She believed she could, so she did. Her confidence has no competition. With a strong and determined force she is living her dream and also turning them into reality. Not all girls are made up of sugar, spice and everything nice, but some are badass right in the every blood cell of their body. Rachana Bagde is a rightful example for this. Victorious, independent and fearless is what she is. With a positive and firm foundation she has built her own empire striving through struggles with the right courage.
Forget headsets, you can now experience a virtual reality tour of a hotel suite through your hand gestures. Here’s a possibly one-of-a-kind integration of Gesture Recognition Technology and Virtual Reality, built to experience VR content without hardware. This unique technology product has been developed by Rachana Bagde. G for Gestures, as she named it, was originally a college project idea attempting to achieve the concept of controlling a virtual environment through hand gestures. “After the successful implementation of the concept, I learnt about the huge potential of this technology,” shares Rachana. She recently launched her first full-fledged VR product for five star hotel suites called ‘The Hotel Suite Virtual Tour’.
1) Rachana, tell us something about your background and college?
I am Rachana Bagde from Nagpur. I am currently pursuing my Integrated masters from Indian Institute of Information and Technology, Gwalior. My areas of interest are Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence. During my winter internship at a Pune-based startup, I came across the use cases of hand gestures to control a robotic hand. “I worked with them for one month. In the meantime, I kept exploring gesture technology. And after few months, I came up with the idea of using it with the virtual world.”
2) What is G for Gestures all about ?
When you realize there is some kind of energy within yourself that makes you restless and you can’t sit idle, you just go on and chase your dreams. I felt the same after I had this project idea –G for Gestures which is a virtual reality venture, initially started as a project and later turned into a business. It is first of its kind, not only in India but globally too. It allows users to control the virtual world through their hand gestures! It is an integration of gesture recognition and virtual reality. Here a body sensor is used and when the user makes some gestures it is totally magical. We launched our first product for five star hotel suites, “The Hotel Suite Virtual Tour”. User can explore the interior, rooms, travel through corridors and get the essence of the hotel and decide where to stay there rather than settling with just what the hotel staff provides.
3) How did this idea strike you ?
During my winter internship, I came across hand gestures for controlling robotic hand. Back home, I pitched my project idea to some investors. An angel investor, Jatin Shah, based out of Melbourne decided to fund my project on a condition that it should be turned into a company after successful implementation of the project and we did that. This is how, I started with my idea which is now a successful business venture.
4) Who all are a part of this business venture and what is your target ?
Ours is a small but an energetic team. We have two interns and three freelancers working with us for the 3 Dimensional content creation. I handle the programming and coding part most of the times. All the others help with the business analytics and other aspects of the project. It’s a well managed and handled team. Actually, when you have the same vision, everything automatically falls into place. our target is to establish G for Gestures as a well known virtual reality based brand across the globe so that the products like these actually start getting more market presence.
5) What kind of challenges do you face and how do you handle it ?
When we talk about the Indian Market, accepting virtual reality takes some time in order to convince the customers about our product. I knew it when I took the challenge that it takes time for easy acceptance. With every challenge our responsibility grows and we are up for it. “The only thing that is keeping a lot of users in India from VR experiences is the necessity of hardware. Here’s where I thought I could make a difference. Our solution includes a body sensor along with VR content. Unlike other gesture technology ventures, our product is flexible and easy to use. As the user stands in front of the sensor, he is able to easily calibrate the product with his natural hand movements,” adds Rachana.
6) Do you find it difficult to manage both your studies and your start up ?
At times it becomes quite hectic but I don’t find it stressful. I completely believe studying is important and everyday you find some interesting insights. G for Gestures is my decision and I love working on it. Everything becomes quite manageable when you love your work.
7) Who all are your competition and what are your future plans ?
The closest work of a similar nature is being done by TheFluidMotion, although they don’t allow the user to travel in the virtual world, but to just control the virtual world through hand gestures in a basic manner. “We aim at offering the technology in various domains with a creative approach. We are also working on its applications in interactive product launches, automotive displays and advertising for now, along with the entertainment sector,” shares Rachana. Future plans for G for Gestures is to become the best Virtual Reality service provider in India by extending product reach to as many domains as possible, allowing users to see the world through their hand gestures.
Visit her official website www.gforgestures.com
