Microsoft on Monday announced the formal opening of the ‘Garage’ here.
The Garage is a platform for Microsoft employees that supports and encourages a culture of experimentation, working together across organisations and technology to explore ideas and build prototypes, adding value to existing products, the company said.
The facility at the Microsoft India Development Centre here was inaugurated by Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao.
The 8,000 sq ft facility in the city is the second largest such unit globally for Microsoft after the one at its headquarters in Redmond, US.
The Garage programme has been in India since 2014 but a dedicated space has been provided now, Microsoft Garage India Director Reena Dayal said.
She however declined to comment on the investment for the facility.
It has three dedicated lab sections — a Hub for hackathons and workshops, a Makerspace and an Advanced Makerspace with electronic workbench, 3D printers, laser cutter, PCB milling machine for creating prototypes; a reality room dedicated to working in the space of augmented reality (AR) virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality applications and dedicated space and equipment for doing work on Deep Learning, it was stated.
“The Garage enables employees to bring to life innovative ideas and solutions. The Garage program in India will be a connector to bring together people across roles, skills, and experience to lend their passion to create solutions unique to this market,” said Anil Bhansali, Corporate Vice-President, Cloud & Enterprise, Managing Director, Microsoft India (R&D) Private Limited.