Last Tuesday, the University of Minnesota Entrepreneurship Club featured it’s sixth-annual BizPitch competition where eight student contestants were given 90 seconds to pitch their idea/product/plan to a panel of judges, potential investors and the crowd of peers for real-time feedback and potential prizes. Three of the eight pitches were tech related: College Life Today, Cirris (concept) and Juxtapose.
Juxtapose (v.) – To place side by side, especially for contrast or comparison.
Juxtapose is a very fitting name for such a tool that compares two audio files for quality. The idea for the application was spun out of a University of Minnesota Technology Entrepreneurship course (MGMT 4080W) by Owen Imholte and is currently available for a free 30-day trial here. Juxtapose is primarily targeted at audio technicians to simplify the process of comparing two different audio track samples for quality purposes.
There is also a consumer market need to be met as well; if you watch the demo video, you’ll see how consumer audiophiles could gain. Owen suggests audio-driven websites could benefit when posting podcasts (etc) by discovering the minimum file size, or bandwidth usage and the maximum quality.
Owen is currently the primary developer behind Juxtapose, a local application for Mac. Owen originally got the idea while debating bitrate requirements for desired MP3 quality. Using his application he found that 128 kbit is the same as CD-quality for him. (Please leave your thoughts about this in the comments, I’d be interested in what people think.)
As it is now, Owen does not see it turning into a web application, but he thinks creating a mobile version may broaden its appeal. In the coming months, the plan is to implement some user requested features and get a final version ready to ship. Looking long term, Owen mentioned that it might be possible to partner with a current audio software provider for increased distribution and enhancement of the product.
