[Photo Sparks] Product showcase: rugged tablets, apps, face recognition, metal art and more

PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In this second photo essay from Singapore, we showcase new products and startups at the annual Communicasia conference and expo!

In the earlier 50 posts, we brought you a wide range of creative photographs from an art fair, world music festival, painting fair, telecom expo, art museum, mobile showcase, math museum, social hackathon, bookstore, co-working space, sensorium, international design week, flower show, outdoor ads, startup roadshow, computer museum, startup T-shirts, business cards, art therapy, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, Vesak, jazz festival, modern art gallery, ecopreneurs, painter-poets, health activists, eNGOs and digital innovators.

Communicasia is Asia’s largest annual conference and expo focusing on telecom, broadcast media and enterprise IT, and attracted over 33,000 attendees this year. From rugged tablets and shopping apps to face recognition kiosks and enterprise cloud solutions, check out this display of innovative products and solutions! So what new product are you working on?

Wireless sentry: NTEK Systems from the Philippines has designed and manufactured DoorTalk, a Wi-Fi-enabled access control device. Users can remotely control and monitor how often a door is closed or opened. This remote sentry service can be synhcronised with CCTV and face-recognition, and can be controlled via an app as well.

Hotel in a cloud: Fonsview’s hotel interactive TV system provides solutions based on cloud architecture for high end hotel chains. It integrates live TV channels, HD VOD, IoT, customised advertising and billing solutions. It allows new hotels in the chain to quickly deploy guest TV systems and put them into commercial use.

Document viewer with an edge: Korean company Tamtus has been at the cutting edge of creativity, usability and design, with a methodical and insightful eye on solving consumer pain-points. For example, a book will eventually get a damaged spine if it is used too often on traditional ‘flat’ photocopiers. This angled Visual Table device for libraries and schools allows users to scan pages with the book only partially open, thus leading to less damage and longer shelf-life for the book; the device also lets teachers project the text onto screens for class discussions.

Drone inspectors and media: AeroLion Technologies is a spin-out from the National University of Singapore's Unmanned Systems Research Group. It specialises in unmanned rotorcraft systems, including the BlackLion drone. It uses laser, cameras and sonar for sensing, and supports payloads of up to 2 kg for an hour. It has been used for everything ranging from filming of horse races in Singapore to inspection of utilities pipelines in China.

Open workflow: Joget builds on open source software to deliver workflow solutions, and is used by customers in over 21 countries around the world. It helps companies easily build enterprise web apps, and also provides consultancy, training and support services. Joget works actively with the development community to spot, harness and promote new workflow components and tools.

Smart ID: A1 Communications from Korea has developed a facial recognition device called Facework. It improves performance and accuracy of security in large user environments, especially where there is a high flow of users. It can also be used in zero-light environments using infra-red scanning, and links with other products like SpeedGate for movement control.

Innovation for the police: DRC's Multiband Jammer won an award from the Thailand Telecommunications Research and Industrial Development Institute (TRIDI) for being an innovative product for the police and security forces. In case of suspected terrorist activity, the Jammer disrupts mobile network signals, thus preventing activation of detonators and explosives.

Metal work and artwork: Taiwan’s Chih Kang Material Company specialises in sheet metal fabrication and screen stamping for the electronics, telecom and power industries. It also indulges its more creative side, as shown in this five-piece jazz band with figures made from metal parts.

Post-PC payments: RangyPOS is a mobile POS solution from Thailand. It helps SMEs integrate IT into their shop management, and helps them move into the ‘post-PC’ era of mobile solutions for cash management and other services. RangyPOS was developed and launched in 2014. It is a subsidary of Nine Net, a leading restaurant POS provider in Thailand.

Not for wimps: Panasonic’s offerings in the digital world include hardy, ruggedised tablets and laptops, called ToughPad and ToughBook. They are resistant to dust, rain, shock, humidity, high temperature and drops of up to 1.5 metres – ideal for use by military, telecom and outdoor installation workers. ToughPad works on Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Got a creative photograph to share? Email us at [email protected]!

See also the YourStory pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups,’ accessible as apps for Apple and Android devices.