Immersive Technologies

Key Highlights:

• India is expanding Immersive Technologies across education, industry, and creative sectors.
• The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting promotes the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality (AVGC-XR) ecosystem.
• Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), Mumbai, was established as a National Centre of Excellence to strengthen creative education.
• Union Budget 2026-27 allocated ₹250 crore for AVGC Content Creator Labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges.
• India's immersive technology market is projected to reach USD 7,818.7 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 29.8%.
• ESTIC-2026, India’s Emerging Science, Technology and Innovation Conclave, will feature "Immersive Tech: Generative XR and Spatial Computing".

Detailed Insights:

• India's strong digital ecosystem, including platforms like UPI and Aadhaar, is transitioning towards more interactive and experiential immersive platforms.
• Immersive Technologies like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) enable new ways to engage with digital content.
• These technologies are transforming education through virtual simulations, healthcare through immersive training, and tourism through virtual exploration.
• The AVGC Promotion Task Force, constituted by the MIB in April 2022, coordinates efforts for the sector's growth through public-private collaboration.
• IICT offers 18 courses in AVGC-XR, building skilled talent for the sector.
• The GENESIS scheme (MeitY, 2022) supports tech startups, including 84 AR/VR startups, in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.
• WaveX is an MIB media-tech startup accelerator and incubator supporting AVGC-XR and other emerging media technologies.
• States like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat have specific AVGC-XR Policies and initiatives.
• Digital Twin technology is being used in infrastructure planning, such as the "Sangam: Digital Twin" initiative and the Varanasi Urban 3D Spatial Planning project.
• The growth of immersive technologies aligns with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 for a technologically empowered and self-reliant India.

Scientific/Technical Concepts Involved:

• Immersive Technologies: Technologies creating interactive, engaging, and realistic digital experiences by combining physical and digital worlds.
• Extended Reality (XR): An umbrella term encompassing Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR).
• Virtual Reality (VR): Creates a completely digital environment that surrounds the user, primarily engaging sight and sound.
• Augmented Reality (AR): Adds digital information to the user’s existing physical surroundings, keeping the real-world environment visible.
• Mixed Reality (MR): Combines physical and digital worlds in an interactive environment, allowing digital objects to interact with physical surroundings.
• Digital Twin: A virtual model of a real-world object, system, or place, using real-world data to monitor and test changes.