Raphael Bennett is another Chicago Internet entrepreneur who scrapped his first business idea to focus on an opportunity that emerged out of nowhere.

Bennett had created an Internet marketing firm shortly after graduating college and was working on creating digital images using a camera on a tripod when he accidentally kicked over the tripod, he said.

The accident threw off the image he was photographing, but led to a new Web-based virtual walk-through technology. When he switched from the new image to the old, he saw a forward progression, he said. By taking 10 images at different angles and stitching them together in a circle, he created the feeling of walking through a room.

Bennett researched the market and found nothing available like the technology he discovered.

"I was taught to evaluate options and see if they have a fit or need in the marketplace," said Bennett, president of operations. "If so, you better hurry quick and start to do it."

So Bennett sold the client list from his Internet marketing firm and used the funds to start NeuStep in May 2006.

NeuStep, which devised a proprietary mechanism for digital SLR cameras and created its own software, has received two patents protecting its walk-through process. The company gets most of its business from marketing agencies in the hospitality, convention and tourism industries.

But his big vision is to make the technology available to anyone through a platform similar to Flickr, said Gene Ellis, president of sales. Revenue would come from strategic advertising and a licensing fee to create the content.

"We think we can empower the world, while keeping the same margin and focus on innovation," Bennett said.

The company has outfitted an electric wheelchair with its equipment to capture images in a methodical way. "We have close to 10 gigabytes from the auto show and compressed it down to 100 megabytes," Bennett said.

The six-employee company generated $470,000 in revenue in 2007, Bennett said. Fees range from $5,000 to $7,000 per day, Bennett said, noting that the company shot 1.3 million square feet at the Chicago Auto Show in one 10-hour day.

But Bennett envisions a time when anyone will be able to use NeuStep's technology to create walk-through images on their own with the company helping customers process, organize and store the content.

The company now has servers in 18 locations throughout the world, to speed downloading time for clients. Bennett marvels at the accidental nature of his discovery.

"If I didn't kick the tripod, who knows?" he said.

Click here to see the 2008 Chicago Auto Show

—Ann Meyer, Chicago Tribune