XIMEA cameras have been into space, are used in the production of the world’s best-selling videogaming titles and in the making of the Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster, Avatar, and are regularly purchased by technology giants such as Apple, Google, Facebook, Disney, and Electronic Arts. The globally successful technology company, XIMEA, is the first major business client that has decided to purchase its own premises in VYDRICA Offices. Based in Slovakia, the company designs, develops and manufactures a wide range of industrial, scientific and special-purpose cameras used in a variety of high-end technology applications. We spoke to XIMEA’s managing director, Michail Klimkovitch, who says he sees their new offices in Vydrica as a strategic, long-term investment.
XIMEA – an innovative camera specialist
XIMEA designs, develops and sells high-hand industrial and scientific cameras and camera systems. The history of the company, which currently employs approximately 50 people, dates back to 1993. Its first camera was developed three years later. Visual and imaging technologies gradually become its main line of business. Originally a family business, it was renamed XIMEA in 2010 and expanded its product portfolio to include industrial cameras and integrated camera systems. Research, development and design are the responsibility of around 25 developers and engineers at a technology campus located in the woods near Marianka, while the company’s manufacturing operations are based in Zohor. XIMEA delivers state-of-the-art technology and imaging systems to customers around the world, including Tier 1 technology corporate giants, such as NASA, Google, Apple, or Facebook.
What is so unique about your products?
Our cameras are unique and renowned for their speed, compactness and their superior build quality.
Many of our products were the first to be used in pioneering industrial applications around the world. Measuring just 15×15 millimetres, our smallest USB3 camera is roughly the size of a 10-cent coin. You can embed it in a pair of glasses, or in any small device. Our highest resolution XIMEA camera has 240 megapixels. We also have high-speed cameras capable of capturing up to 100,000 images per second in a reduced format.
It is often only later that you learn of the many ways in which your cameras and components have been used. Can you give us some specific examples of how and where your technology has been deployed?
You cannot buy our products over the counter in an ordinary store, as our sales department focuses on B2B customers. Our tailor-made imaging and visual systems are supplied to innovative corporations, which integrate them in their own applications, making them part of their know-how. Our cameras give them a competitive edge.
For example, it was just by chance that we learned that cameras manufactured at our Zohor facility were used in the production of the Hollywood blockbuster, Avatar, directed by James Cameron. In a NASA documentary, we spotted an astronaut on the International Space Station wearing a helmet with a camera marked with our logo attached to it. They tested it as a novelty product, comparing its output with other similar devices. The XIMEA camera delivered a clean, smooth, and high-quality image, which pleased us immensely. Apple buys hundreds of cameras from us every year, but we have no idea what they are used for, because the company is extremely secretive about its innovative projects.
Our high-resolution cameras are used for mapping panoramic images from cars or planes based on the same principle as Google Maps or Google Earth. Companies like Disney and Electronic Arts use our cameras to record virtual and augmented reality in the production of world-famous video gaming titles. Such diverse applications of our cameras is very inspiring for us.
In which sectors and industries are your imaging systems, cameras and components most frequently used?
We cover a wide range of scientific, industry level and extremely specialist applications. Scientific grade cameras usually need to deliver a high-quality picture with very little noise. They are used in microscopes, for example. Our cameras were also used by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Our portfolio of scientific grade equipment also includes X-ray cameras, which are used in industrial tomography systems in material property research. XIMEA cameras are also used in the automotive industry and in the monitoring and supervision of manufacturing processes. You can find them in waste recycling systems and in fruit and vegetable sorting lines. Our state-of-the-art hyperspectral cameras are widely deployed in industrial automation processes, as they cover the infrared as well as the visible spectrum. This means, for example, that a camera on the sorting line can distinguish a healthy apple from one which has already started to rot, but this is not yet visible to the naked eye.
All cameras are highly customisable in order to meet the demands and requirements of our customers and their specifications. Each of them has a different use for our imaging technology and systems. We strive to meet our customers’ requirements by finding and delivering new and innovative solutions. That is why the working environment is also very important for us.
Why did you decide to purchase offices in VYDRICA Offices?
We see our office space in VYDRICA Offices as part of a long-term strategic decision to further expand our business. We are committed to sustainable growth and our technology campus in Marianka, where we are headquartered now, is almost at full capacity. We have been looking for new premises for several years now, but the development projects we were offered lacked in something. Vydrica was love at first sight and we associate it with the future and identity of our company. Given our commitment to sustainable development and our long-term vision, we didn’t want to just rent premises. The possibility to buy an entire floor really made a big difference.
What will your offices look like?
We believe that the working environment shapes and inspires the innovative mindset and creativity of our employees. We are committed to maintaining our drive, agility and level of technological advancement and expertise. Retaining the best talent and creating a working environment that inspires our people is very important to us and Vydrica is a strategic asset for us in this respect. We are constantly looking for highly skilled, seasoned experts with a go-ahead attitude, and for new graduates. We also work in close cooperation with Slovak universities. I believe that XIMEA is doing its part to retain technology talent in Slovakia, offering a great opportunity for professional development in a globally renowned domestic company so that people do not have to leave and seek a career abroad. We want to provide the best opportunities for collaboration, exchange and sharing of information, and the development of new innovative ideas and solutions. Our future premises will be in line with state-of-the-art trends in office design, including focus zones, open space, common social areas, and conference rooms.
What made you decide to set up your new headquarters in the emerging neighbourhood under the Bratislava castle?
Vydrica impressed us with its excellent location, accessibility, representative look, and superior design. It’s a great place in a good neighbourhood with a beautiful view of the Danube River, with the atmosphere of the Old Town and its rich history. This is going to be an intimate and compact city district. The unique architecture of the low-rise buildings is also inspiring. I am pretty sure we’re going to feel right at home in Vydrica.
