News: Interactive Surface Developer Lampix AR/VR Winner of SXSW Accelerator Event

Interactive Surface Developer Lampix AR/VR Winner of SXSW Accelerator Event

Judges at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Accelerator Pitch Event named Lampix the winner in the Augmented and Virtual Reality category, conference organizers announced today. The ninth annual competition, which took place over the weekend in Austin, Texas, pitted 50 startup finalists against each other in 10 technology categories.

Each winning startup reflects the most exciting innovation and cutting edge technology in their space, and we know we're going to see amazing achievements from them in the coming years as they work to change the world.

Lampix, which masquerades as an ordinary lamp, projects an augmented reality interface onto any physical surface. Without glasses or other peripherals, Lampix users can digitally interact with analog documents and other objects.

This is no ordinary lamp. Lampix converts any surface into an augmented reality workspace. Image by Lampix/YouTube

A demo video from the San Francisco-based company highlights numerous use-cases. Users can scan documents to cloud storage, copy text from hard copies of documents and paste them into a text editor, and more. A collaboration mode allows multiple contributors to draw on the same space, while a live-streaming function displays changes in real time. In addition, Lampix integrates with other devices, displaying notifications and mirroring displays of mobile devices.

The collaboration mode in action. Image by Lampix/YouTube

Lampix, of course, includes what every lamp should—lights—via LEDs on the top and bottom. The rest is made up of a Raspberry Pi 3, projector, video camera, and HD camera. The projector displays the "screen" on the surface, while the cameras work to capture your movements that the software on the Pi 3 can translate. Lampix will offer an open API so developers can build their own apps for the platform.

Competition finalists for the SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event are judged on creativity, potential, functionality, goodness, and team/people. Other finalists in the AR/VR category include Fibrum, a mobile VR gaming platform; Holojam, a technology that enables nearby headset users to share a mixed reality environment; Teleporter VR, a live event platform using VR, AI, and AR; and 3dRudder, a foot-powered movement controller for VR.

Do you think the judges made the right call? Let us know in the comments.

Just updated your iPhone to iOS 18? You'll find a ton of hot new features for some of your most-used Apple apps. Dive in and see for yourself:

Cover image via Lampix/YouTube

2 Comments

I just wanted to take time out to say, that you are the foremost authority when it comes to Hololens development. I always look forward to your articles. They are well thought out and keep us new developers in the know. Your Howto articles really help out the newest beginner. Thanks for your passion and hard work.

Thanks! You really have my colleague, Jason Odom, to thank for the stories on HoloLens development. We'll continue to bring you the latest augmented/mixed reality news.

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