THE IOT CHALLENGE: PROVE MIRRONG
FRAMING THE CHALLENGE: This semester my team and I (The Outsiders) had to face The Internet Of Things challenge and come up with the idea of a new product that will combine the internet with the ordinary devices. IOT is the inter-networking of physical devices where everyday items are connected with sensors, software and internet connectivity in order to collect and exchange data offering solutions to casual problems. As young people, we focused on the problems that we face. We noticed that music plays a vital role in our lives but with the fast pace our day passes by, we tend to refrain from the things we love.
SOLUTION: We came up with the idea of an ordinary mirror that through face-scanning plays music, suitable for your mood. Due to lack of time or energy we don’t always have the patience to open our laptop, wait for it to connect with the internet and then search online for something to listen to. Our special mirror gives solution to this problem very quickly. You just take a look in the mirror and the device through its facial recognition system recognize how you feel (sad, happy, anxious etc) and plays the suitable for this occasion playlist. All you have to do is connect it with your laptop the first time in order to absorb your music preferences in Youtube and Spotify.
GATHERING INSIGHTS: In order to support our start-up idea we had to take interviews from people who belong in the target group of our device. After many discussions we understood that such a device was missing from the available gadgets and people were really supportive of this idea. In fact, their observations helped us construct our idea better, especially in the technical part. What we learned is that people are willing to spend money in a gadget that will save them time and can use it as much as possible.
VALUE PROPOSITION-VISUALISATION OF OUR IDEA: According to our business plan, we sell our product through retail, gadget stores and our e-shop. The promotion will be through google ads, tv commercials, social media and promotion events. The first prototypes will need crew costs, production costs and technical help about the final design. We aim to create an elegant innovative gadget with double use that will exceed customers’ expectations.
WHAT WE LEARNED-THE NEXT STEPS: Personally speaking, this process taught me the big steps technology has done and I realised that in some years even our entire houses will be connected with the internet. Regarding our product, we tried to create a gadget that will make people lives’ easier combining technology and music. Our next steps are unknown but we hope to take part in similar projects in the future.
