Hon'ble Minister of Culture and Vice- Chairperson GSDS Shri Prahlad Singh Patel along with Hon'ble Minister of Health and Family Welfare , Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harshvardhan inaugurated the 360° Video-Immersive Experience in Circular Dome and Digital Exhibition on Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Darshan on Friday, November 6, 2020. Secretary DST and Secretary MOC and JS MOC along with other dignitaries graced the occasion. Director GSDS, Shri Dipanker Shri Gyan welcomed the dignitaries in the premises.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (VR & AR) are very powerful technology tools that could get the message of Gandhiji to the youth of India. To commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Department of Science & Technology used these tools and developed a 360o video-immersive experience in a circular dome at Gandhi Darshan, Rajghat, in association with Ministry of Culture. Ministry of Culture provided the required space of 15m x 15m at Gandhi Darshan for the purpose.
The project was aimed to create a digital and virtual reality (VR) experience based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi. In order to provide the video-immersive experience, four films on the life of Mahatma Gandhi (both Hindi & English versions) each of 10 minute duration with the following titles have been produced:-
• Mohan to Mahatma
• The Last Phase
• Freedom from Fear
• Gandhi Forever and a combined film of all four
Content from Gandhi archives such as photos, videos, audio interviews, etc. were processed into digital formats to make the films.
An 8 Meter Dome has been installed at Gandhi Smriti, Raj Ghat having capabilities of 3D Immersive experience of Gandhi life events. The Dome which has a capacity of accommodating 40 viewers (seated) orabout 60 (standing).
After completing the testing, calibration & fine-tuning for public viewing, the films have been integrated with the Dome installed at Gandhi Darshan, Rajghat.
The project has been implemented by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi