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December 2006
Virtually Real
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Playmotion isn’t your typical Northside technology company.
You won’t hear a lot of talk about verticals and scalability. The topic will never turn to B2B integration solutions and the only enterprise likely to come up is the USS Enterprise of “Star Trek” fame.
Instead, you’ll be met at the door by a barefoot programmer and invited to flap your arms over a virtual version of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
“We make fun,” Playmotion co-founder and CEO Greg Roberts says.
And they’re making a good business case of it.
Just four years old, the company is “breaking even” and should become profitable in the next year, Roberts says.
Playmotion produces software and hardware that transforms a wall-sized projection from a simple image to an arena for physical interaction. Infrared sensors mounted in a projection box measure the location of a person’s body 60 times a second, paying particular attention to the location of each person’s hands and head, Roberts said. “Touch” something with your shadow and it scoots across the display.
Go ahead, move those jellyfish around. Swim through a pool of virtual water. Rearrange the planets of the solar system. Or just engage in a friendly game of pool or “Shufflepuck,” sort of an air hockey knockoff (You can check out photos of some of the displays here.
Oh, and they do Missile Defender, too: Pause your hand below an incoming missile and save your city.
“It’s a way to be in a video game experience and be physical,” Roberts says.
Some aspect of the system has been installed in about 20 permanent locations around the world, including children’s hospitals, autism research centers and aquariums (including Atlanta’s —- they did the donor wall).
They did a bit in Times Square for New Year’s Eve, and are now bidding for their highest-profile appearance ever —- a part in the stadium ceremonies celebrating the opening and closing of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Coming on the heels of video games such as “Dance, Dance Revolution,” in which players had to, well, dance, to accumulate points, and “Guitar Hero,” in which strumming a toy guitar is the key to victory, as well as the motion-sensitive Nintendo Wii that allows gamers to swing a controller in simulated golf and baseball games, Roberts hopes his melding of the real and the virtual will someday make its way into the home market.
The company is actively pursuing such a deal, he said.
Whether there’s a market remains to be seen.
Video game research firm DFC Intelligence says “flexibility for multiple consumer types” is the key to success in the competitive nearly $30 billion global interactive entertainment market.
That’s part of Roberts’ key to success, as well, but he’s made and lost plenty of money in his Silicon Valley-bred tech career. Now he sees a bigger purpose in his work.
“I want to give people tools to experience the act of creation,” he said.
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Growing Georgia’s technology sector
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia spends less than 1 percent of its state budget on technology ventures, but purely throwing money at the sector won’t necessarily put the state on par with traditional technology havens such as California and Massachusetts, lawmakers said last week at a Technology Association of Georgia policy roundtable.
One good example is nanotechnology, in which the state ranks 19th, according to the Technology Leadership Coalition.
“The reality is we aren’t doing enough,” said state Rep. Kathy Ashe (D-Atlanta). “The reality is that being 19th in a competitive world is not good enough.”
But finding ways to elevate the state’s nanotech stature is more complicated than it might seem on the surface, said state Rep. Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta).
“If we poured more money into it than anybody else, do we have the bodies and people to fill those buildings?” he asked.
Martin said he would support the idea of rewarding highly talented math and science teachers with incentives to help turn out more scientifically qualified students.
What do you think Georgia should do to encourage growth in the state’s technology sector?
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Photo gallery: Playmotion
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Alpharetta’s Playmotion creates video displays that blur the boundaries of projection displays and video games, in this case allowing a user to simulate flying over Baltimore’s Inner Harbor by extending his arms. Photo courtesy Playmotion.
To see some images of Playmotion in action, click here.
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Techno-Christmas … what’s your wish?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We asked some Northside technology executives what technology gift they’d like Santa to bring, assuming he had an unlimted budget (he does … right?). We got some interesting answers. Greg Roberts of Alpharetta’s Playmotion wants a ticket to ride Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic spaceliner. Edward Kubiak of TriA Solutions thought an espresso machine would be the techie’s dream gift. And Brian Hawk, vice president of sales for Norcross’ Fulton Communications, wants a flight simulator. A big one.
How about you? Assuming money were no object, what’s your dream technology gift?
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