businessinfomag.uk
magazine
28
Nureva’s first
customer was
NASA; it has
big problems
and needed an
effective means
of solving them
and sharing
output from
meetings
digitally.
BI:
So the bank was willing to invest
even at a time of political and
economic uncertainty.
Steljes:
Of course. If a bunch of
managers in a room write stuff down on
a flip chart or use dozens of Post-It notes,
somebody has to take responsibility
for capturing and photographing that
information. That’s how most meetings
still happen in enterprises, and it is such
an inefficient way of doing things. You
need to use a digital whiteboard, an
interactive device, a collaborative device;
write things down; save the pages; and
then, at the end of the meeting, hit
‘email all’ so that every attendee gets
the notes straight away. That’s efficiency
and it saves organisations money. There
is an upfront cost, but over the five years
you have the technology you will save
thousands of pounds.
BI:
In addition toWindows 10, your
product literature highlights InGlass
technology. Please could you tell me
more about that.
Steljes:
This is probably the most
important thing. It comes from a
Swedish company called Flat Frog and is
completely unique. Most touch displays
are run on an infra-red basis; they scan
the surface of the screen – the top one
or two inches. Very often, if you are
wearing a suit and your cuff touches
the screen as you write, you will see a
blemish underneath as the panel thinks
you are double-touching. Also, with infra-
red it is impossible to draw a line, stop,
leave a gap of a pixel and then continue
the line in exactly the same place.
Because infrared hovers above it is not
that accurate.With InGlass technology,
the sensor is inside the glass, so when
you touch the screen the response is
pixel perfect; you can draw a line, leave a
gap of a pixel and start again. Ours is the
only device currently on the market that
can do that.
BI:
What plans do you have for Avocor?
Will you manufacture other products
and/or distribute products from other
manufacturers? I see that you have a
distribution agreement with Nureva.
Steljes:
In essence, Avocor is going to be
our brand.We will move away from the
Vivitouch name and rebrand everything
under the Avocor label. Nureva is a
legacy thing and over the course of this
year we will probably form another
company to handle them. I’ve known
the founders of SMART Technologies
for a very long time – Dave Martin
invented the interactive whiteboard. He
and his wife left SMART Technologies
some three or four years ago to work on
new projects. It’s natural for me to get
involved with Nureva as I helped build
the interactive whiteboard brand for
SMART. It’s very exciting technology.
BI:
What exactly is Nureva’s ideation
technology?
Steljes:
Ideation is a projector-based
solution that you really have to see to
understand. Effectively, you have a screen
10 foot wide and no more than 3 foot
deep that gives you an incredibly wide
canvas to work on. In addition to the
screen, there is an extra 10 foot you can
scroll either way, so you actually have 20
feet of canvas to work on. If you put two
screens side-by-side you have got a 20
foot wall of information and thoughts,
with a 40 foot scroll. To try and achieve
such a canvas with interactive flat panels
would be prohibitely expensive, but
doing it with a projector is relatively
cost-effective. In North America,
Nureva’s first customer was NASA; it has
big problems and needed an effective
means of solving them and sharing
output from meetings digitally.
BI:
Is Avocor considering any other
product areas?
Steljes:
We are focusing purely on
interactive devices. The name trust will
be on screens; that is what we do.We
are currently working on our fourth
generation product which we will launch
at BETT next January.
...continued
Interview
Charterhouse Holdings has produced
an eye-catching display in its corporate
headquarters and distribution centre using
an Optoma EH504 projector and rear
projection vinyl to display footage of its key
brands on glass partition walls.
Founded in 1970, Charterhouse Holdings
plc has two successful brands – Kustom
Kit, a range of corporate, promotional and
sportswear; and Xpres digital transfer systems
for decorating and personalising clothing,
promotional products and business gifts.
It wanted a way to promote these
products in its corporate headquarters that
would grab the attention but not compromise
the light and airy feel of the interior.
The solution Charterhouse Holdings
hit upon was to install transparent rear
projection vinyl onto the glass partition walls,
turning them into a projection surface. Using
a material with a transparency of 88% helps
to maintain a light interior, but it does make
it more difficult to achieve the desired image
quality.
Daniel Bruckshaw, IT Infrastructure
Manager for Charterhouse Holdings, said:
“We looked at using vinyl film with 50%
transparency but we didn’t want to cover
the glass partition wall too much and ruin
the overall look of the room, but this did
represent a real challenge for the projector in
terms of the image quality and clarity.”
The model the company chose was an
Optoma EH504 projector, featuring Full HD
image quality and 5,000 lumens brightness.
Bruckshaw is delighted with the results,
praising the projector for its brightness and
colour reproduction.
He said: “Expecting an 88% transparent
surface to work well with any projector is
a tough task, but the Optoma does the job
perfectly. Colours aren’t washed out like other
projectors. I don’t know of many products
that would be able to give as good a result
as this when there’s not much to ‘catch’ the
image and prevent bleed-through.”
Visual showstopper for Charterhouse HQ
