Can you tell me about the innovation behind the company?
The SnapitHD camera is able to record and display high-quality 360-degree images with absolutely no blind spots or moving parts. SnapitHD online software allows users to be fully immersed in the content - a user can look left or right, up or down as if they are standing at the scene. Via the internet, multiple users are able to view the content at the same time, all looking in different directions. We have also developed integration into live Virtual Reality with the Oculus Rift VR headset and the SnapIT 360° camera.
The camera has built-in cellular and wifi connectivity. With power usage at less than 2 watts, a small solar panel can be included to make the camera truly wireless. The camera also includes 1TB of internal storage, enabling up to a year of data to be stored in the device.
How did the innovation behind your technology come about?
Innovation at SnapIT has always come from lack - lack of resources, lack of knowledge and lack of good advice. Nelson local Lord Rutherford was quoted as saying, 'we don't have any money, so we are going to have to think!' We see this 'lack' as a strength, as it forces us to find the most efficient and best way to do things.
Failure is an essential part of building innovation and we believe in taking risks and backing ourselves before looking outside for help. Our experience has been that the 'expert' or most expensive advice usually turns out to not be the best path for the business moving forward.
What have been some of the challenges on the journey to commercialising your innovations?
Commercialisation is a challenge. The applications for our service are so varied, and we would never have picked these as fields we would be working in when we were starting out in the garage.
The opportunities we've pursued have been the ones that looked like a good fit for our technology and that have interested us. We have then worked with industry to commercialise these opportunities. We see the partnership between industry and technology companies to be key in taking ideas to market.
What is your vision for what you'd like to see the company become?
Our vision statement is 'To capture and distribute the highest quality images of the world to the world'. We would like to stay in Nelson and grow our team, producing a service that can be launched in New Zealand to begin with and then taken internationally through partnerships with industry.
We believe that Nelson is a very innovative city with an incredible human resource and are well on the way now to producing a world-beating product!
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