Students and teachers of all high schools around Semarang City got the opportunity to try the recent innovation made by Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) called Gamelan Metaverse. Attended by 40 participants, the introductory trial event entitled ‘Evaluation and Socialization of Gamelan Metaverse’ took place on the first floor of the G Building at Udinus. (Thursday, September 14th, 2023) 

The event was commenced by a speech from the Dean Faculty of Computer Science at Udinus who is also the head of research of Gamelan Metaverse, Dr. Abdul Syukur, M.M. On that occasion, he introduced the Gamelan Metaverse to all participants. Research on gamelan is one of the ongoing projects at Udinus. It began with E-Gamelan, a portable digital gamelan which evolved to include Virtual Reality (VR), resulting the presence of Gamelan Metaverse.

“Thank you for both students' and teachers' attendance to support this innovation. Through today’s feedback, we are hoping that the innovation of Gamelan Metaverse can perfectly improve and give many benefits toward the local culture cultivation,” explained Dr. Abdul.

Each of the participants got the chance to use the Oculus Headset as the provided tool to access virtual reality (VR). In total, eight Oculus headsets can be used simultaneously. With the help of those devices, the participants can test the gamelan and interact with other players virtually.

After trying virtual gamelan, all participants gave their feedback to the researchers through forms that had been handed to them. This feedback can be the basic knowledge of the necessity for future development. Dr. Arry Maulana Syarif, the chief event organizer, said that students’ responses are very important because they will be the main users.

Dr. Arry emphasized “These students are the next generation of Indonesia. Gamelan and local cultures cannot be put aside by the current progressive era. We try to combine those cultures with technology so that it would still be relevant for the young generation.” 

Siti Maulina, a student of State-Vocational High School (SMKN) 2 Semarang, admitted that she was happy with the Gamelan Metaverse due to her first time using VR. She was hoping that those types of socialization could be done at local schools so that all students can try the innovation whilst getting to know more about gamelan. 

“As far as I know, the development of virtual gamelan is already good, starting from the socialization until the clear explanation of the material. I easily understand the guidance, making it easier for me to wear the VR device,” said Siti Maulina. 

On that occasion, all participants were given a workshop presentation by the head organizer, Dr. Arry Maulana Syarif. The presentation emphasized the Approach of a Multiplayer Virtual Reality Game for Learning and Playing Gamelan in Orchestra Mode within the Metaverse. The lecture was followed by Kristiawan Nurdianto, S.Kom., M.Kom, as the special guest who represented the partnership with the Information and Communication Technology Development Agency in Central Java Province (BPTIK dikbud). Kristiawan emphasized the benefit of using Virtual Reality (VR) Technology during the Learning Process. (Udinus Public Relation/Haris. Photo: Udinus PR)