MOSCOW, January 10 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian startup company that developed a unique interactive display made of tiny water particles is shutting down because of a lack of funding, Siliconrus.ru reported.
The IT news website published Friday an audio recording attributed to Maxim Kamanin, chief executive of Displair, announcing the closure of the company.
The recording said that the business needed at least $3 million in investment to break even, which Displair had failed to raise.
Company representatives could not be reached for comment by email and telephone Friday.
Displair’s eponymous product offered a so-called cold fog screenless display, using a humidifier to create a sheet of water droplets suspended in the air on which images could be projected.
Unlike most cold fog technologies, the display also offered interactive multi-touch capabilities.
Displair’s invention was first rolled out in 2010 at Camp Seliger, a major annual youth event set up by the Russian government.
The company was resident at the IT-park technopark in Kazan and Skolkovo hi-tech business area outside Moscow, a pet project of Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev, who is now Prime Minister.
Displair planned to begin sales last fall at 398,000 rubles ($12,000) per screen.
But the company failed to develop a product fit for assembly line, while expenses skyrocketed, according to the recording published by Siliconrus.ru.
The story was updated to include Displair’ unavailability for comment.