Expressnews
Meynikara, a Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) startup, based out of Chennai, has launched Meta Kalvi, Tamil Nadu’s first VR Lab for excellence in education, at 3 Government Schools, 2 Corporation schools in Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni Assembly constituency, in the city.
First in the country, the launch of the educational VR Lab took place in a shared 3D virtual environment, called Metaverse, with chief guests: Thiru Udhayanidhi Stalin, MLA, Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni Assembly constituency, Thiru Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, Minister of School Education, Thiru Dayanidhi Maran, Member of Parliament, wearing headsets along with the students, and entering a virtual high-tech school, created exclusively for the event, and inaugurating the lab.
The metaverse featured the virtual presence of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Dr. Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi as well as the current Hon’ble Chief Minister Thiru M.K. Stalin. Special invitees who participated in the event included Thiru. Palavakkam D Viswanathan, Chairman – Standing Committee (Education), Greater Chennai Corporation, Thiru. N. Chitrarasu, Chairman – Standing Committee (Works), Greater Chennai Corporation, Thiru. Marxs, Chief Educational Officer.
Virtual reality (VR) in Education has opened access to new teaching and learning tools in recent years. VR gives rise to a new pedagogy for teaching complex scientific concepts. Countries like the USA, France, and China have successfully implemented VR labs in their schools to provide students with a holistic and imaginative learning experience. Considering India’s demographic dividend, the potential appears to be unmatched and unparalleled. The only challenge lies in making this technological adoption accessible to masses. With this in mind, Meynikara has joined hands with the Tamil Nadu government to bring a techno-educational revolution via “Meta Kalvi” across all the government schools of Tamil Nadu.
Launched as a CSR initiative of Meynikara, Meta Kalvi VR Lab, provides a Virtual Reality Learning Method (VRLM) for key topics and ideas in Maths and Science subjects in 6-8th grade Tamil Nadu State Board Samacheer Kalvi syllabus in both English and Tamil language. In a phased manner, Meta Kalvi labs will be made available to many other schools run by the Chennai Corporation, and Tamil Nadu State Government in the city, and other parts of the State, in association with the School Education department. The company will also be adding new topics, subjects for school students of all grades.
Talking about the product, Mr. Raghuraman Ravi, Co-Founder and CEO, Meynikara, said, “VR Labs in schools are meant to provide a holistic and imaginative learning experience for students. Our VRLM is designed to spark imagination; encourage creative thinking, and to provide realistic and memorable educational experiences for students. Meta Kalvi is set to bring in an educational revolution in the Indian education system. Meta Kalvi is the next-gen revolution in the field of education that envisions to revolutionise the learning experience of the students. With the successful launch of Meta Kalvi, Tamil Nadu has set a new milestone of incorporating Virtual Reality labs within its education system. We are aiming to set up VR labs in all government schools in the state. We expect a quick and wide adoption of the technology by private schools as well. We are planning to be frontrunner in promoting VRLM in schools across India.”
Meynikara is determined to make Meta Kalvi affordable for schools and students of all sizes and locations. The company will be training the teachers who will have complete control over how and what contents the students can access. The solution will also provide a dashboard for the teachers to assess the learning progress made by each student.
Meynikara is a pioneering start up in VR and AR space. It is backed by a team of 30+ young minds with a vision of incorporating technological advancements in education, healthcare and industry. The company specialises in extended reality (XR), and is committed to providing the best digital experience for users with end-to-end digital transformation services.
