DEF UK takes on hardware hacking
DEF rightly focuses on people and concepts, but rapid prototyping is another vital part of an innovative leader’s toolbox — and understanding it can help us create a culture of innovation.
On Thu 18 May, the Oxford chapter of DEF UK held an agora to discuss hardware innovation.
The event was hosted by Cyan Collier, director of digital innovations at Incuna. Incuna is an innovative provider of digital services and products to the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. The agora was held at Incuna’s office.
Keith Dear introduced the agora by highlighting the critical role of sheds in our technological history (or, for our American readers, garages). The Wright brothers, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard are preeminent examples of tinkerers who revolutionised their industries from their garages. The message was that these were people who ‘just got on with it’, solving problems iteratively through trial, error and persistence, that their discoveries — though now seen as revolutionary — were actually small developments building on things that already existed, bringing them together in new ways.
In recent years software development has been democratised as never before, with everyone’s nephew coding apps in their bedrooms — but tinkering has gotten more difficult. The technical complexity of our tools has increased dramatically (have you looked under your car’s bonnet lately?), and Apple has popularised the closed-architecture model of technology.
Keith and Cyan both argued that we’re on the cusp of a renaissance in hardware hacking, and that while closed architecture make tinkering appear impossible it is easier than ever before. While DEF primarily focuses on the conceptual, the ability to quickly to rapidly prototype a technical solution to a problem can be just as valuable. As Keith said, whether your challenge is conceptual or technical just get on with trying to solve it.
Don’t be scared of innovation
Cyan was careful to demystify the term “innovation”, which tends to be applied to step changes. In fact, innovation is a continuum from moonshots on one extreme to incrementalism on the other. Most innovation is actually incremental, and takes time: the Renaissance took 400 years!
Cyan also spoke passionately about the importance of the maintainers (hail the maintainers!). Creation is exciting, but over time organisations must move from creation to maintenance to be sustainable.
Democratisation of hardware hacking
Cyan shared his own experience as hardware hacker. He founded Project Tide to develop a smartphone app that could cheaply and accurately read medical diagnostic strips in the developing world. Cyan started with a very basic minimum viable product using a Raspberry Pi and a few bits and pieces from around the house. A second prototype used a phone and some 3D printed parts, which Cyan also built in his shed. Today, his strip reader is diagnosing TB across Africa with great accuracy at low cost. It seems set to revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of TB, which remains the world’s most deadly disease.
Cyan argued that his experiences are far from unique: hardware hacking is easier than it has ever been in our lifetimes. Wireless data is now ubiquitous, and works well. Sensors are very cheap. It is also now possible to “open source” hardware, as costs have come down due to automation, 3D printing and easy access to factories in low-cost countries.
As Cyan explained, the key principles of hardware hacking are simplicity and using as many materials that already exist as possible.
After Cyan concluded his remarks, he took attendees through a hardware hacking workshop. With a handful of electronic parts and a few lines of code, Cyan had participants building electronic thermometers and pulse sensors in just a few minutes.
The message was clear: hardware hacking is accessible to everyone.
