It is safe to say that in today’s day and age, almost every task we do has an association with digital technology. And this claim becomes a lot more evident with what we experienced during the global Coronavirus pandemic and its lockdowns.
In the space of a year, not only did the world see a massive leap in digital adoption but simultaneously also the super-fast nature of technological evolution and advancement.
With mostly everyone relying on digital technology during that period, it was bound to progress quickly. The release and constant development of effective and efficient products, software, and applications to serve the needs and demands of people are now forced to adopt these new technological routines like remote working or work-from-home and distance learning.
One such specific technological advancement that stands out particularly in these past 2 years has been Augmented Reality (AR). Now AR is nothing new, it was introduced way back in 1968 by Ivan Sutherland, an American computer scientist when he created a prototype of the first head-mounted AR device but this technology was really brought to life after the release of the famous mobile game Pokemon Go in 2016 and it was then that people and technologists began to see its real potential and capacity.
Augmented Reality in simple terms is the combination of real and virtual worlds and the real-time interaction between both the real and virtual entities present.
The technology lets people superimpose digital data and images over a real-world environment and this feature became even more beneficial during the lock-downs.
With the pandemic changing the landscape of consumer behavior as people turned to online marketing, businesses and brands began to instill this technology into their marketing strategy.
This propelled the AR technology to make massive strides in the market and it is predicted to have a whopping estimated market value of $50 billion by 2024. Furthermore, a statistic put out by Statista, portraying that by 2021 there will be an estimated 1.96 billion mobile AR users worldwide, opened up a brilliant business venture for companies and entrepreneurs.
About Pinakulo
One such start-up has been Pinakulo. Launched in 2020 by the students of Jagran Lakecity University, this SaaS-based product development start-up is on a mission “to help everyone explore and use Augmented reality to bring their world to life.”
Situated in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Pinakulo is aiming to develop AR-based content creation products where anyone can use to create AR-based content.
The start-up very recently launched its first mobile application on the google play store called piAR and even though it is currently in beta and early access the app looks to introduce people to the world of AR.
The app allows you to interact with virtual entities in a real-world environment through your smartphone, record, and then share the interaction over social media. Another feature of the app is the AR model builder that lets you scan any 3d object and convert it into a 3d digital model.
Even though they currently focus mainly on AR, Pinakulo’s vision has always been to build and develop the next generation of tech products to help both consumers and businesses solve mission-critical problems.
Since they were founded as a private company, Pinakulo has looked to provide people with the needed education on the new generation of technology. They began providing courses and soon used social media platforms to bring about awareness of various technological advancements by posting informative content. They put out an extensive course on “GenZ” and have been active when it comes to conducting workshops not only on various technological-related themes but also on entrepreneurship and start-up building.
With an extremely driven and determined team at its core, this start-up has a clear aim and as the AR market continues to grow rapidly, Pinakulo plans to continue to dwell into the possibilities of creating applications and games that can help people enjoy AR and also further build a whole catalogue of 3D objects and models by creating it themselves and also by building partnerships with other designers and creators.
Moreover, with the founders Akshat Bahety and Abhishree Kulshreshth, themselves being student entrepreneurs, Pinakulo looks to encourage student entrepreneurship and in their own words point out how the Jagran Lakecity University has been an integral part in the creation and running of their now established entrepreneurship venture.
Both of them recall how the faculty of the university has been a support and motivation and point out the impactful workshops conducted by the university with Industry leaders and experts which enabled them to have a better idea of the market and entrepreneurship.
Jagran Lakecity University’s Contribution
The Jagran Lakecity University has played an important part in the success of Pinakulo, and other student-run start-ups.
To further nurture tech based student startups, JLU has put together a fund of INR 25 Lakh, which will provided to Entrepreneurial ventures budding from the JLU ecosystem. As a result of initiatives like these JLU was the first university in Madhya Pradesh to receive a Diamond rating from QS I-Gauge, as well as four consecutive “University of the Year” awards.
Jagran Lakecity University is a place that truly nurtures ideas.
By-
Gurshan Singh
Content Manager,
Communications and Alumni Relations Department
Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal