In a first, Assam’s Kamrup district organises trial voting through VR tech

Guwahati: In an effort to ensure maximum voter participation during Phase 3 of the Lok Sabha elections on May 7, Assam’s Kamrup election district, which has been launching a slew of innovative initiatives, on Tuesday (April 30), organised a trial voting using Virtual Reality (VR) technology.

This pioneering initiative, taken up for the first time in India, aims to provide a virtual walk through the actual polling process.

Conducted under the guidance of Kamrup District Commissioner (DC) and District Election Officer (DEO) Keerthi Jalli, the event, held at the district’s Dakshin Kamrup College, was a part of the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) initiative.

Speaking on the occasion, DC Jalli emphasised the significance of utilizing the cutting-edge technology to engage the youth in democracy and make the voting process more captivating.

She described the event as a dry run before the actual voting process, providing participants with a virtual glimpse into a polling station and guiding them through the voting procedure.

The students were given Oculus headsets with jockey sticks to enable them to walk through. With an aim to familiarise people with the actual polling process and alleviate any apprehensions or confusion they may have, the students were made to walk through starting from the entrance of the polling station.

The software, in an interactive female voice, was then directing the user to choose their gender and join the correct queue.

Next, it displayed a menu of documents where the user had to click on which document he had brought as ID proof. After choosing one, the user is allowed to enter the actual polling room by a guard.

The polling officers first ask the user to submit the document he is carrying and then verify it. After verification, the user moves ahead to the second polling officer table.

The simulation then asks the user to place a hand on the table to mark the left index.

The user is then given a voter slip which he can move to the third polling officer who then allows the user to go into a secret compartment to cast his vote.

The simulation ends with the user being encouraged to click a selfie with his index finger.

The hall was filled with giggles as the wearers of the headsets were walking weirdly and bumping into tables. Walking through the entire simulation, the user gets to really understand what the real version of polling entails.

Explaining voter ID cards and the additional documents allowed by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the voter was made to understand what the request of ‘please vote’ actually entails.

The concept of trial voting through virtual reality technology was developed by the Kamrup district administration with the help of the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati’s Associate Professor of the Department of Design Dr Keyur Sorathia.

Underscoring the significance of leveraging advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Augmented Reality (AR) and VR for educational purposes, Dr Sorathia said that VR's potential to immerse youth in various design processes is immense.

He also spoke to the students about newer job opportunities opening up in these fields that they could pursue.

A participant of the event and a first-time voter Jaya Das said that it was an amazing experience for the students of the college.

“It was fun and at the same time satisfying that at the end I could cast my vote,” she added.

Animesh Narayan Das, another student of the college, who is also a first-time voter, said, “I now feel confident in casting my vote as I understand what the first, second and third polling officers actually do and what the process entails.”