CHENNAI, July, 26, 2021: The student team of digital game developers from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Chennai Campus is adjudged one among the winning teams of Toycathon 2021, an inter-ministerial initiative of Government of India, the grand finale of which was held during June 22-24, 2021. The objective of Toycathon was to promote the design and development of toys and games based on Indian civilization, history, culture, mythology and ethos – and provide fillip to the indigenous toy industry.
Team YUKTHI, the winning team of the University, comprising R Amrita Laasya of I ECE, S Palaniappan of II CSE, A Bhavika Taneja of I CSE, A R Giris Teja of I ECE, and Kadambari Sree Rama Aditya of I ECE, most of whom are first year students, developed a digital game based on the unique and diverse Indian culture and history. The idea is to make children/people explore, appreciate, respect and celebrate our great heritage.
The complete event, held virtually on ToyCloud, a digital platform, turned out to be a grand youth conclave, attracting the participation of 17,000 teams represented by 1.2 lakh students from across the country. About 1500 teams were shortlisted for the grand finale, and 117 teams from the final participants emerged as winners.
Toycathon 2021 was organized by the Innovation Cell of Ministry of Education in coordination with All India Council for Technical Education, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of MSME, Ministry of Textiles, and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Five teams from the Chennai campus of Amrita University took part in the event – out of which 4 competed in the digital toys/games category, and one in the physical toys/games category (for which the grand finale is yet to take place). Team YUKTHI made presentations to the panel of jury on the concept, methodology followed, technical specifications, and the business impact of their digital game. They also presented a working prototype of the game.
The winners were selected based on the criteria of novelty, criticality, impact of the concept, technology and innovation factors, product viability, and user experience and design aesthetics, among others.
Sri I B Manikantan, Director and Dr P Shankar, Principal, Chennai Campus, Amrita University, gave students valuable and instructive feedback, insights and suggestions.
Toycathon was developed to promote India’s toy industry. At present, the market size of the toy industry in India is estimated to be USD 1.5 billion. However, 75% of it accounts for imported toys that do not reflect Indian heritage, value systems and rich civilization. The participation of the students in events like Toycathon can give them the opportunity to create novel ideas for the local toys and games industry, and help the industry emerge self-reliant, as envisaged by Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan of the central government.
