Innovating the Way Through Creating the New Normal for Business, Sales and Marketing

We talked to Chameera Wijebandara & Sameera Nilupul of LiveRoom about OGMO, a cloud-based content streaming platform specially developed for online stores, enabling customers to visualize products they buy through 3D and Augmented Reality, and they had the following to say:-

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

Sameera Nilupul: We are doing great! My family is spending so much time together now despite busy working hours. We are blessed in a way and not taking our days for granted. 

Chameera Wijebandara: We are following the precautions for COVID-19 to the best of our ability when it comes to day-to-day activities. All my family members are healthy and happy! Fortunately, my team members are also healthy and working from home in an effective manner during this hard time. 

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded LiveRoom. 

Chameera Wijebandara: We are both graduates from the University of Moratuwa as Computer Science Engineers. We had gathered the working experience while working at several places since our internship periods, and together with that experience and the enthusiasm we had in doing our own thing with our knowledge, ideas, and capabilities, we two together with DR Chandana Gamage from the University of Moratuwa brought the idea of forming our own company. The company’s formation is an extension of our Final Year Project, which was an Augmented Reality content streaming platform for e-commerce, which is now commercialized and improved as OGMO. 

How does LiveRoom innovate? 

Sameera Nilupul: LiveRoom is the leading solution provider in core computer graphics-based software development, which includes Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Computer Simulations, GPU Optimizations, and services in 3D content creation in Sri Lanka. With a strong team of 40+ who are well experienced and talented in the domains we provide services in, the company has been able to reach many countries, including Japan, the USA, Singapore, Australia, to provide services to a number of clients, partners, and collaborators. We always encourage our employees to innovate as well as to empower our client brands by creating unique products and services. LiveRoom has its own product, OGMO. OGMO, a cloud-based content streaming platform specially developed for online stores, enabling customers to visualize products they buy through 3D and Augmented Reality. OGMO can be easily integrated with your online store, allowing your customer to view your portfolio in Augmented Reality and configure products. With OGMO, our vendor clients can drive up the consumer experience as well as building a strong brand image and a simplified marketing process. Find out more about LiveRoom on https://www.liveroom.xyz and the OGMO on https://www.ogmo.xyz. 

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping? 

Chameera Wijebandara: We started working from home considering the safety of the LiveRoom team, where we initiated online meetings. The working from home transition became easier gradually. We provided all the facilities such as hardware and WIFI necessities to our teammates to make their remote work life comfortable. Virtual events are continuously organized to keep the team intact. Our product OGMO is always focused on the online market, where the e-commerce vendors can enable their customers to visualize products they buy through 3D and Augmented Reality. This COVID19 pandemic paved us with many opportunities to help the Sri Lankan community. Other than that, we were able to build many partnerships with international clients during the season to provide innovative AR and VR solutions. Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned? We faced many challenges to keep the teammates intact.

The methods of communication were developed in order to increase team spirit and team productivity. This time importantly taught us to adjust to the new process while embracing the changes. We opened a new center during the pandemic. This R&D and Design office is located in Bandarawela, Sri Lanka, in addition to the Technology center in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Since Bandarawela is our hometown, we found it convenient to handle the operations. Our teammates often visit the new center, which is quite helpful in team bonding and mental clarity. We are currently planning on new strategies to approach clients and recognition in both Sri Lankan and international markets for 2021. 

How do you deal with stress and anxiety? 

Sameera Nilupul: I always try to keep my emotions balanced and calm. I engage in sports activities during my leisure time, and also I travel a lot in my hometown with beautiful scenery during the weekends. 

Chameera Wijebandara: I am concerned about the well-being of my team, physically and mentally. I have always been a calm person, and I am fully aware that I must be healthy in order to help others. I love spending time with my family to ease my mind. I try to accept the situation as much as possible and encourage my team to be flexible with their working hours without interrupting the important meetings. I focus on increasing the team’s overall productivity by giving them some space to do their jobs at their own pace. 

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game? 

Sameera Nilupul: We consider ourselves to be catering to a niche market with a lesser number of companies providing the services same as we do; hence we put our maximum effort to give quality output to our niche market. Together with the technical expertise, the quality, and timeliness of our outputs, we believe we stand out from the rest, and our returning clientele proves the same as well. The LiveRoom team has set their mindset to develop themselves while continuously observing the technological trends. We treat team members equally and give them equal opportunities to implement their innovative ideas. Meaning our competitors are ourselves. We try to do better and improve every day. 

Your final thoughts? 

Chameera Wijebandara: Now we are adjusted to the new normal with the pandemic, observing the new technological adaptations. We consider this time period as a blessing where our teammates can step back and focus on which areas to improve. It is a period of personal growth. Also, with the world getting adapted to the new norms, technological advancements, increase in usage, and applications are seen a lot, which means the digital era is now reaching greater heights. That is a good thing. We wish this crisis situation to be over soon! Stay Safe, and we wish well to the whole world!!! 

Your website?

https://www.liveroom.xyz  

https://www.ogmo.xyz