Woobius collaboration tool reaches final of Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2009

Tuesday, 18 August 2009

Woobius, a new low-cost file-sharing and collaboration solution targeted at architects and other designers has reached the final of the Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2009 competition. This international contest aims to accelerate innovation in the mobile internet sector, and the Woobius Eye mobile application is one of three UK entrants in with a chance of winning the €75,000 first prize at the final in Amsterdam on 25 September.

Formally launched in the UK in June 2009, Woobius is a web-based Software-as-a- Service (Saas) platform accessible from any internet-connected computer with a Flash-enabled browser. Projects can be established on Woobius in seconds, while the simple interface enables a rapid start to team collaboration.

Access to the Woobius platform will be possible from mobile devices using a downloadable application, Woobius Eye. With this, team members can interact remotely with construction project documents and drawings, and can also use it to discuss project progress in real time. For example, a construction manager on site can take a photograph on site and use the mobile interface to share the image with an architect in his design office, complete with mark-ups and comments. Uniquely, the architect can then talk to the construction manager about the issue shown in the shared image in real time, using on-screen pointer icons to support his spoken comments.

Woobius CEO Bob Leung, a practising architect, says: "Woobius Eye is, we believe, the first application aimed expressly at office-to-site design collaboration via the mobile internet. We are developing a prototype now and are looking for real-life projects, by construction professionals using mobile devices equipped with camera and touchscreen.

"We have come through two demanding presentations to jury panels to reach the Vodafone Mobile Clicks final, learning much from the experienced jury's feedback along the way. We've had to demonstrate originality, creativity and innovation, and show technical and managerial acumen. And like the five other finalists at the PICNIC event in Amsterdam, Woobius will be vying to show that it can turn its product into a commercially viable product within two years."

London-based Woobius Ltd was founded in 2007 by Leung (formerly of Fosters + Partners, now at Make Architects), technologist Daniel Tenner, and others with background in architecture, software and marketing; architect James Goodfellow has led Woobius Eye development throughout the contest to date. A Beta version of Woobius was first used on live projects in mid 2008. By the end of July 2009, the user community had expanded - almost exclusively through word-of-mouth recommendation - to over 3500 people, drawn from over 200 companies, working on over 100 projects in some 32 countries.

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