Roman Sick of Holoplot

There are several people in a room, but one of them is listening to a completely different sound than someone who is standing only a few metres away. And without headphones. The first impression is: that’s not possible. Way off the mark! Berlin-based startup Holoplot has developed a technology that purposefully bundles acoustic waves. Holoplot has now won an award for its technology at the “South by Southwest” tech festival in Texas.

Mr. Sick, with Holoplot you “bundle” acoustic waves and direct them purposefully to a particular spot in the surrounding area. Can you explain that process in detail?

That is correct. We have developed a new technology that enables us to form new acoustic wavefronts. In addition to generating ordinary spheric waves that are usually emitted by all speakers, this enables us to generate planar waves with a significantly higher level of efficiency. For one, these waves are laterally very limited and do not spread uncontrollably. Furthermore, the energy of these waves remains very constant, which enables us to achieve a constant volume with increasing distance. Seeing as our product is very software-driven, we can determine very precisely through a simple control mechanism where the wave is to be transported to. The exciting thing is that we can send different contents from the same system in different directions at the same time. This opens up completely new possibilities.

Initially, one might think that this is an application aimed at the music industry. But in fact, many different enterprises and organisations have their eyes fixed on your product - among them Deutsche Bahn, where you were part of the Accelerator programme. How can Deutsche Bahn use Holoplot and what are typical examples from other segments? 

That’s true. Generally, our technology can be applied in a wide range of fields. With our product, the customer benefits from a significant improvement of their contents on the one hand, as there are no disturbing reflections or unnecessary loss of energy. On the other hand, we offer customers a whole new world of experiences by bringing sound waves very close to the listener, which was possible only with headphones so far, and by changing rooms acoustically without using additional speakers. For Deutsche Bahn, the former is of interest, since railway stations are complex environments where speech intelligibility, noise disturbance and specific information are important elements. The application field is the railway station itself. Other customers come from event, entertainment and conference fields.

Recently, you have been awarded the innovation prize by the jury of the renowned Texan tech festival “South by Southwest” (SXSW). How does this award facilitate your anticipated entry into the US market?

An appreciation by an event such as SXSW is always a great thing for a startup and it helps significantly in establishing credibility and media reach. We have also received very positive reactions from the United States. However, the entry into the US market needs to be planned carefully and still requires some preparation work.

What are your plans for the near future?

Oh, we’ve got plenty to do and we have very exciting projects. Generally, we are working on tailoring the product perfectly to our customers’ needs and we are about to acquire the first big partnerships and customers.

Your main offices are in Berlin. In what way do you as a technology-based acoustics startup benefit from the varied scene with experts from the fields of art, culture, IT and increasingly also VCs and businessmen?

Berlin is a very good location for us since, as you already mentioned, it offers a broad variety of customers, partners, investors and potential staff. We have a product that the customer needs to experience and thus the proximity to an attractive city is important. The best thing about Berlin is the informal and friendly networking that is taking place between startups and other actors. Everyone is trying to help each other. That’s great and it helps a lot.

Before we end the interview, I have one last request. Could you please complete the following sentence: Berlin is...

...not only a very dynamic city, but also the right place to create something new and challenge outdated concepts.