Mu Optics to Demo Hardware at Upcoming Trade Show (Allegedly)

On Monday, after months of silence, Mu Optics announced on their IndieGoGo page that their thermal camera will be shown at a week-long public event starting September 8th, 2014. No further details were provided, an odd thing for an event that is supposed to generate publicity. (Read more about the project here)

Wanting to find out more information about this 'public showing', I decided to call the CEO of Mu Optics, John McGrath. After explaining I was not part of the press, but a former supporter writing a story about their project, I was surprised to find that he kept talking to me.  We spoke for roughly ten minutes, with my questions focused mainly on the upcoming event, rather than technical challenges or development progress.  I was not confident I would get any meaningful answers on the technical side, plus I wanted to keep it short and relevant to the latest update.

John revealed that the team has been invited to participate in an upcoming trade show by a highly respected company. He would not, however, reveal the name of this company.  When asked if the event was in fact the International Manufacturing Technology Show (imts.com), he declined to confirm that as well. Since there are no other large technical shows scheduled for September 8-13 in the Chicago area, it's a safe bet this is the event in question. The participation with another company could explain why Mu Optics is not listed at an exhibitor for the event.  For critics, it could also be seen as more smoke and mirrors.

The unnamed company is planning on using the Mu Thermal Camera as part of their "tool-set".  There was no elaboration on the who the target market is for this "tool-set" or how the thermal camera fit in with the current offerings. Whoever this company is, they likely fall under the Inspection/Vision Systems sector of the show.  John, predictably, claimed he was unable to reveal more information at this time.

What to expect

When asked what people could expect to see from Mu, John shared that there will be six thermal cameras on display in the booth.  They anticipate getting feedback about the camera's general purpose and practical uses for the public and "always welcome feedback and suggestions."  The fact that six working cameras exist (if in fact they do), is quite a revelation in and of itself. Knowing their habit of not releasing any photos (or meaningful photos) as evidence of progress, I pressed John about what kind of updates backer could expect after the show.  He promised that photos of the event with sample thermal photos would be published online, during or after the event. This, of course, remains to be seen, but I hope to follow up with John at some point during the show.  I encourage anyone in the Chicago area to visit the show if you have time (note there is a $50 registration fee) and see what you can find.

Is there an app for that?

When asked about the status of Android and iOS apps for the camera, specifically if they have submitted either for approval to iTunes or the Play Store, he declined to give any answer. However, he did assure me that the app works on all iPhones, with no mention of current Android capability.  The obvious answer then is, no, they are not close to releasing the app.  Granted an app without the necessary hardware is fairly useless, but its absence adds to the suspicions of supporters and critics.

The best possible product

On the subject of delays, it was explained that they have been caused by a "multitude of reasons", but primarily due to the team wanting to get the best possible product out to market. This is the typical justification when any project is late, or extremely late.  I decided to leave it at that, since followup questions would only result in more non-answers.  The technical challenges of the design or shortcomings of the team itself were not mentioned. Without prompting, John assured me that they were not "a scam" and are "going to be delivering cameras."  Sadly, there is little proof that either is true, apart from a history of honoring refund requests.

"Only the paranoid survive"

At the end of our conversation, John shared with me his philosophy on operating this start-up.  He pointed out they there are creating a company, and want to ensure the future success of this company.  Their approach, as has been demonstrated through the IndieGoGo campaign, is to keep quite and release as little information as possible. He tells me "Only the paranoid survive."  John felt that he already had shared too much with me, despite not sharing very much at all.  In his mind, it all comes down to competition.  "I don't know of any other companies that release their strategic plans, detailed schedules, and technical progress for their competitors to see."  This concern appears to outweigh the fact that their crowd-funding campaign comes with the responsibility to update backers and deliver on their promises.  It's fair to say that the concept of publicity and marketing is lost on the Mu team. There is a very real, and admitted, paranoia about competitors gleaning important information from any sort of press release or update.  Speaking of competitors, John is eager to go "nose-to-nose with our competitors" [read, the FLIR 1].  He's seen the reviews and is confident the Mu Thermal Camera will hold its own.

That is, if it's ever released.