HYDERABAD: It was an unusual sight at the Google Office at Hyderabad on Wednesday. 50 kids from all over the country arrived here as part of the Summer Camp with at the search engine company’s office. A four-week long campaign by Google, where children between the age group of 13-18 years got an opportunity to participate in a diverse set of assignments by using Google apps like Google Earth, Google Translate and Google Art and Culture. Applicants explored different countries and their cultures.
Speaking about the campaign, Sunita Mohanty, Director, Trust and Safety, Google India said that the main aim of the campaign was not just to keep kids engaged but also teach them about Internet privacy.
“We launched the #SummerWithGoogle campaign to keep kids engaged at home in summer. We wanted to make sure that the time they spent online should be high on learning and inquisitiveness so we worked with our product team to launch four weeks of fun assignments where children explored different countries and simultaneously taught them a bit about privacy and online safety,” she said.
Of the 20,000 applicants across India, 100 were selected for the in-house programme with 50 from Hyderabad and the rest at Gurgaon Google offices. The students got an experience of the technology and culture at Google, including – AI & VR with activities designed using Daydream, Cardboard, and Tilt Brush, a customised tech-powered Rock, Paper, Scissor workshop to experiment art & machine learning with famous artist and YouTube Kids Creator, Rob (Harun Robert), followed by a visit to the Virtual Reality room.
Their parents/ guardians went through a separate workshop, which was aimed at educating them on ‘how to keep their kids safe online’. One of the finalists, M Sreevidya said that this summer camp was the perfect way to beat summer boredom. “It was a perfect mixture of entertainment and knowledge,” she said.