KonMari’ing My 2019 Schedule
I’ll admit it: As with most other blogs I’ve kept in the past, I am dropping the ball a little with this one as well. It’s been quite a while since I last made a post.
A lot did happen during these past few months. In fact, that’s precisely the reason (or perhaps excuse) as to why I have been so bad with posting updates.
It’s hard to believe that we are already nearing the end of February. And that means almost 1/6th of 2019 has already slipped right by!
Earlier this month, as I was re-centering my focus for 2019, I figured I would “KonMari” my schedule a little bit.
For what it’s worth, I have actually been living my daily life in a fairly minimalistic way for the past decade or so, and so there’s not much to “KonMari” there.
But my schedule is a different story. It’s filled up with all kinds of events and meetings, and a whole bunch of other startup-related stuff. I felt like something needed to be done about it.
See, the longer you’ve spent working on your own projects, the more you will understand the importance of prioritization. You might eventually learn to only focus on what really, truly matters in the grand scheme of things.
And with that mindset, the moment you realize that the direction you are taking isn’t necessarily the right one, you’ll be less hesitant to change course — or, in startup lingo — pivot.
Along the process, you will inevitably be saying “no” to a lot of things / people, which is often hard but necessary.
Here’s what I am getting at: The original rescue robot project, which this blog series is supposedly about, is now making a slight turn.
Having said that, my core goal to leverage technology to do good for humanity has remained intact.
What are My New Focuses?
In a nutshell, a couple of things:
- Seeing eye technologies for the visually impaired
- Robotics for stroke / traumatic brain injury (TBI) rehabilitation
Everything else, to quote Marie Kondo, thank you and goodbye for now.
Why Seeing Eye Tech
Instead of Rescue Tech?
In late 2018 (around the time blog post #3 was made), I started getting a lot of constructive feedback regarding the mission to build rescue robots.
The feedback and comments mostly share one common point: Basically, the scope of rescue robots is simply too broad, and the research phase too long. As a startup, we will have a long way to go before something practical and usable is ready for market.
When we become a much bigger team someday, it might be worth revisiting the search and rescue area. But for now, it is best to leave this mission to established labs that happen to have a lot more resources than we do.
Now what about seeing eye technologies? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “The estimated number of people visually impaired in the world is 285 million.”
In other words, visually impaired people are an underrepresented group whose lives can be improved by the right technologies. The use cases can already be clearly defined.
This is an area that urgently needs to be tackled.
Specific Projects
I am still very interested in building robots for good. Instead of focusing on search and rescue missions, I will now explore ways for the robots to assist blind people in their daily lives.
Coincidentally, as I was reorganizing my 2019 schedule, my brain decided that it had enough room freed up to come up with a new invention. It’s basically 3D-printed Braille bricks.
This will probably spin off as a new project in its own right. In the very near future though, new technologies can be built around the Braille bricks.
The best part? These all fit well with the underlying mission.
A Few Words on Part 2: Robotics for Rehabilitation
As some of my friends already know, I have recently joined Team HandyRehab, a startup developing robotic exoskeletons to assist stroke patients in their rehabilitation process.
I feel very fortunate to have met the team, especially while being able to stay where I am.
Because our missions align so well, working with HandyRehab will be one of my top priorities in 2019 and beyond.
That said, this blog series will most likely stay within updates about Part 1: Seeing Eye Technologies.
I’ll make a note to post about Braille bricks progress soon. Until next time!
