Video streaming has grown into a $129.26 Bn global market and aims to reach $416.8 Bn by 2030. But this growth also marks a limitation of video as a medium as it remains largely one-way. Brands use it to communicate their positioning, but the audience rarely interacts with the content.

By blending physical and digital worlds, MR allows consumers to engage with the content, instead of merely consuming it. And, it has begun shaping advertising campaigns.

Shourya Agarwal, Malhar Patil, and Amit Gaiki built Flam back in 2021 as a platform for brands to publish MR content accessible through QR codes or links across digital and physical channels. They designed the platform to offer a seamless experience where users can scan a code and immediately interact with the content.

In the last four years, Flam has worked with Samsung, Flipkart, Ajio, Dabur, Tanishq and a host of brands on their MR campaigns. It has raised $4.5 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round in May 2024 from Silicon Valley Quad, Inventus Capital Partners, Turbostart, Twin Ventures, and marquee angels like Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, VC veteran Ashish Gupta, celebrity cricketer KL Rahul and YRF chief Akshaye Widhani.

As the MR industry stays the course to surpass $40 Bn in market size, Inc42 spoke to Gaiki, cofounder and CTO of Flam, to comprehend how technology is changing the industry norms and how Flam is enabling this growth using GenAI.

Here are the edited excerpts from the interview:

Inc42: Mixed reality has turned into a game-changer, but it’s too complex to understand. How would you explain MR in simple terms? Also, how does Flam make it accessible to everyday users?

Amit Gaiki: Mixed reality is basically a blend of the real and digital worlds where virtual elements interact with your physical surroundings. At Flam, we focus on taking this concept out of the niche and into everyday life. Instead of relying on expensive headsets or complex apps, we use something everyone has – a smartphone.

By simply scanning a QR code, users can experience immersive MR content through print ads, digital, retail, billboards, or even TV screens. This way, we’re making MR not just futuristic, but also practical and easy.

Inc42: Getting a little deeper into the mechanism, what actually happens when someone scans a Flam-powered QR code?

Amit Gaiki: Flam guarantees an effortless interaction. There’s no app to download or complicated steps to follow – just open your phone’s camera, scan the code, and that’s all.

Let me share some examples. With Flipkart, we placed a Flam-powered QR code in a newspaper ad. Scanning it brings users to a virtual living room where they can browse TV deals using a digital remote, all within a mixed reality environment. For Samsung, we went a step further and created a voice-enabled MR experience. Here, users could navigate and explore the space simply by speaking. It’s an experience that doesn’t just respond, but speaks with the users.

The voice MR uses advanced speech recognition integrated with mixed reality to enable this hands-free, intuitive engagement. So, instead of just tapping or swiping, users can ask........

© Inc42