Someswara Rao Pyla

A note from the ScanPlay team

Meet our founder

Someswara Rao Pyla is the founder and director of ScanPlay, and also the developer behind it. He designed and built ScanPlay's camera that recognises printed photos, the studio where customers create their playing photos, and the system that runs it all.

He is a seafarer by profession. His work takes him across the world's oceans and ports, and he brings back from every voyage a fresh way of looking at everyday problems. Alongside his life at sea, he spends his time creating new apps and software, and finding practical solutions for industries and for ordinary people.

What the team admires about him

• A seafarer who builds technology — between voyages, he keeps inventing and improving.
• A founder who writes the code — ScanPlay was built by its own founder, from the first idea to the live website.
• Made in India, for everyone — he wanted ScanPlay to work on the phone people already have, with no app to install.
• Problem first — he starts from the difficulty people face, then builds the simplest thing that solves it.

How ScanPlay began

Every day, huge amounts of printed material are made — wedding cards, visiting cards, posters, newspaper advertisements, menus and product packets. Once printed, they can show only one picture. The video, the voice and the moment behind that picture stay locked away on someone's phone.

Someswara Rao wanted a printed photo to be able to play: point a phone at the print, and the video plays right on top of it, as if the photo has come alive. It also had to be simple — no app to download, no special code to print, nothing new to learn. Just the phone's camera, in the browser.

That idea became ScanPlay. From it grew the scanning camera, a studio where anyone can create a playing photo in minutes, and a partner network that lets photographers, print shops and event managers offer ScanPlay in their own cities.

The solution ScanPlay brings

• Print that plays video — cards, posters, newspaper ads, menus and packaging become interactive.
• No app needed — it works in the phone's browser; people just point their camera at the print.
• Measurable print — every scan is counted, so a business can finally see how many people engaged with its printed advertisement.
• Opportunity for local partners — photographers, print shops and event managers across India can earn by offering ScanPlay to their customers.
• Affordable for everyone — pay only for the photos you create, with free credits to try it.