PHOTAVIA sparks more than nostalgia

PHOTAVIA’s origin story is an unexpected one. What started as an art project has evolved into a revenue-generating company focused on bringing a sense of calm and engagement into the lives of its clients.

Years ago, company co-founder Joe Hausch was involved in a regional art project designed to make the arts accessible to everyone in the community. Amid the painting classes and drum circles, an activity the group called “Time Capsule” seemed to have a powerful impact on elderly participants in the program.

The activity used headline making images from the past, like the iconic V-J Day in Times Square, and household objects from a bygone era as tools to make a connection with the elderly participants, many of whom were largely non-communicative. Program organizers and activity directors were astonished by the number of participants who positively responded to the activity, many breaking silences that held for weeks, and even months.

After a great deal of success in the field, Hausch and William Appleby, the owner of a vast collection of well-known historical images, decided to refine the activity and create something that could benefit a larger audience. The pair founded PHOTAVIA in 2015 and developed a series of short films pairing nostalgic images with soothing music and featuring a smooth-voiced narrator who provides an overview of the events being depicted. Titled A Moment in Time, each film is under three minutes and covers well-known topics like the launch of Apollo 11 and the career of Jackie Robinson.

The films were an instant hit with residents in senior centers and memory care units. But Hausch and Appleby soon realized the appeal of their short, quiet films went far beyond the senior care market.

“We started in hospitality…” Hausch said. “We called it ‘the solution for the pollution,’ the visual pollution that was out there… if you’re going to a four-star hotel and they’ve got all these screens there- back then, even eight years ago, you couldn’t put up CNN, there would be some catastrophe showing up. You couldn’t put on ESPN because not everybody’s a sports fan. It’s kind of distracting and not interesting.”

“The only competitors were the Food Channel or maybe Discovery, but still, there’s commercials that are on that are loud and distracting,” he continued. “It doesn’t really create an experience. We thought we could work in the lobby. We could work in the lounge. We could work in rooms, and that’s how we started.”

Soon, the company branched out to other public spaces.

“We pilot tested at Aurora St Lukes and 86% of the folks that saw us, from patients, to nurses, to doctors, said that we reduce the noise. We created something more interesting,” he said.

Hausch explained that while the company was excited by the appeal of PHOTAVIA in other vertical markets, the company has chosen to focus on “senior living, memory care, Alzheimer’s, dementia, and home healthcare” right now.

The company launched PHOTAVIA.TV, a tiered monthly subscription service offering access to the Moment in Time film series, as well as a trivia series, and other video content. The company offers buying options for the in-home user, as well as institutional licenses.

PHOTAVIA team member and nationally known specialist in the area of memory care and the aging brain Roger Anunsen explains why the product is so beneficial to its senior customers.

“When someone sees the photograph itself, they do have a moment that they recognize. (I call this)
 jumpstarting someone’s brain. I’ve used (the term) “jumpstart” since the Smithsonian talk that I gave in 2010, Jumpstarting Mature Minds,” Anunsen said.

“When I first saw PHOTAVIA, I saw it was not just jumpstarting,” he continued. “What do you do with the engine that got started when they see the VJ day photo or when they see something that resonates? The neuroscience that (causes the) jumpstart is often then applauded, but then it’s over. But when someone sees the storyline and uses multi-domains, they see it and they hear it. You’ve got two gears that are pushing.”

“At the end of the PHOTAVIA (video) people do have that feeling that in less than two minutes, they’ve refreshed and have taken that time travel that attracts them,” Anunsen said. “An important point in neuroscience is that distractions from stress from boredom are a dime a dozen. But when you can attract someone to something, that means something in their brain and in their life, that’s something that can then be extended and enhanced.”

Hausch sees the product as a tool that will help ease the transition from the home to a senior living facility.

“We tell them that they can use it as a marketing tool. If they buy a subscription and they have somebody come in that may be interested in the facility, if they’re already using PHOTAVIA.TV in the facility, what a great transaction,” he said.

The angel-backed company has raised $300,000 in capital according to Hausch, but is looking for more, largely to support academic research that will better help customers and investors understand the science behind how and why these videos both calm viewers and elicit social engagement.

To learn more about Franklin-based PHOTAVIA, connect with the company here.