Reliance Jio to set up VR lab in Mumbai; hires AI team

After having created a disruption in the telecom industry with its 4G services, Reliance Jio is speculated to roll out its broadband service in the near future. It looks like the company will not stop with this as there are claims that Jio is gearing up to set up a VR lab in Mumbai. The VR lab will be set up in collaboration with Whistling Woods International (WWI), which is a film, media arts and communication institute in Mumbai.

As per Livemint, this lab is dedicated to serve VR and AR technologies. Called Whistling Woods Jio VR Lab, it will be inaugurated by Akash Ambani this month. The Vice President, Business Development, Whistling Woods, Chaitanya Chinchlikar confirmed that the lab is being set up. And, it might take a few more months to get it started. He pointed out that this lab is built to create first-generation VR-based filmmakers in the media and film industry of India.

He added that Jio has given three years of commitment to realize this vision. The telco's JioPhone launch at the annual general meeting last year was broadcast in 360-degree VR. Reliance Jio and UK-based Birmingham City University were in plans to launch a VR app this year. The company also has a lot of bandwidth to help in speeding up VR projects while reducing the latency times.

AI team by Reliance Jio

In another report by Livemint, Reliance Jio is claimed to have hired a few senior people to build the AI team, which will work under Akash Ambani. It is said that AI will be put to use in multiple cases. The team will be set up either in Bengaluru or Hyderabad, claims the report. It is looking for people who can work on blockchain and machine learning, it adds.

The company launched JioInteract, an AI-based platform for brand engagement and movie promotion. This platform will listen to the users' question and respond to them. The auto-learning feature helps in improving the answering accuracy.

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Given that AI, VR and AR are becoming the mainstream technologies, it looks like Jio is all set to take a dive into these segments at the nascent stage itself.