Companies to share R&D

By PETER GRIFFIN

Two of the country's most innovative graphics companies, Virtual Spectator and the Hit Lab, plan to develop products together.

Hit Lab founder and scientist Tom Furness has joined the board of Virtual Spectator, which provided online 3D graphics for the America's Cup and a range of international sporting events.

Seattle-based Hit Lab designs "human interface" technology and is known here for the Magic Book, which allows users to view the pages of a book through a handheld display and see virtual content superimposed over real pages. Viewers are greeted with a scene of "augmented reality" that several people can participate in at once.

The Hit Lab, which opened a research and development lab in Christchurch last year, sees the Magic Book concept being developed for the education, entertainment and architecture markets.

Acting Virtual Spectator chief executive, Neville Jordan, said areas of collaboration could include adapting the concept for ways of "viewing commercial data" for the financial market.

Known for its sports graphics, Virtual Spectator is keen to apply its technology to business applications.

"We are starting to develop intellectual property together. It's a good sign of stuff to come".

Jordan was to meet Hit Lab executives at the company's Seattle headquarters next month to set a framework for collaboration.

Hit Lab's New Zealand director and Magic Book creator, Dr Mark Billinghurst, said Virtual Spectator had a "very strong ability in computer graphic rendering" and would make a valuable partner.

Locally, Hit Lab was dedicated to research and development.

"It's all we do, whereas most small New Zealand IT companies can't afford to employ even one research and development guy."

Hit Lab associates had gone on to form 23 companies, 15 of which still existed. Those companies employed about 700 people, said Billinghurst.

The Hit Lab had a research and development budget of $1 million a year and employed 25 people, many of them graduate students.

Virtual Spectator joins a consortium of companies partnering the Hit Lab. US members, pay US$50,000 ($85,500) a year to Hit Lab and include Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Boeing.

Pulse Data and Trimble are among the New Zealand members, who pay a smaller fee.



Hit LabNZ


Virtual Spectator