A New Zealand company developing glasses-free 3D graphics for computer screens and kiosks has won a major funding boost to help bring the product to market.
Auckland-based venture fund IT Capital has bought just over a third of Deep Video Imaging of Hamilton in a million dollar deal.
IT Capital joins Warehouse chief Stephen Tindall, whose own company Tindall Family Holdings owns 45.4% of DVI.
Founding shareholders, including DVI general manager Gabriel Engel, will hold the remaining 20%.
IT Capital managing director Keith Phillips has worked on the DVI board on behalf of Tindall for over a year.
He says the product is unique and will appeal to computer screen manufacturers, kiosk suppliers and games companies seeking to enhance or differentiate their products.
DVI lets people peer around objects on screen and see what lies behind and is “miles ahead” of rival systems that need glasses or headsets.
It works by adopting LCD technology to stream multiple or stereo video signals to a new screen format at different depths.
Customers then use “touch screen” kiosks to rotate three-dimensional images of products.
“DVI offers ‘true’ depth of field and 3D graphics that are superior to conventional screens. Incorporating deep video screens into computer terminals brings kiosk displays to life and has striking visual appeal to customers,” Phillips says.
Tindall says the funding and the international contacts gained from the deal will help DVI truly exploit the product’s potential.
DVI has been developed over three years in Hamilton with Peter Witehira of Powerbeat International.
Recently it has been displayed in Auckland, Australia and the US after receiving support from Trade New Zealand.
The company is aiming the product at the $12 billion a year flat panel industry and Trade NZ believes it should generate millions of dollars in exporting revenue.
Already DVI has sold some of the technology to a Canadian telecommunications company.