CEO Of Blacksumac, The Company Behind Piper, Russell Ure Interview

Image Courtesy Of Piper

The connected home is a big thing in 2014, for starters it’s all about getting access when you want it, whether it be door locks, sensors, or even cameras, the future is here today. You may remember Piper a new product from Blacksumac that set out on a mission to be the first all in one home security system; combining a live camera feed with sensors and Z-Wave compatibility. It quickly became an Indiegogo success as Piper nearly tripled its initial funding goal. Piper has had a great 2014 already, they exhibited at CES and were recognized as a Design and Engineering Award Honoree and also recently launched an Android app. Today, we have our interview with Blacksumac CEO, Russell Ure and coming soon is our full review of Piper.

 JK: So lets start off with the story behind Piper…

RU: We founded Blacksumac in August of 2012 and I started working with my co-founder in June and July. We were originally thinking of a social media security platform and considered it to be a unique idea; however this was already done by another company. At that point, my daughter had just moved to an apartment in a different city and in terms of providing security for her, there wasn’t much available. If you’re renting or leasing your property, you can’t always install a security system. For my daughter, she was nervous at night and when she got home she entered a dark world. I wanted to build something that had security, a camera, and smart home capability. Instead of all separate products, we wanted to do it in one product that was attractive and could fit into the environments of a home or apartment. When you go back to traditional home security systems, multi-year contracts are usually a necessity, so we went in the other direction with no contracts. In August we launched our Indiegogo campaign where we aimed to ship something out in 6 months.

JK: Do you see the current Piper as a first generation of many products?

RU: Yes, one of the main unique traits about Piper is its platform, unlike many security cameras that have weak processors; the Piper is a full computer. It can do a lot, in this first version of Piper, we focused on the basics and building a foundation that could support new functionality, so in a year from now the current Pipers could be upgraded.

JK: With the technology of the camera, how did you choose a fish eye lens?

RU: The big motivator was for those times when you’re out of your home and you are struck with the desire to look around the place and check in. A 180 degree view lets you immerse yourself in a room and gives you a virtual presence.

JK: How did you feel about the success of the Indiegogo campaign?

RU: We chose to do a 30-day campaign, as we wanted to get feedback; that was our main goal. In making sure we had the market for the product, the Indiegogo campaign let us engage customers who are really enthusiastic about new technology. I was surprised to raise $300,000, but the main goal was to engage and get the feedback. Utilizing the feedback we received, we made a number of adjustments to the product.

JK: How was CES as a whole?

RU: CES was amazing, we were named a CES Design and Engineering Award honoree. It was amazing and we were able to interact with a variety of people like manufacturers and analysts. It was a truly great experience which also helped get the word out.

JK: Piper is now on Android, can you tell us about it?

RU: It is on Google Play already and the response has been great. Performance will differ from device to device, depending on the hardware inside each device. It can run on any device running version 2.3.2 and above ,but with a variety of phones and tablets available it’s hard to judge it completely. Some old Android phones won’t run it best, as it is limited by the processor.

JK: Do you think we will see a web viewing portal?

RU: I think that we could provide a camera view running on a web browser, but to be honest the use of mobiles is increasing so fast that the desktop is a less interesting place. I could definitely foresee having a camera view on the web but in terms of smart home controls, I don’t see that happening as of right now.

JK: Will we see charges for more video storage coming?

RU: I think for business use cases, we might charge for a constant recording. For instance if you want constant 24/7 surveillance from your Piper in a business setting such as near the front door or the cash register. For other users, I think the free option is the best. It’s difficult to say for certain right now, even business use cases vary, I was certainly thinking about it, but it’s not a quick answer.

As you can see Piper has undergone a long developmental process and it all started from a good cause. 2014 has already been a big year for Piper and an even bigger year for home automation. Our full review of Piper is coming very soon, so be sure to stay tuned for that. If there is one thing I know for sure, it is to keep an eye on Piper for more big news in 2014! We would like to thank Russell Ure for taking time out of his schedule to do this interview.

Image Courtesy Of Piper