KOCHI: Picking the perfect abode is an ordeal at a time when every square inch is weighed in gold. Right from house-hunting and price-fixing to wooing the broker, the process is exhausting. But now, realtors are inviting the customer for a virtual reality tour to get a real experience of the villa/apartment. Such is the impact of the technological shift.
Social media/mobile, internet of things (IoT), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) will be the key game changers among major future technologies. In tune with the sweeping changes in technology, the most e-literate state is shifting gears. The Kerala Start-up Mission has decided to vigorously promote more proposals based on future technologies. This will help generate more jobs.
“Our IT policy too emphasises the need for promoting future technologies,” head of Kerala Start-up Mission Saji Gopinath told Express. “Realising the potential, we are well planned to adapt to the changing job scenario. For instance, nearly 20 IoT-based start-ups are already registered under the Start-up Mission. There are a few AR- and VR-based start-ups too.
We are receiving more proposals. Last week, we received an idea from an architectural firm for a VR start-up,” he said.
Realising the future will be ruled by IoT, the mission has started capability breeding and creation of a knowledge base in colleges. Incidentally, a report published by NASSCOM last week titled ‘Jobs and Skills: The imperative to reinvent and disrupt’ also asserted all future jobs across sectors would require technical skills, said Gopinath.
The report said employees and employers would need to prepare themselves to adapt to the changing job environment. The technological shifts driving the future world are social media/mobile, cloud computing, big data analysis, internet of things, block-chain, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, robotic process automation and 3D printing, it said. These key sectors will collectively bring in 55 new job roles, the report said.
“When we started in 2015, we were apprehensive whether people will catch up. Initially, 50 per cent of business came from gaming. Soon, we signed up with an automobile showroom and a realty developer. In the next 3-4 years, a paradigm shift will take place with AR/VR becoming a game changer,” said Varun Priyan, founder of Kochi-based VRNXT - the first startup in Kerala to focus on VR/AR.