Flyby Media

About Flyby Media

Founded in 2010 by Cole Van Nice and Oriel Bergig, Flyby Media, Inc. operated as a spatial perception technology company from its base in New York City. The firm specialized in bridging the digital and physical realms through advanced computer vision. Cole Van Nice, the CEO, brought experience from the venture capital world, having been a Partner at Chart Venture Partners and a co-founder of Darby Technology Ventures, focusing on technologies with both military and commercial applications. This background in identifying dual-use technologies was foundational to Flyby's strategic direction. Van Nice's entrepreneurial experience and investment acumen guided the company's growth and partnerships.

Flyby Media's core business centered on its proprietary spatial perception platform, V-Fusion. This technology enabled mobile devices to comprehend real-world environments on a human scale, facilitating seeing, understanding, and navigating physical spaces. The V-Fusion platform combined computer vision, inertial sensing, and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) technology to provide precise spatial awareness. The company monetized its technology through licensing and strategic partnerships. Its clientele included major technology firms and companies in markets requiring high-performance spatial understanding.

The company's technology had a broad range of applications. Key among them was providing the image-recognition software for Google's Project Tango, an initiative to equip mobile devices with 3D motion tracking and mapping capabilities. Flyby also developed a product for iPhones to create scalable indoor floor plans, which were integrated into Apple's MapsConnect program to enable precise indoor 'blue dot' navigation. In the retail sector, it piloted an application called Shimmer, which used V-Fusion for indoor proximity marketing. The technology was also demonstrated in autonomous navigation for drones and vehicles over significant distances. After raising a total of $23.7 million in funding from investors including Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Clark Enterprises, and Chart Venture Partners, Flyby Media was acquired by Apple in early 2016 for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition was a strategic move by Apple to bolster its capabilities in augmented and virtual reality.