BW Sessions: MUV Interactive

BW Sessions: MUV Interactive

by TODD STOLARSKI | Jul 30, 2015

Art imitating life and life imitating art. For centuries, humankind has been able to extract this trait within ourselves to bring forth some incredible things not seen previously. Rami Parham, CEO and Founder or MUV Interactive, found himself attempting the latter portion of that time-tested adage after seeing the 2002 action film Minority Report. At the time, the only problem was the technology needed to catch up to his grand ambitions. With a dream in mind and the wearable revolution coming, he launched the Tel Aviv based, MUV Interactive four years ago.

Dan Star, He's got the answers

With the upcoming commercial market launch of their first revolutionary wearable, bird, BuiltWorlds caught up with Dan Star, VP of Business Development  who flew us into MUV Interactive's nest where he answered a few of our pressing questions.

BW: What is the main idea behind MUV Interactive and where did it originate?

The main idea behind MUV Interactive is to create a new way of interacting with digital content that is better than any other tool that exists today. We have created a smart wearable device that can accurately sense what our fingers are doing and what we are reaching for at all times. We call it bird.

Bird is a small ring-like device that fits on your index finger and can sense up to the millimeter where your fingers are located within a 30 meter size room, what precise location on the screen you are pointing at, what you are desiring to touch, pull, grab and move around. It gives you total freedom. It can sense your hand gestures within the 3D space and even listen to your voice commands, all of this without having a single camera pointed at you. Another feature that will make the interaction even better is the ability to collaborate with others, up to 10 users can interact with the same content simultaneously.

BW: What void in the market does bird look to fill?

The market is in need for a truly intuitive and complete solution for controlling and interacting with digital content. The thing is, if you really think about it, every other input device is limited to a specific interactivity method, whether it is touch or rough gestures (not to mention minor flaws in executing the commands as desired, such as a gestural device not properly registering the gesture the user is trying to make). Therefore, you either have to compromise on accuracy or on the freedom to move freely in space. With bird, you can enjoy the best of both worlds and this is the reason it provides a user experience that is far better than anything you have experienced up until now.

We learnt that there is a need for interactivity in so many markets, from educational institutes (both K-12 and higher learning) who are looking to provide a better learning experience and stimulate student engagement to corporations that are looking for better team collaborations. Improving presentations, trainings, product demos and sales pitches, endless possibilities of intensified interaction in gaming and entertainment, new virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications as well as an ultimate control device for future smart homes (IoT).

BW: Did you encounter any unexpected challenges in entering the wearable tech market?

With the bird, you can be like Tom Cruise...well, kind of.

The main challenge we experience is getting people to believe that our technology actually works! Unfortunately there are many companies that are claiming to offer similar solutions and many of them do not work and people are hesitant to trust the high-tech world. There is no trouble in believing we can have fantastic solutions for tomorrow, but doubt persists if a high-tech company says that they can offer the solution today. The best thing people can do is watch bird in action. Once someone sees a live demo of bird, the challenge is gone. We keep being surprised by just how well bird has been received! We haven't officially launched it yet and we have already received pre-orders for thousands of bird units and we keep getting requests to buy additional units, all before evaluation units are even available!

BW: How long did the bird take to develop?

The idea started long ago, triggered by Minority Report and by numerous TED talks.  The prototype was bootstrapped and a company founded four years ago.  Bird is now at the point of commercialization.

BW: A decade from now, how will the people be using your product?

Even today, we are surrounded by digital applications for work, communication or fun. Right now, the biggest and most innovative companies are investing in Virtual and Augmented reality and in IoT applications. We believe that this is only the beginning and bird will provide the optimal solution to control those applications.

Bird will also open the door to so many new applications that we cannot even imagine yet. Think how the world has changed since smartphones were introduced to the market. Then, phones were just a tool for communication. Now it is a tool for work, entertainment, and socialization. New apps pop up every day. We believe that bird will do the same thing. It will start as an amazing way to interact with content, but it will allow us to work as a group. Play all the games we play on our small smartphones screens on big TV screens, turn our living room table to an interactive table and more.

BW: Are there any other upcoming plans that you would like to discuss today?  

The vision of developing next frontiers in interactive media communications is just starting to unveil opportunities. MUV’s long term roadmap includes expanding the reach to untapped markets like AR/VR, gaming, automotive and other segments.

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Whether you are an architect showing off your building's plans or just want to blow off some steam playing Fruit Ninja, bird may prove the finger based wearable for you. Mankind has spent countless brain cells seeking to fly and finally MUV Interactive can help us do so.

For more information and to pre-order your bird, check out their site and be sure to stay up to date with them on twitter. Special thanks to Mr. Star for showing us how MUV Interactive plans to have their bird soar.