Packing batteries with more punch
Indian researchers are working on cells that can store more energy, last longer
A priest tries out a VR headset at Durgaparameshwari Temple in Mangaluru
A Bengaluru-based start-up has come up with a new way to appease the Gods.
With websites and religious trusts enabling live-streaming of poojas, Kalpnik, the start-up, is giving virtual reality (VR) headsets to people to help them perform, attend religious rituals.
So with a smartphone and an internet connection, a person can get a 360-degree ‘live darshan’ of Siddhi Vinayak or a special sermon at a church.
“The objective is to recreate for the devotee, the experience of being physically present at the event,” said co-founder John Kuruvilla, who was MD of GenNext Ventures, a Reliance Industries-sponsored fund. The app, called VR Devotee, is available for Android and iOS users. Further, the VR headset has to be bought, which the start-up is looking to price at ₹150. Kuruvilla said the need for such an app came about when his and co-founder Ashwini Garg’s parents couldn’t visit religious places due to physical ailments.
“When my mother said she wanted to visit Parumala Church (in Kerala), but was unable to do so, that got me thinking on how that experience can be replicated for people like her,” Kuruvilla said. When a similar problem was expressed by Garg, Kuruvilla started thinking about augmented and virtual reality technology, which, among other things, is used by the US military to train soldiers and in flight training schools as well as games.
The start-up has so far distributed 50 such headsets and live-streamed from 15 religious institutions such as ISKCON temple at Chowpatty, Mumbai, and Karmanghat Hanuman temple in Hyderabad. Kuruvilla claimed 50,000 app downloads in a couple of months is a testimony to the under-served demand for such services.
Investors also have followed suit. In January, Kalpnik raised $500,000 in angel funding, led by Venture Catalysts India’s first incubator, with investments from Rajan Anandan, Vice-President and MD, Google India, amongst others. The revenue model of the firm will be built around making the app available on subscription basis. “We plan to charge around ₹25 for specific rituals such as Mahamastakabhisheka, Raghavendra Saptaaha Mahotsavam in Udipi, and others,” Kuruvilla said.
Indian researchers are working on cells that can store more energy, last longer
To fix a broken bone, doctors often harvest another bone from the patient’s body or from someone else. It ...
Superconductors from IIScScientists at IISc Bangalore have invented a device with a nanocrystal structure ...
Engineering and construction giant L&T has won a licence from the Council of Scientific & Industrial ...
Option price falls more than it rises for the same change in underlying
A long-term vacation here is worth a check-in
The fund delivered a return of 31.5% in 2020 compared with the category’s 15.5%
Care Health Insurance’s new rider offers no great benefit. We review its pros and cons
In these isolated times when people yearn for a slice of the familiar, amateur and professional chefs are ...
India is ready with two vaccines to beat the deadliest virus of recent times. The immunisation drive, however, ...
The storming of the Capitol on January 6 could be the prelude to yet another chapter in the US’s long and ...
‘Now It’s Come to Distances’ examines the defining moments of the past year — the Shaheen Bagh protests, ...
Digital is becoming dominant media, but are companies and their ad agencies transforming fast enough to make a ...
Slow Network, promoted by journalist-lyricist Neelesh Misra, pushes rural products and experiences
How marketers can use the traditional exchange of festive wishes meaningfully
For Fortune, a brand celebrating its 20th anniversary, it was a rude shock to become the butt of social media ...
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...
Please Email the Editor