CES 2023: AjnaXR – The First Mixed Reality Headset from India
The Mumbai-based startup, AjnaLens, is making waves at this year’s CES show in Las Vegas with its mixed reality (MR) headset, the AjnaXR. This innovative device is designed to focus on learning and training, with an aim to target more enterprises and educational institutes.
The company has even won the CES Innovation Award as an honoree, proving its worth in the technology industry.
Revolutionizing Learning and Training
The AjnaXR headset is designed to be used to virtually experience complex scenarios, where training employees can be a challenge. The company hopes to create a realistic scenario for industries and education, and even to help with training for soft skills using this device and platform.
The CTO of AjnaLens, Abhishek Tomar, explains to IndianExpress (on a call) that learning in the phygital (a mix of the real and virtual world) has a lot more benefits and advantages, especially in more complicated scenarios.
Tomar gives the example of operating complex machinery where learning is better and faster when one visualizes it.
Other examples include mining and automobile companies where the margin for error is less than zero and often employees have to be trained regularly to ensure they are up to date with operating heavy machinery.
Further, training with mixed reality headsets can significantly bring down the costs.
Advanced Technology
The AjnaXR headset comes with support for eye and hand tracking, 5K resolution, and is lightweight at 390 grams. It is powered by Qualcomm’s own XR2 chipset, which is designed for AR and VR headsets, and runs the company’s own AjnaVidya learning platform.
The company has previously designed Augmented Reality (AR) headsets for the Indian army as well.
Tomar, who started this company with his co-founders Pankaj Raut (CEO) and Abhijit Patil (CFO) in 2014, pointed out that they focused on the weight of the product to ensure it is a comfortable fit. It is also designed to ensure that those who wear spectacles can use them comfortably for long hours.
Building an Ecosystem
The company is also trying to build an ecosystem for its product, which will be critical in ensuring more mass appeal. Eventually, the goal is to reach end consumers and to encourage any kind of learning, be it cooking or baking, or even meditation.
Tomar admitted that such headsets are yet to gain mass acceptance, though he is confident that the pace will continue to grow. “The tech challenge will be there, of course. All the work done on smartphones is also going to help this future technology.
Glasses need a lot of sensors and other components which are still in process. The journey is still challenging but it will be faster compared to previous technology evolutions that we have seen,” he said.
Final Thoughts
The AjnaXR is an innovative product that has the potential to revolutionize the way we learn and train. It’s lightweight, comfortable, and comes with advanced technology that makes it ideal for training employees in various industries.
Although the price of the AjnaXR is yet to be finalized, it is expected to cost around Rs 1 lakh or above.
