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"Jupiter is what you see, whichever way you move."
IPIX is a small, high-tech company that's all about "seeing." It's also a company whose name evolved right
along with the evolution of its core technology--digital cameras that produce immersive images.
IPIX was first called TeleRobotics. When NASA's astronauts needed a technology to help them see while working in space,
the firm partnered with NASA Langley Research Center through the Small Business Innovation Research,
or SBIR Program, to develop a remotely-controlled robotic arm.
NASA intended to use the device in hazardous environments, such as other planets.
What they wanted is when they had the arm in the environment, they had to be able to see all around but not
have moving parts because of number one the tight space and not having room to actually move the camera and also,
the mechanical pieces of a pan-tilt-zoom camera are the ones that generally fail first.
And, that's just what the company developed a "motionless pan-tilt-zoom, or PTZ" camera for the hazardous environment applications.
Telerobotics then received SBIR funding to create the operator interface to control and manipulate the arm.
Through an SBIR contract from Marshall Space Flight Center, the firm, now called Omniview,
worked on improving the quality of the video data from the camera.
The method they developed was called "video tweening" which essentially manipulated the video images.
Omniview realized that the technology had numerous applications, especially when coupled with Internet's capabilities.
In the mid 90s, they began creating immersive images, specifically for the internet.
The name changed again--first to Interactive Pictures; then to Internet Pictures; and finally to IPIX,
as the firm began providing viewers with a true immersive experience on line.
To make it possible, two 180 degree photographs of a scene are taken with a "fish eye" lens.
After removing the distortion, the images are seamlessly connected to produce a 360 degree
environment that can be explored from all directions.
Based on a similar method used to capture and process video, the company also creates immersive movie environments.
IPIX numbers about 60 employees, and its core technology is still the PTZ digital camera they developed for NASA.
We have patented the idea of doing that with fish-eye lenses and that gives us a distinct advantage in that it's the easiest way
to capture the image and also we've had the years to perfect the algorithms and provide a very good user experience.
Working with NASA through the SBIR program had an important business impact on IPIX.
I think what the SBIR allowed us to do is to try out a number of different implementation and see where the technology would really apply.
Early on, IPIX created a product for the security market. But, the product was a little ahead of its time and had
to wait for the technology to catch up. Now, the firm is actively pursuing that market.
IPIX also sees future opportunities to partner with NASA on space and planetary applications, especially in the area of mobile platforms.
We think we have an advantage in not having the moving parts of being vision systems on remotely-operated platforms.
If that turns out to be the case, IPIX may be involved in seeing on other planets, whichever way you move.