Show me, and I will remember

You’ve probably seen the distinctive red housings, so you’ll know that AVT is a growing force in the machine vision camera industry. Launched twenty years ago, they first made their name as a purveyor of Firewire A cameras with aquatic names. Dolphin, Marlin, and Pike all sounded OK, but then they gave us the Guppy. It’s a good camera but could they have sought inspiration elsewhere in the marine world?

More recently, with their purchase of Prosilica they’ve leapt into the GigE world and with some justification, can claim to be “one of the leading manufacturers of high-performance digital cameras for industrial image processing.”

Now, clearly seeking to build on their successes, AVT have launched a new marketing initiative. This is a YouTube channel, AlliedVisionTV, that does a good job of showcasing both the company and their products.

Machine vision is inherently a visual technology, so this seems an intelligent move. In fact I’ve sometimes wondered why so many vendors rely on dry brochures and text-laden web sites to promote their wares. I’d like to see more companies follow AVT’s lead by providing video demos of how to configure and use their products.

It’s a powerful medium, so think how to use it to your advantage.