Devika is a Wollongong company specialising in emerging technology.
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Since establishing in 2016 it has quickly grown to provide clients and schools with innovative services.
Sally Fitzgibbons came on board as ambassador after Devika helped her with a website and a mobile app.
The business has grown into two offices in the SMART Infrastructure Facility at University of Wollongong.
“We had an office at the mall but moved here when Prof Pascal Perez saw some of the stuff we build and was excited about what we do,” founder Ken Kencevski said.
A team of developers works from SMART on projects for clients around the globe including Canada and the USA.
Devika has an office at Barangaro and is looking to open customer service hubs in Toronto and Santa Monica.
“One of our recent collaborations has been with Westpac where we worked together to change the future of banking with augmented reality,” Mr Kencevski said.
“While banking is currently done primary through online apps, our partnership with Westpac allowed us to push the boundaries and develop a way to use augmented reality for online banking.
“To make transactions, the headset is put on, then hand gestures and voice commands are used to view accounts, make deposits or even process payments.”
Another project Devika has been working on is with Visikol.
“We have used virtual reality and data visualisation to better understand brain disease,” Mr Kencevski said.
“This innovative product has enabled scientists to view an accurate, sample brain which can be dissected, thinly sliced and reconstructed to then be repurposed.
“It has the potential to advance scientists understanding and findings by allowing them to see tissue and cells up close and interact with the visual.”
Devika was recently involved a project focused on Antarctica.
“Projects within the education stream we have worked on include introducing virtual reality into schools with our product, Kolb.
“It enables students to put on a headset and ‘travel’ to Antarctica, see penguins up close in an effort to engage them in experiential learning.
“We’ve recently presented Kolb with Dell to the Department of Education to engage more schools.
“We also have a program where students learn how to make their own content instead of just viewing it, such as website design, and scratch coding.”
Mr Kencevski’s vision is to continue growing the business and employment for graduates by using emerging technology to work on many diverse projects.
He is keen to keep challenging himself and his team and keep pushing boundaries on what can be done.
He thinks the way to achieve great things is to not be afraid of failure.
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