Guest feature: Brian Sheavly is the marketing director forthe Howard County Economic Development Authority. Follow HCEDA on Facebook and Twitter.
Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship (MCE) affiliate company Pair, an augmented reality startup founded by Air Force Academy grad and Iraq War Veteran Andrew Kemendo, has been selected to take part in the 500 Startups Accelerator, one of the nation's leading incubator accelerator programs.
Pair, formally known as Visidraft, has developed a mobile augmented reality application that lets any consumer with an iPhone or iPad try out more than1,400 furnishings and rugs in their home like the products are real.
The software was first designed by Kemendo in 2010 to provide an interactive rendering of a building being built in Guam during his time in the Air Force. The software allows builders the chance to interact with a designed space digitally before shipping the materials.
"When all your building materials and items have to be shipped into a remote region like Guam it becomes exponentially more expensive to build something," said Kemendo. "Everything costs so much to get to the build site that there is really no room for mistakes."
In August 2015, Kemendo's technology was featured at the American Institute of Architects Conference where itstechnology was instantly recognized for its value. Unlike other augmented reality software out there, his program was able to work using the technology available in the iPhone or iPad.
"In the past you needed a specific piece of hardware that used infrared light to accurately determine spaces and distance in a room. What we did was find a way to use the forward facing camera in the Appledeviceto accurately scan and measure distance and space," said Kemendo.
After the conference, the company was approached by furniture companies that wanted to use the technology to allow consumers to digitally position furniture they are looking to buy. Using the iPhone, the user is able to walk around and view the room from any angle.
Recognizing the opportunity to grow into this new market, Visidraft rebranded in September 2015 under the name Pair to provide this service.
"Without the ability to accurately scan the room for space we would not be able to do this. It has to be 100 percent correct in order to ensure that items will actually fit in the room before purchase," said Kemendo.
Pair now provides this service to several large furniture retailers, including Herman Miller, Dacor, and Ikea.
