By Stephen Brawley, President and CEO
What does a fully-immersive virtual reality experience and 3D printing have in common?
They both represent the kind of unique, innovative business ideas that are developing here in our own backyard in Pennsylvania. These businesses not only have a direct impact on our local economies, they contribute to the quality of life we enjoy in our communities each and every day.
Over the last 36 years, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP) has supported hundreds of entrepreneurs in our quest to drive to Pennsylvania’s innovation economy. We’re proud of our portfolio of clients and amazed at the advanced products some of the Commonwealth’s best and brightest minds bring to market.
Here are some examples of Central and Northern Pennsylvania companies that are impacting their respective industries and helping to redefine what innovation means:
Since 2013, MajorMega has pioneered the art of combining virtual reality (VR) with motion and environmental effects for clients such as Converse, Ferrari, Citi and National Geographic. MajorMega is challenging the notion of what was once believed possible by blending their proprietary software and hardware designs to create a custom wind system, heating dispensers and a “force-feedback” input device that together can simulate any environment imaginable. The result is a VR product that enables a human experience unlike anything before, in a package that can go just about anywhere and scale to any size.
Xact Metal is taking the essential specs for metal powder-bed fusion 3D printing, and combining them with breakthrough technology to establish a new level of price and performance for additive manufacturing. Small to mid-sized companies that would like to enter metal 3D printing often find it’s not feasible due to the high acquisition costs – including system price, metal powder price and lack of qualified personnel. Xact Metal’s patent pending platform reduces overall cost by 50-60 percent, without sacrificing print performance.