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Meet Robert Siddell of Popar in North Phoenix

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Siddell.

For the past seven years, Managing Partner Robert has been focused on building Popar as a leading Augmented and Virtual Reality brand; with focus on its children’s smart product lines and custom mobile application development. Several years before Robert co-founded Popar with his business Partner Scott Jochim, they were innovating and designing hi-tech immersive experiences for Fortune 500 companies such as Toyota, Lego, and Phillip Morris. Under their parent company Digital Tech Frontier, LLC. (DTF), they created interactive adventures that utilized 3D stereoscopic imaging, Virtual Reality (VR) gaming, motion simulators, smell systems, and gesture recognition.

The Department of Education in Arkansas got word of their forward thinking and cutting edge technological capabilities, and hired DTF to design the Educational Reality System (ERS), that provided students with the modalities to explore and immerse themselves in educational landmarks around the world they were learning about such as Machu Picchu or the Louvre. The ERS was such a success since it appealed to the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles, that DTF was then asked to create a product that allowed the students to design their own VR tours which is how the Virtual Reality Development Lab (VRDL) was born. After years of success with the VRDL inside educational institutions throughout the USA, the next technological evolution was Augmented Reality (AR). Robert and Scott then created the Augmented Reality Development Lab (ARDL) that allows students to hold an augmented human heart and take it apart, launch a space shuttle, explore chemical elements, and so much more! Just like the VRDL, the ARDL was an immediate hit, and that is what gave Robert and Scott the idea to bring this amazing technology to the masses via retail consumer products.

Robert and Scott started Popar, and began blazing the trail as one of the first companies in the entire world to launch AR consumer products into the retail marketplace. Robert spearheaded the company launch by writing the first three smart books the company ever released. Through Robert’s leadership, Popar continues to breach new fronts with creative state of the art smart products, mobile applications, and retail partnerships. Over the past eight years, Robert has played a key role in establishing Popar as the leader in the emerging retail market of AR and VR based consumer items, with over 40 children’s consumer smart products, and over 50 applications worldwide. To date, Popar has more AR and VR infused children’s consumer smart products than any other company does in the world. Robert along with his amazing team, continue to shatter boundaries by bringing together the digital and the physical in order to create an amazing suite of products that appeal to the needs of the retailers, parents, and children.

Robert continues to bring Popar to the world by speaking and appearing at international conferences and trade shows geared around education and retail products. Popar traveled to Shanghai, China so that Robert could present how children’s products are evolving to incorporate smart devices in order to captivate, educate, and to extend the play pattern by connecting users to the physical toy at a higher level of engagement. Robert also spoke and accepted an award for “Best in Show” at the Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair for its line of smart toys. At the annual Nuremberg Germany Toy Fair, Robert and Popar were also awarded an opportunity to showcase their Safari Alive Smart Toys Set at the Tech2Play area with other large toy companies such as Spinmaster and Hasbro.

Robert has been instrumental in utilizing Augmented and Virtual Reality technology to market custom mobile application development to other firms in order to support their entertainment, education, and marketing efforts. Robert has led the charge in the amazing partnership they have with National Geographic and Discover with Dr. Cool. Popar designed a revolutionary app that brings their new 45-piece Wildlife Wow toy line that launched in major retail stores to life, to provide children digital engagement that is connected to the physical product. Robert has also been essential in collaborating with many other great companies that Popar has built apps for over the years such as such as GigaPetsAR, MasterPieces, Round World Products, Dragon-i Toys, SudBudz, and several others. Robert and his team will continue to push the boundaries of technology and smart products in order to provide consumers and companies immersive experiences that they never thought was possible.

Has it been a smooth road?
Business and the steps to success are never a smooth road. If it is a smooth road, I believe that you are not challenging yourself enough to venture into uncharted territory where you can find new solutions, untapped market niches, and thus success.

Sometimes it is really cool to be the first person or company to develop a new innovative product or service. Other times such as our case, it was an extremely difficult road with retail buyer push-back, rejection, and technological complications. Our company Popar was one of the first in the world to combine Augmented and Virtual Reality with consumer products. Now Augmented and Virtual Reality are trending as if its brand new technology that just came out. We have been developing these technologies for over ten years. The past eight years since we started Popar, have been extremely challenging and that is what has made us who we are today.

Years ago major market retail buyers all over the world questioned all our smart products and asked us why the big guns such as Hasbro, Mattel, and Spinmaster were not utilizing these technologies. My business partner and I found ourselves in a trail blazing position where we were actually creating a new consumer market segment. We are tech guys that learned the consumer product industry, not consumer product inventors trying to figure out technology. We realized that was our leg up on everyone as we understand video game and software development, and have the abilities to create everything in-house. However, even though at the time we were one of the only companies on the planet that had these types of smart products, that was the challenge because retail buyers couldn’t compare us with other consumer products as there was no competition. This made it very difficult in the early stages of our company to find the correct distribution channels. You can have the best product since sliced bread, but if you do not have the distribution channels, then your product goes nowhere and collects dust.

Even though we are just selling high quality physical animal/dinosaur figurines, books, puzzles, charts, and more, some buyers were so captivated by the Augmented and Virtual Reality technology included in the free bonus app, that they forgot they were just purchasing a simple product that they have already been selling for years with just more unique selling properties. The retail buyers assumed because they didn’t understand how a simple dinosaur figurine could instantly come to life and walk around your table when you focus an Apple or Android smart device at it, that no one would understand. At the time there were not many products that came included with a bonus app, and because of this we were standing alone and this was hindering us considerably. What they didn’t realize is that parents and teachers were starved for physical tangible products that they felt value in for their hard earned dollar, while kids just wanted the digital interaction. We saw this niche to captivate on both markets by bridging the gap between the digital and the physical, through creating physical educational children’s smart products that come included with a bonus Augmented and Virtual Reality app to serve both the needs of the parent and the child.

Another major hurdle in its own is technology. When we started the company, the hardware capabilities in phones could not handle our Augmented and Virtual Reality development capabilities. At this time we were trapped in offering consumers our smart products that came included with free computer software because tablets still didn’t exist, and the phone computing power was nothing like it is today. I will never forget when the iPad 2 came out in 2011 because that was such a huge game changer. This was the first tablet on the face of the planet that actually had a camera on it that we could access for the use with Augmented Reality, and it had the hardware capabilities to back it up. As we learned how to build apps, at the same time we were making our current products that came with free computer software obsolete. This was an extremely expensive transition to make our current products at the time all mobile compatible, while still supporting our legacy customers that had the free computer based software that came free with the product.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Popar is a leading edge, high-tech development company, specializing in software and consumer products for corporate and retail clients.

Popar changes the way children experience toys, stories, puzzling, and learning through its various lines of Augmented and Virtual Reality infused consumer smart products. Popar smart toys, books, tattoos, puzzles, and charts are sure to engage children of all ages as they come to life with stunning animations, marvelous games, educational read-along, and so much more! All Popar smart products are designed to change the way children learn and retain information, build listening comprehension, stimulate cognitive development, and provides them the tools for success tomorrow!

National Geographic, NBA, MasterPieces, and Kia, are just some of the major companies that Popar has developed mobile applications for; inspiring and connecting brands and consumers interested in their products or services. Popar’s innovative team creates interactive experiences that target customers directly, allowing you to connect with your audience on an immersive gamified level, while also fulfilling your marketing objectives.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes I do think that Phoenix is a great place for business like ours. With our city always being around the top 5 largest in the country, there is always a plethora of local talent that has been transplanted from all the world.

The cost of doing business in Arizona is low, there are great locations for office space, there are plenty of job-seekers in many categories, great weather, and the standard of living is amazing for the cost.

Pricing:

  • Popar Smart Toys: $29.99
  • Popar Smart Charts: $19.99
  • Popar Smart Puzzles: $9.99
  • Popar Smart Books: $9.99

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Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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