In a bid to engage and build awareness among first-time voters and those with disabilities, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has partnered with Hyderabad-based T-Hub startup Virtual Raasta to use virtual reality to give first-time voters and persons with disabilities information on how to vote.
Through this initiative, GHMC hopes to increase in the voting percentage through the use of new technology. Launched on Tuesday, these VR-based polling booths use VR to give first time voters an immersive experience with narration on how to vote.
How it works
Each booth is equipped with a few sets of Google Cardboards. All you do is hold it up to your eyes and experience a brightly colored 3D animated world that takes you through each step of voting, from arriving at the polling booth, registering yourself, casting your vote and then exiting.
Holding the glasses to your eyes, VR helps you become the character in the VR video, standing in line, walking into the hall, meeting the various people there and casting your vote. The narration comes in the voter’s language of your choice – Telugu, Urdu and English – to ensure they understand every step with maximum clarity.
“The highly immersive nature of VR technology has a winning advantage, and that is how it can keep a hold of a viewer’s attention through every important detail that has to be conveyed. The first-time voter will have a chance for a virtual experience before the election day in a very vivid and entertaining way, that is sure to leave a deep impression of what to expect on the Election Day,” Prem Kumar Vislawath said in a statement.
Virtual Raasta is a Hyderabad-based startup launched in July 2018 and is also a part of startup engine T-Hub. Founded by Sai Kumar, Prem and Naren, it was carved out of their company Raasta Studios, which now runs three brands – Raasta Studios, Amplify and Virtual Raasta under the parent company Raasta Studios Private Limited.
Virtual Raasta uses a combination of AR, VR and 360-degree videos for produce immersive videos catering to education, healthcare, retail, real estate and a number of other fields.