IIT Bhubaneswar, Indian Army's SDD sign MoU to strengthen AR, VR technology

Bhubaneswar, Oct 15 (PTI) Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhubaneswar and Simulator Development Division (SDD) of Indian Army have signed an MoU to collaborate on advanced research, training, and innovation in Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, and other emerging technologies.

The MoU was signed by Brigadier G S Bedi, Commandant, SDD, Secunderabad, and Prof Dinakar Pasla, Dean (Sponsored Research & Industrial Consultancy), IIT Bhubaneswar, in an online mode on Wednesday.

The partnership aims to harness academic and technological excellence for enhancing defence capabilities, simulation-based training, and innovation-driven applications.

As part of the agreement, IIT Bhubaneswar will provide academic and research support through its VARCOE (Virtual and Augmented Reality Centre of Excellence), while SDD will facilitate practical exposure and collaborative development projects in defence simulation and technology prototyping.

The collaboration encompasses short-term training and certification programmes, internships for IIT Bhubaneswar's students, access to facilities, and joint innovation initiatives such as hackathons and ideation challenges.

Prof Dinakar said the partnership will strengthen IIT Bhubaneswar's commitment to contributing towards national defence and technological self-reliance, while Brigadier Bedi noted that the MoU would foster synergy between defence and academia, promoting indigenous technology solutions aligned with the Army's operational needs.

The MoU will remain in force for five years, enabling long-term collaboration and knowledge exchange between the two institutions in frontier areas of technology development and application. PTI AAM AAM RG