Have you ever been to a mall or a shop and found the walls and the floors reacting to every move you make? Have you ever been to a bar where the table-top you just kept your glass on suddenly lit up with strange shapes flying around the base of your glass? Have you ever played an interactive gesture-based game at a mall where you could redeem the points you made in the game, in real life?
If you remember any of these experiences, or something similar, you’ve ‘touched magic’. About seven million people across 40 countries in the world have ‘touched magic’, just like you have, thanks to TouchMagix.
TouchMagix is a digital technology company that offers a variety of interactive display solutions like MotionMagix – interactive wall & floor technology, and multi-touch table top, etc. “We wanted to create a really good product for people to use. More than that, we just wanted to build some really cool technology!” says AnupTapadia, Founder at TouchMagix.
Where is it used?
A lot of the technology at TouchMagix is being used in the fun & gaming space and in the customer engagement space. MotionMagix has been installed in the gaming spaces of a lot of corporate offices. For example, Standard Chartered has installed the Interactive Wall with some interactive recreational activities such as games and engaging content in its Mumbai offices. Ernst & Young, on the other hand, has installed the same software for gesture-based presentations.
“As of now, our gesture-based technology is primarily being used for enhancing customer engagement and creating a brand experience. Touch-based technology is a lot more serious. For instance, we recently partnered with Nokia for the launch of a new model of their phone. We used our Interactive Wall technology to allow people to interact with the show window as they walked past it. This helps to draw a lot of eyes to the shop and the brand,” explained Anup. The Multi Touch Table Top and MagixPhone are other popular technologies that TouchMagix has to offer.
The MotionMagix Interactive Wall technology was used by Nestle to create awareness about the importance of calcium for women. The event was called ‘KLIM Women of Strength Challenge’ which was held in different outdoor locations in Dubai and the U.A.E. The booths were shaped like cups with a 65 inch interactive screen will full body skeleton tracking technology developed by TouchMagix. The participants had to guide the on-screen skeleton through their own motion to catch the items being randomly dropped on the screen and collect points to win the challenge. “The end result of this was people who had their photos or videos taken at the booths, shared it online, and it soon went viral. The brand had managed to establish an offline and an online connect with a lot of people, and this is exactly what we’re trying to do. Our goal has been to touch the lives of as many people as possible, and connect with them emotionally,” revealed Anup.
Market size
TouchMagix’s top markets are India, the Middle East, the U.S., France and Spain in the EU, South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya in Africa. Their headquarters are in Pune, with branch offices in Mumbai and Gurgaon. “We have over 500 customers out of which 100 of them are Fortune 500 companies. Our clients are spread in more than 40 different countries,” states Anup.“Revenue-wise we have grown about 300% in the past three-four years. We had started off with an initial funding of just Rs 3 crores,” he adds.
Challenges
“The biggest challenge was to create awareness about this technology. It was most challenging during the first two years of our operations. The situation is fairly better now, but the challenge is still present. We’ve invested a lot of time and effort in educating the customers about our product. We had demonstrations in nearly 40 countries with an attempt to showcase our technology,” reveals Anup.
Latest inclusions
TouchMagix currently has some exciting projects in the pipeline:
- MagixSuite – It is a platform to showcase products, items, maps, store information, etc. on large scale multi-touch devices. It has been launched with the goal to bring down the overall cost of using touch software. Like the other products, MagixSuite too is an interactive device allowing for greater customer engagement.
- Upgrade to MotionMagix – “We had used our MotionMagix technology to engage and educate young children (up to 1st standard) with a set of games for them to play. But we realized we had to make it easier for teachers to use. Our upgrade is a ‘plug n’ play’ version making it easier for teachers or parents to maintain the technology. The hardware will now automatically calibrate based on the surface and ambient light in the room, allowing kids some uninterrupted gameplay,” explains Anup.
Milestone
“I think an important milestone I achieved was when I got the opportunity to speak at TEDx in IIT Roorkee, in 2013. I spoke about merging art and technology,” says Anup, excitedly.
Advice to budding technologists
- Being a technologist and running a business are two different things.
- The product you are designing needs to be commercially viable.
- Always keep customer feedback in the pipeline. Prioritize your tasks based on the feedback.
Share your 'TouchMagix' experience with us in the comments section below! You can also take a look at some of the other cool technology from TouchMagix, right here!
