New Delhi: US tech-giant Microsoft announced on Monday, the formal opening in Hyderabad of the Microsoft Garage, a facility that supports its employees' endeavours in experimentation and encourages problem-solving in new and innovative ways, reported Press Trust of India.


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"The Garage is a platform for our employees that supports and encourages a culture of experimentation, working together across organisations and technology to explore ideas and build prototypes, adding value to existing products," Geff Ramos, partner director of Microsoft Garage said, while describing the initiative. The Garage, which was first launched at the company's headquarters in Redmond, US, way back in 2009. Microsoft has since then set up such units at Vancouver, Silicon Valley, Israel and Beijing, among others.


Equipped with state-of-the-art modern facilities, the 8,000-square feet 'Garage India' located at the Microsoft Campus has been built to support teams from across the company for their various projects. A second such facility would also be set up at Microsoft's Bengaluru campus later this year.


Apart from providing necessary resources and collaborative support, the company would also help those working on projects to get patents for their innovations.



So far Microsoft Garage has been able to roll-out 27 products and services into the market. The Hyderabad facility has three dedicated lab sections — a Hub for hackathons and workshops, a Makerspace and an Advanced Makerspace with electronic workbench, 3D printers, laser cutter, PCB million machine for creating prototypes; a Reality Room dedicated to working in the space of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality applications and dedicated space and equipment for doing work on Deep Learning.


According to Microsoft Garage-India director Reena Dayal Yadav, the Hyderabad Garage would focus on areas such as healthcare besides artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) among other cutting-edge technology-driven fields. The Indian teams have already taken up projects in Seeing AI, an App for the visually impaired, SMS Organiser, Lock screen App for the Android OS that provides users with daily HD wallpapers and Kaizala mobile App and service designed for large group communications, Yadav said.



Speaking at the launch, Telangana IT minister K T Rama Rao said, "Telangana is fast evolving as the hotbed for innovation. We are really glad that Microsoft has chosen Hyderabad as the location for The Garage in India. Along with our recently announced collaborative platform TWorks and platforms like Microsoft Garage, Hyderabad will transform into a hub for prototype development and ideation, making the city a crucial centre in India's drive towards the industrial revolution 4.0."