The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay held a convocation ceremony in a virtual environment by creating unique 3D avatars for more than 2,000 of its students due to gathering restrictions imposed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
IIT Bombay, one of the top technical universities in India, sent off its virtual graduates on Sunday. The students’ avatars received their diplomas and medals after walking across a 3D environment designed to look like a stage.
Princeton University’s Duncan Haldane, joint winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize, was an invited chief guest at the ceremony, and was also represented by a computer model.
Judging by the graduates’ reactions it doesn’t seem that the Covid-19 restrictions have soured the moment for them. Some students even referred to their simplistic 3D avatars as “cool.”
“India is poised to stake its claim as one of the world’s great innovation hubs,” said another guest of honor, American investor Stephen A. Schwarzman.
The ceremony was designed as more than a mere animation of the graduation process. IIT Bombay virtually connected the students with their friends and parents and organized small group viewings from hostels.
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