perform simple (or repetitive) tasks like humans. Robots made for professional service provision by mimicking human motion and interaction are referred to as humanoid robots. They are responsible for adding value by automating tasks in a cost-saving manner. These robots are the newest form of service robots and are also capable of providing academic and emotional support to some extent.
Top humanoid robots made in India
Following is a list of some advanced humanoid robots designed and developed in India.
Mitra
Mitra is a 5 feet tall humanoid robot developed with the Make in India mission. Created by Invento Robotics, it is a one-of-its-kind humanoid robot that drew a lot of attention in 2017 through the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES). It became popular after greeting the honorable PM Narendra Modi and Ivanka Trump. Mitra is a significant step forward in developing human-robot interactions because:
It took only one year to create, while most humanoid projects span several years.
The extensive features, design, and performance add value to customer interactions at several places like banks (Canara Bank), cinemas like PVR, etc.
Mitra’s performance is comparable to Japan’s ASIMO, which took about 17 years.
The robot has intuitive capabilities to carry forward conversations on its own.
Mitra also features several mechanical capabilities, making it suitable to be embraced by many other industries.
Kempa
If you visit Bengaluru’s Kempegowda Airport, you will be greeted by a special humanoid assistant named Kempa. Kempa was developed by Sirena Technology, entirely in Bengaluru, especially for the Kempegowda International Airport. It answers all queries and guides passengers about flight schedules and check-in details in English and Kannada.
The humanoid was revealed by Priyank Kharge, Minister of state of IT and Tourism. Kempa said, “I’m designed for deployment at the Kempegowda International Airport where I can be of assistance to you for flight-related queries, suggest places to visit in Karnataka, or simply entertain you on a conversation with artificial intelligence over a cup of coffee.”
Shalu is one of the few artificial intelligence-based humanoid robots which is a social, homemade, and multilingual educational robot. It was developed by Dinesh Kunwar Patel, a computer science teacher at Kendra Vidyalaya, and is made up entirely of waste material, aluminum, plastic, cardboard, wood, and newspaper. Shalu gained recognition during the Covid-19 pandemic by spreading the message, “Wear your mask, keep physical distance and follow government guidelines.” The humanoid is a part of Pratishtha World Records Book under the title “World’s First Artificially Intelligent Social and Educational Humanoid Robot made up of waste material.” It is also mentioned in the International Book of Records and the Indian Book of Records.
AcYut
AcYut is a series of humanoid robots created by a team of undergraduate students at the Centre for Robotics and Intelligent Systems, BITS Pilani. It is India’s first “indigenously designed autonomous humanoid robot” recognized and sponsored by BITSAA and DEITY. AcYut is equipped with RGB camera vision and spatial orientation capabilities similar to the vestibular functions in human bodies. The team behind AcYut is yet involved in enhancing motor, sensory, and cognitive abilities by researching new ones and developing existing technologies.
Rashmi
Developed by Ranjit Shrivastava, a software programmer, Rashmi is a lip-syncing humanoid robot. Rashmi was unveiled in August 2018, two years after being developed, and is famous for its facial expressions and neck movements. It can showcase around 83 facial expressions and can converse in four languages: Hindi, Marathi, English, and Bhojpuri. Technically, Rashmi is designed on four layers covering APIs, AI, speech recognition, and interpretation of conversational moods. Its eyes feature a built-in camera with 3D mapping and OCR capabilities.
Vyommitra
Vyommitra, or Space Friend, is a female-look-alike humanoid robot developed by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) to onboard Gaganyaan on its mission. It is spacefaring with the crewed orbital spacecraft and will also be a part of uncrewed experimental missions. ISRO’s experimental missions do not involve onboarding animals or humans in certain space flights. It plans to fly humanoids for their weightlessness and understanding capabilities in long-term space missions. Vyommitra is a venture along the same direction, specifically to perform microgravity experiments, monitor parameters, and assist astronauts in crewed missions. As per its technical specifications, it can conduct switch panel operations, control the environment’s air pressure, and provide warnings when pressure changes.
Eagle 2.0
Eagle 2.0 is an artificial intelligence-driven humanoid teaching assistant at the Indus International School, Bengaluru. Over two months, it was entirely developed by an in-house team of developers, graphic designers, and programmers trained in robot development in China. This team took two years to create a humanoid robot from the ground up. Eagle 2.0 is a part of a pilot project undertaken by the school that aims to develop humanoid teaching assistants that can handle a classroom in the teacher’s absence. Three humanoids have been developed for ₹8 lakhs each, and continuous efforts and research are being made to develop their capabilities further. Eagle can currently assist professor Murali Subramanian in Grade 8 B’s physics class.
IRA
Launched by HDFC bank, IRA is an interactive humanoid robot at the Koramangala branch, Bengaluru. The humanoid was developed in collaboration with Invento Makerspaces and Senseforth Technologies. The prototype introduced was IRA 1.0, employed at the Kamala Mills Branch in Mumbai. IRS 2.0, the advanced version of IRA 1.0, aims to enhance the user experience for visiting customers and interacting with them to answer their queries. The idea behind employing a humanoid robot in public dealing is to make people realize the importance of upskilling technologies in all sectors.
Zafira
Zafira is a voice-activated female-look-like humanoid robot that greets customers at a garment store in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli district. Zafi Robots developed the artificial intelligence-based concept around the Covid-19 pandemic to aid frontline workers in curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus. Zafira is equipped with AI to track customer details, check their temperatures, dispense sanitizer, and monitor them as per social distancing norms. Zafira sends all daily reports to the owners via email.
Robocop
Robocop is a humanoid police robot developed by H-Bots, an AI startup based in Hyderabad. Entirely designed and developed in India, it is India’s first Robocop. It is responsible for supporting law enforcement and traffic rules in the region. It is a life-size humanoid with cameras and ultrasonic sensors to track proximity and protect officers, malls, airports, signal stations, and other public spaces. Robocop is also capable of detecting and diffusing bombs.
China’s Xinhua News Agency has introduced an AI anchor modeled after its regular news presenter Zhang Zhao. The anchor was debuted at the World Internet Conference on Thursday in the country’s eastern Zhejiang Province.
The English-speaking AI news anchor learns with the help of live videos and can tirelessly work 24 hours daily. The company claims that the news anchor learns from live broadcasting videos by himself and has the ability to read texts like a professional news anchor.
During the first broadcast, the anchor said that the development of the media industry needs continuous innovation and deep integration with advanced international technologies.
“I will work tirelessly to keep you informed, as texts will be typed into my system uninterrupted. I look forward to bringing you brand new news experiences,” it added.
Xinhua has developed the robot anchor in partnership with Sogou.com, the Chinese search engine. According to the news agency, the AI anchor was developed through machine learning to simulate the gestures, voice, and facial movements like real-life broadcasters, instead of a stiff robot.
The project announced by MK Stalin, Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, this year will benefit one lakh students yearly. Moreover, the public visiting the library at respective locations can use VR devices for learning.
In Tamil Nadu, 76 libraries operate under the Directorate of Public Libraries, with a total of two libraries per district. In this regard, 152 virtual devices have been provided to 76 libraries, making it two virtual devices per library.
Also, 155 librarians at the libraries have been given detailed training pertaining to the use of these devices wherever these devices are located.
Through this initiative, students can easily understand many subjects like astronomy, the deep sea, body functions, animal biology, dense forests, scientific experiments, biology, archaeology, and more. In Chennai, the virtual reality facility is available at two locations, i.e., the Bharathidasan Salai and Ashok Nagar libraries.
“Currently, the VR device has been set up at Anna Centenary Library, and it will be made available for students and the public in December. The student coming to the library must read a book, answer some questions asked by the staff, and then may use the VR devices for virtual learning,” said an Anna Centenary librarian.
