iFly Singapore: Soaring Productivity with Canon’s Total Imaging Solutions
Skydiving tops many bucket lists; but for some, it remains a lofty ideal due to the extravagant cost. Fortunately, iFly Singapore offers the same experience with all the trappings at an affordable price while staying true to their promise and motto that “Anyone can fly”. Hailed as Singapore’s first indoor skydiving attraction, iFly Singapore is currently the world leader in indoor skydiving simulation, as well as the world’s largest themed vertical wind tunnel.So, what was the inspiration behind this unique idea and how does Canon factor into their daily work processes? We sat down with Lawrence Koh, Founder and CEO of iFly Singapore, to find out more.
Can you tell us more about iFly Singapore?
Lawrence: I was in the Singapore Armed Forces where I was in-charge of the parachuting school. On a trip to America, I witnessed how their skydivers and parachuters trained in commercial wind tunnels and that sparked my interest in indoor skydiving. It made me think outside the box of expanding these wind tunnels for commercial use.
The main motivation behind this was to offer the skydiving experience to both young and old while providing convenience, safety and affordability at the same time. Currently, skydiving isn’t available in Singapore and one would have to travel overseas in order to experience the activity. There is also an age restriction when skydiving overseas - only those above the age of 18 are permitted to skydive. With these barriers in mind, I came up with the idea of bringing the wind tunnel concept to Singapore, offering the same experience purely for amusement. This turned out to be a hit – 80% of our current clientele are first-time flyers, the youngest flyer being 7 years old and the oldest, 96 years old! In a nutshell, iFly Singapore offers a novel experience like no other accessible to everyone, and at only one-fifth of the cost of an actual skydive.
How have you integrated Canon’s solutions into your daily work processes?
Lawrence: We use many Canon devices in our daily operations, the most notable of which are the Canon cameras and imageCLASS LBP351x printers. These are used for one of my high-revenue generators – the cameras capture images of our visitors’ flight experience and the printers churn out souvenirs of their skydiving experiences. Out of 10 people that fly, at least three-quarters of our guests will definitely purchase a photo as memorabilia. If you do the math, this amounts to a large number of photos being taken and printed every single day.
Other than these, we also use Canon’s projectors and Internet Protocol (IP) cameras. The projector is used to screen videos of flyers’ flight experience and we’ve received good comments about the projected image; visitors are generally impressed with the clarity of the image despite being heavily backlit.The IP cameras allow us to monitor the happenings in the wind tunnel and boost the flyers’ overall flight experience. We have four cameras stationed on the second floor where flyers will be able to watch their flight experience, recorded with Canon cameras that are placed strategically inside and around the wind tunnel. The footage will be released almost immediately and flyers are able to review their performance, which is especially useful for competitive flyers who participate in competitions.
Why did you choose, and continue to choose, Canon over our other competitors?
Lawrence: I would say that Canon offers a very good overall package. We first chose Canon due to its reputation as we were assured of their quality. Their cameras and projectors have also impressed me with their high clarity and long durability. For example, we sent our cameras for servicing after four years, and that’s only after we had accumulated over a few million clicks! Over the years, our team has also built a good rapport with the Canon team, and we place a lot of trust in their customer service as they are always there to offer their assistance at any moment. This is something that we don’t experience with other brands. Our highly collaborative relationship benefits us immensely, and we’re grateful to have Canon as a partner.
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