In this digital age, technology has a transformational effect on the way people live and work. Slowly and steadily, it has been making strides in revolutionizing methods of teaching and learning. The traditional blackboards and two-dimensional textbook images have been replaced by the technology-enabled curriculum and smart boards long back. As we are moving into the next generation of media transformation, AR, VR, and MR are becoming the buzzwords in education technology. These technologies can be used to bridge between digital and realworld experiences and provide more hands-on learning. Having a keen eye on technology, Subbarao Siddabattula (Co-Founder & CEO), Ilangovel Thulasimani (Co-Founder & CTO), and CharuNoheria (Co-Founder & CBO) noticed how these new technologies can be deployed at a large scale to disrupt the way education is imparted and consumed.

At the same time, they noticed a demand from education institutes for a more visual experience for teaching and demand from students who have become more visual consumers. Also, another often brushed aside need of the hour is requirement of practical education, which results in pushing retention rates(after 2 weeks of content consumption) beyond 90 per cent.

As they scanned the market, the trio noticed that there were no products in the market catering to these needs and established 3RD-FLIX Visual Effects in 2018. 3RD-FLIX is an

immersive experiences company using the latest in visualization technology to make delivery of education highly effective. They are launching first-of-its-kind cross platform product under the brand "Practically" which enables delivery of experiential content at scale. The app can be found on the app store and play store starting April 2020.

"AR, VR has mostly been applied to services space so far due to multiple reasons ­ the technology through to stream has to be engineered, it required heavy investment in modeling. We mitigated these challenges. We developed the tech in-house to stream the virtual models, and this is one of a kind in the industry. We are awaiting a patent for the same. We invested for a few years in developing a large repository of models. As a result, we navigated the challenges," says Subbarao.

3RDFLIX has an in-house team of 200 staff comprising of top technologists, academicians, designers, and artists to develop visually appealing content delivered on robust and scalable technology

Promising Education Apps
One of its kind, the app, `Practically' delivers 3D stereoscopic immersive video content, 3D simulations, AR modules, and five levels of assessments. An assortment of these is called a learning module, and numerous learning modules are seamlessly integrated into an application. The application can be used by teachers in school and by students at home on any device. Schools can use the experiential content along with other teaching material to ex-plain a particular topic or concept in the classroom. Practically's rich-in-content resources, especially the non-teacher led immersive and fully animated videos, simulations, and AR models act as interactive tools to bridge the gap in areas that are challenging for students to understand, thus offering them a platform for interactive learning. The videos are on average five minutes long, covering concepts in-depth. Practically offers an engagement model for schools for them to be able to use its content in classrooms absolutely free!

Heading the Game
3RDFLIX has an in-house team of 200 staff comprising of top technologists, academicians, designers, and artists to develop visually appealing content delivered on robust and scalable technology. Besides, the company works with numerous vendors to ensure the proper cinematic experience of the content. 3RDFLIX also spends on R&D to continuously keep its team members abreast of technology. "The journey so far has been exciting and overwhelming for us. We have been growing more than 100 percent for years since inception, both in revenue and user numbers. The road ahead is exciting with the launch of "Practically". We target to penetrate the world market thereafter," he concludes.