Introduction

I have been fascinated by the promise of the immersive world of Virtual Reality (VR). Witnessing applications while getting the feeling of myself being inside the experience is electrifying, to say the least. From painting and education to gaming and entertainment, the promise of VR applications transcends creation to consumption. Corporate America has been taking strides toward delivering the promise of VR as they push to usher in what I would call the true third dimension of consumer user experience. As we have seen, Mark Zuckerberg has taken the bold step of renaming and re-positioning Facebook as Meta, hence triggering market momentum towards what he calls the Metaverse. This is building upon Mark’s acquisition of Oculus in 2014. Apple has announced a Mixed Reality headset called Vision Pro that blends augmented reality and introduces spatial computing.

The promise of VR is humongous, given its blend of visual and physiological senses. But despite the billions of dollars being poured into the VR market, we haven’t seen any meaningful adoption of the current headsets. A critical reason that’s always pointed out is the lack of captivating content. To learn what content can be built for the VR market, I asked the film media and entertainment expert, Dr. A. R. Rahman, about his vision for this field and when it can immerse every household on earth. Dr. Rahman is a legendary international Music composer and film producer. He is a winner of two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and six Indian National Film Awards. He is a household name in India, but internationally, he is famous for his Jai Ho song from the movie Slumdog Millionaire; he received two Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for this movie.

Dr. Rahman’s Childhood

As I started the conversation with Dr. Rahman, I asked him how he got introduced to the world of Technology. I feel that the world only knows about his music composition side but not his command over technology. Dr. Rahman chuckled when he reminisced that the musical instruments were his childhood toys. He credits his father for introducing him to technology at a very young age. His father was among the first ones in India to buy a synthesizer in 1974. Unfortunately, his father passed away when he was nine, but he left a legacy of technological instruments for music creation.

AR got his first music computer in December 1984. It came from Singapore and changed his life. Being an introvert, he would feel shy asking others to judge his music compositions. But the computer solved that problem by becoming the judge for him. The technological instruments for music creation liberated Dr. Rahman from being judged for any composition.

His view on technology

Dr. Rahman said technology simplifies things for the creator. Technology allows you to be in your own zone and be yourself. Technology takes care of many things for the creator so that he or she can focus on content creation and creativity. Hence, he stated that technology is an enabler for the creator.

AR elaborates that technology should not be cumbersome. He really emphasized how technology should get rid of the cumbersomeness out there in products. He wants more technologies to be like AI – smart but also smooth and 1-click for the end user. It is this “Applesque” mindset towards technology and his dissatisfaction with some of the current technologies out there that sets AR apart from any music figure. This is why AR comes across as not only a filmmaker and a music guru but also a technologist at heart. This also gives me the feeling that he is already envisioning beyond the current curve of technologies like Generative AI that have fancied the world.

Extrapolating his technology curve, he talked about how he is a firm believer in Metaverse. He is not concerned about the lack of consumer adoption of VR headsets. He believes that good VR content can spur the needed market. He explained that if he starts building VR content, people will come – he explained that’s how he got started in music as well.

Le Musk

AR’s comments about the Metaverse were an excellent segway to understanding why he created the VR movie called Le Musk. He said he wants to usher in a new era of Metaverse content, and he knows that Metaverse cannot become a reality unless there is captivating content created for the consumers. Secondly, he also wants to push himself out of his comfort zone of Indian music composition and expand the boundaries of his creative horizons. I feel Le Musk is also a showcase movie for him to spearhead the Metaverse era.

We also discussed the role of ethical AI in visual and performing arts. He emphasized that we have to create responsible technologies when it comes to AI and Metaverse. He said both technologies have significant potential if used responsibly. For example, he outlined that we can’t take liberty with facial imagery of women and children. So, he feels that AI developed ethically will have to play a core role in the development of Metaverse so that the latter is created for the betterment of society.

Katraar

I asked Dr. Rahman about the motivation behind launching Katraar. I was surprised to hear that he was inspired by web3-based decentralization. He explained that traditionally, it would take millions of dollars to develop technology architectures that would create trust in content. Since credibility and trust are at the cornerstone of the content business, he felt that web3 is perfectly suited to create trust in the content business. He also wants to provide Katraar as a platform for budding artists to make art their primary profession and hence shred the Indian societal condescending attitude towards art as a mainstream profession. Plus, he feels that rich music and art content are running as siloed islands in India and are passed on from generation to generation. He explained how this legacy content in India is now reaching a standstill because the latest generation is less interested in music. He wants to preserve this precious content and also give an outlet to composers, artists, and content developers to showcase their talent. He worries that the content can get lost if we don’t provide a platform for showcasing it. Lastly, he realizes that he can drive X impact by himself, but if he wants to drive a 100X impact, he should take along an army of artists with him.

India for the world

After winning the Oscar awards for composing the world-famous Jai Ho song from the movie Slumdog Millionaire, he started spending more time in Los Angeles. He met several top directors and producers in Hollywood. This was when he started germinating the idea of creating stories from India for the world. He has also been inspired by his long-time friend and the famous director of Elizabeth – Shekhar Kapur. AR felt that if an Indian can direct a mainstream Hollywood film made for a global audience, why can’t more Indians create content for the global era? It reminds me of the current wave in the technology startup sector, where Indian startups are ushering in products made for the Western world, especially in software sectors like AI.

Summary

If Metaverse has to become a reality of mass communications, we need thought leaders and content legends like Dr. Rahman to lead the charge. Companies like Meta and Apple can build the technology platform, but the killer app needs to be generated by content creators. This is similar to the iPhone success story, where Apple by itself released the device with a handful of apps. The developers and content creators started leveraging the iOS platform to develop content and apps that increased the appeal of the device manifold. But the standard developer of today needs to uplevel his/her thinking and add a third dimension to the apps (literally and figuratively).

My conversation with Dr. Rahman was electrifying and lightning at many levels. His childlike love for technology is evident, and I feel it rules whatever he does in the realm of filmmaking and music composition. It is fascinating and inspiring to see his self-belief in creating and ushering in the new era of Metaverse via VR content like Le Musk, as well as the new era of web3 via the Katraar platform. Despite having been in the visual arts and performing industry for over three decades, I feel he has just begun. His journey of blending and developing new technologies is entering a whole new level. Let’s watch what unfolds not just for him but for these sectors via his pioneering efforts.