Here’s A New Kind Of SaaS: Selfies As A Service

January 21, 2020 by Dave Haynes

A Brooklyn, NY tech design studio called Cactus has developed a full hardware and software platform designed to make it dead simple for people to take selfies in formal spaces like shops, malls, museums and event centers.

There are numerous examples of large selfie stations that are essentially big digital posters with a camera at the top. The difference with Mira is that it is a much more diminutive wall-mounted system that can be more easily integrated into an “experience” – whatever that may be.

You register at a small tablet, get a QR code tied to your persona, and then when you want to use the system to take a selfie – maybe in front of logo wall at an event – you scan the QR code and get in place, alone or with friends.

You could, of course, do this with selfie sticks, really long arms, or have someone else take the photo – but this simplifies the whole thing, and both the camera and lighting are tuned to the circumstances.

Says Cactus:

Mira captures professional quality, perfectly-framed photos, videos, time-lapses, and GIFs. The system is fully automated, meaning that your guests stay in the moment and are not distracted trying to capture selfies on their phones.

There are software and display solutions in digital signage and AV that have things like selfie stations and digital photo booths, so this is hardly a revelation. But I like the focused thought around this, and the flexibility.

For a solutions provider that has a client ask for this sort of thing, but would rather stay in its technology lane than get distracted by this kind of one-off need, Mira might be a nice way to make the client happy but not use up any precious R&D or sourcing time.

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