Summer Wrap-up and the Road Ahead
Lots of exciting news and new developments
It’s been an incredibly productive summer for the Kognitiv Spark team, and we have lots of exciting news to share!
After a strong burst of building from our development team, we successfully launched version 1.0 of RemoteSpark on June 29th, 2018. This was a major milestone for us, and meant we were able to deliver a fully-functioning software application to our clients that we are proud of – with all the key features that set us apart on the mixed reality stage.
Team t-shirts to commemorate the launch of RemoteSpark version 1.0
The summer brought many business trips, but one of the most exciting came from the opportunity to exhibit at the Farnborough International Airshow in London, UK in mid-July alongside our friends from Atlantic Canadian Aerospace & Defence (ACADA). This conference provides spectacular exposure – it’s the largest of its kind on the aerospace sector and brings more than 80 of the world’s top aerospace companies. During our week there, we were lucky enough to have a visit to our booth from the Honorable Navdeep Bains, Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development, along with Canadian politician and our country’s first astronaut, the Honorable Marc Garneau.
That same week, the second half of our leadership team were in Las Vegas attending the Microsoft IMPACT Awards, where we were proud to be nominated under the Innovation with Hardware category. Each year, Microsoft Canada hosts the IMPACT Awards to celebrate innovation in technology, recognizing the outstanding work their partners do to deliver leading-edge solutions to customers. During the awards evening of July 18th, we were blown away to learn that we won! This award has significant meaning for the team, and we are so proud to be recognized by such a prestigious award.
Kognitiv Spark’s Microsoft IMPACT award trophy for Innovation with Hardware award.
Kognitiv Spark’s CEO Yan Simard and CTO Ryan Groom take the MS IMPACT award stage for a winning photo opportunity with Microsoft leadership team.
Over the summer we’ve continued to add to our ever-growing team by filing a few strategic roles. Vanessa Matthews joined in early August as Kognitiv Spark’s Chief Marketing Officer, tasked with building and articulating our value proposition and unique capabilities. Scott Flinn has also joining the Kognitiv team late August as a Senior Developer, and will play a large role in taking the RemoteSpark features and functionality even further.
The end of summer has marked another important milestone – our second birthday! On August 23rd we proudly celebrated 2 years since Kognitiv Spark was “born”. The team gathered with a few glasses of bubbly and toasted to how far we’ve come. The founders, Ryan and Duncan, gave heartfelt speeches that harkened back to the company’s inception. Ryan reminisced about the first time he received an early prototype of the Microsoft HoloLens, as a Microsoft preferred developer. Ryan recalls, “I had the same feeling I had when I picked up the Commodore 64 as a kid and wrote my first code.” Our CEO Yan then described the endless possibilities that lie ahead.
The following day we went on a celebratory team hike to the highest peak in the Maritimes – Mount Carleton. Many of the Kognitiv Spark team members are outdoor enthusiasts – we all share a love for nature and a taste for adventure. This hike can be a challenging one, especially for beginners. But the rewarding view at the top peak overshadowed the effort. The day was an opportunity for the team to demonstrate what can be achieved when you push yourself beyond your perceived limits. We took some time on the top of the mountain to reflect on our vision for Kognitiv Spark. Ryan reminded us of why we come to work every day – and that it should never really feel like “work” in the common sense of the term. What we do is a passion that burns inside of each of us. The team wholeheartedly agreed – we’re here because we believe in our product and we want to inspire others to push boundaries and work differently.
We held our daily 3pm meeting 820 meters up – at the highest peak in the Maritimes, Mount Carleton.
Refreshed from this summer of big wins, bonding and building, we prepare to move into the fall. At the end of September, we will officially launch version 1.0 of RemoteSpark live in the Microsoft app store. The app will be available on September 26th as a free trial download that’s designed to give users an opportunity to test base features and look around. Stay tuned for the launch details and we hope you will help share in our excitement!
RemoteSpark has come so far in a very short period of time. Exactly a year ago, we made our first live call. Today, we put the final polishing touches on our IoT data integration functionality that will allow our platform to tap into existing data centers to create holographic digital twins.
The next step in our journey, after the trial launch, will be to complete the SDK enterprise build that will allow other developers to build content on our communications platform. Big things coming – we hope to have you along with us for the ride.