A virtual reality walkthrough the 500-year-old tomb of the most powerful woman of medieval Deccan — Hayat Bakshi Begum — is set to become a reality in a couple of months.
A team of faculty and students of the Design Innovation Centre (DIC) in the Design Department of Indian Institute of Technology – Hyderabad (IITH), led by Deepak John Mathew have been working on the project.
The team team comprising research scholar Sreehari K.G. and R.M. Udhayan, Srishti Toshniwal, Mohit Mangal and Govardhan have been working on the project that aims at preserving the oral history of Qutb Shahi Dynasty through a 360 degree virtual reality animation.
The project aims at depicting the stories of the historical characters in form of animation to help preserve the folklore in intangible medium by converting it into a tangible one, the team members explained.
Important character
Hayat Bakshi Begum was probably the most influential woman of medieval Deccan. She lorded over the affairs of the Golconda kingdom first as daughter, then consort and finally as Queen Mother during the reign of three kings of the Qutub Shahi dynasty. Being the only child of Mohammad Quli, the founder of Hyderabad, she took charge of palace administration early in her life. Her marriage to Sultan Mohammad, a kinsman who succeeded the throne, ensured that she remained in charge of the citadel exercising influence over not only the functioning of the palace administration but also in public affairs, Dr. Deepak told The Hindu .
A short narrative of the life of Hayat Bakshi Begum in the form of a 360 degree virtual animation aims to give a visual experience of the folktales for the viewer, he added.
Visitor’s experience
The physical experience obtained when people visit the monuments, will be translated to the digital medium and the aim is to recreate the digital experience much nearer to the original experience of the physical monument. And to create a knowledge base for the future, parallelly communicating the form, style, design, culture and history to next generation. This is achieved by using technology like photogrammetry, laser scanning, 360 photography and high resolution photography.
“While preparing the 360 degree animation, the team faced problems like language barrier in understanding the regional language and the Telangana folktales, reference books being in Telugu, constructing the characteristics and features of Hayat Bakshi Begum as there are few paintings depicting her. There is little material available on the costume, wardrobes and palace interior references,” the team leader said, adding that the project is expected to be completed in the next couple of months.
