I like all ten of my ideas, however I am biased because I picked them. In order to test if these ten ideas are actually marketable, I personally polled 15 students around campus. I had them complete an anonymous google form survey with 6 questions for each of my 10 products.
My six questions were (in this order): "What do you think of this idea?", "Do you know someone who might use this?", "Would you use this product?", "Can you see yourself owning this item?", "Would you buy this?", and "How much would you pay for this?".
I showed them sketches of each of my product ideas accompanied by a short verbal description. Below is a list of my ideas along with a summary of my verbal descriptions that accompanied the sketches.
Bike Whistle: "This whistle would attach to the handlebars of any bike and would emit an audible noise to warn pedestrians and vehicles of your presence. A funnel would capture the air and concentrate it to make this work even when moving at low speeds. There is a slide to adjust the pitch to personal preference and volume."
Goldy Gopher Nose Warmer: This insulating device would cover one's nose during the winter months. It is open underneath to allow for easy breathing. Straps would go around the ears for a snug fit. Plus, it is cute, like Goldy Gopher.
Note Alert Pen: This pen would incorporate a microphone to actively listen to your lectures and meetings and will vibrate slightly when it recognizes something that might be note-worthy.
The Reminder Ring: This GPS-enabled ring can be set to provide location reminders via a smartphone app. When you get to a certain location, for example, the grocery store, it will buzz and you will be reminded to buy more milk, for instance.
Environmentally-aware headphones: These headphones would operate much like standard noise-cancelling headphones by incorporating an actively-listening microphone which will play back the reverse of the sound waves in order to cancel out ambient noise. These would have the added feature of being able to be programmed to listen for a certain word of phrase, such as your name, which will then disable noise-cancellation and allow you to hear who is talking to you.
The Canopy Lampshade: This lamp would incorporate a potted plant at the base, which would grow up onto a trellis and become the lampshade. At the end of the season, you may have ripe tomatoes hanging near your desk, or fresh herbs to pick and place on a salad. It will bring some light and life to a room.
The Grow N' Snip herb-cutting Flowerpot: This flowerpot would incorporate a food-safe cutting edge, eliminating the need for scissors or pruning shears when harvesting. Simply bend the leaf down to the edge and harvest what you need.
Plant Pals!: These electronic flowerpots would incorporate sensors to measure the growing condition inside the pot. Metrics like humidity, pH, and temperature will be translated into emoticons that will give your plants some personality.
Your Personal Plant Factory: This device would produce a substantial amount of leafy green vegetables. Lights would be raised and lowered robotically as plants grow for optimal productivity. The device would be connected to a smartphone app that will provide reminders as to when to water, and when it's time to harvest! This would make farming an automatic process.
Chalk-able flowerpots: These flowerpots would be designed with a writable surface to allow for personalization and written messages. This way, your mom could write a message like, 'The Basil is ready, or the Tomatoes are ripe - eat them!' directly on the pot.
After these polls had been completed, I analyzed my data. Here are the results:
Bike Whistle:
The price ranged from 50 cents to 30 dollars. Many of the "other" responses consisted of comments exclaiming that the participants didn't ride bikes at all in the first place.
Goldy Gopher Nose Warmer:
People loved the Goldy Gopher nose warmer idea, but, as a fun gift. Many couldn't see themselves owning it. Price ranged from 50 cents to 30 dollars. Most would have paid between 10 and 15 dollars.
Note Alert Pen:
This idea performed very well in the polls - since this was a student population. All participants knew someone that would use this and 73% would have used it themselves. The price ranged between 10 and 100 dollars, with most paying over $40.
The Reminder Ring:
Prices ranged between 15 and 100 dollars. Many thought this was a good idea. One had concerns about battery life. 80% knew someone who might use this.
Environmentally-aware headphones:
Everyone knew someone that might use this. 60% said they would themselves. Over 50% could see themselves owning this and would buy it. Prices were much higher on average, ranging from $20 to $500.
The Canopy Lampshade:
This idea performed very well. 87% knew someone who might use it. 67% would use it themselves. 60% could see themselves owning it, and over 50% would buy it. Prices ranged from 15 to 75 dollars. The Grow N' Snip herb-cutting Flowerpot:
This idea didn't do so well. People thought it was dangerous, quoting it as "an insurance hazard".
Plant Pals!:
People loved this idea. 100% of participants knew someone who would use this. 73% would have themselves. 67% could see themselves owning this. 87% would have bought this for themselves or as a gift. Prices were consistently higher, ranging from 15 to 75 dollars.
Your Personal Plant Factory:
Reviews were mixed on this. Prices ranged from 10 to 200 dollars. Chalk-able flowerpots:
Some wouldn't buy because it seemed more like a DIY project. Most knew someone who would use this and would have used it themselves, but couldn't see themselves owning or buying it, unless as a gift. My top 5:
- The Goldy Gopher Nose Warmer: I chose this because I thought it had great potential for sales during winter football and hockey games. Plus, it would be simple to manufacture. - Name-Aware Headphones: I chose this because it did well in the polls and I believe that this technology will be available to us soon. I might as well patent it first. - Plant Pals! - I chose this because it did very well in the polls and I have the knowledge to actually produce this. - The "Note Alert" Smart Pen - I chose this because it did so well in my polls. There is clearly a need to re-invent the pen. - The Automated Plant Factory - I chose this because I am passionate about sustainable agriculture and smartphone integration.
Novelty:
The Goldy Gopher Nose Warmer:
Most of these nose warmers are handmade and available on Etsy for between 5 and 30 dollars. It seems the UMN sports department has tried a similar idea in the past, but never a nose warmer.
Feasibility: This product is extremely feasible. Cost to manufacture would be extremely cheap, since it would be made out of felt or some other fabric. The design could be outsourced. We might need to obtain licensing rights from the University to produce this - which could be expensive. The cost to implement these would likely be under $1,000 - and this would likely get you a large quantity of them to be sold at gopher sports games.
Patenting: It seems someone has patented this idea. However, this could be superseded by a unique design patent.
Name-Aware Headphones:
Many of these headphones listen to the world around them in order to create a noise cancellation effect. None that I have seen incorporate my idea of programming a key word that would activate/deactivate this feature.
Feasibility: The technology for the "name and environmentally aware" headphones ready exists. Vocal recognition was originally pioneered by technology company, Nuance. Even apple incorporates this technology into each of its devices capable of supporting Siri. Bose and others have already finely tuned noise cancellation technology. I could easily see a merger of these two technologies. With Apple's acquisition of Beats headphones, I think this technology could could be easily and beautifully implemented. The cost to research and develop these independently would be enormous. Likely in the tens of thousands for several rounds of prototypes and market testing.
I found two patents pertaining to this technology:
Plant Pals!
As far as I can tell, the blue-faced plant-pal-like product does not actually exist. There are many DIY Arduino projects detailing how to create a plant-monitoring system, however, but these are not user friendly. Plant Pals would stand out in this market.
Feasibility: The technology to do this already exists. Many of it is on the open Arduino platform. I would need to hire a coder/programmer to develop code to interpret data from the sensors. i would also need to hire a graphic designer to design the emoticons and the shape of the pot itself. A production-model prototype would likely cost under $1000 in parts, and another $1,000 in labor and programmer consulting. Links to similar DIY projects from around the internet:
http://lifehacker.com/build-a-moisture-sensor-that-shows-emoticons-when-a-pla-1490420948
http://www.instructables.com/id/Garduino-Upgrade-Now-with-more-Twitter/
Here is a patent pertaining to my idea:
The Note Alert Pen:
http://digital-pen-review.toptenreviews.com/
Many of the pens advertised their storage capacity in terms of number of pages that it could record. These pens are used to record lectures and also to digitize handwritten notes. None of the pens had the technology that my idea proposed, which was an actively listening pen that would notify you when something was said that was of importance.
Feasibility: This technology would be hard to implement. A microphone that is always listening will drain a lot of battery. Also, vocal recognition and speech analysis is not advanced enough yet for it to understand what we are saying and know what should be deemed important vs. what should not. Even Siri has her miscommunications. Advancing vocal recognition technology to the point which would be necessary to make this product a reality would take millions of dollars and years of research.
I found two patents related to this idea - there are likely many more:
The Automated Plant Factory
Feasibility: The field of hydroponics is changing rapidly. LED lights are becoming more efficient and their prices are dropping. Additionally, we are entering the age of the Internet of Things. It's only right that this device be connected to the internet and to our smartphones. Implementing these advanced electronics will be pricy. However, hopefully the consumer views this as an investment in their personal health and wellbeing. The most prominent player in this market is Aero Grow. Other smaller manufactures and design firms are producing their own as well, such as the Green Wheel and the Volksgarden. This product would be expensive to implement because of the complexity of controlling so many environmental variables, however, I think it is a worthy challenge. There are not many fully enclosed, fully automatic devices such as mine, and this design has several distinct advantages.
Producing this product will not be cheap. There are nay electronic components and parts to be fully developed. A team of engineers will be required for both the hardware and software. Based upon the progress I have made in my own prototype, my estimates are that to finish this device would cost several thousand of dollars on the low end, and $15,000 on the high end in order for it to have the chance of becoming a viable product.
Many people are working in this field. Here is a sample hydroponics patent:
Here is some further inspiration related to my idea.
My original course theme was "Healthy Living." I have modified my problem statement. It is now a combination and elaboration of my original two, which were:
1.) How might we cook a healthy, non-boring meal at the end of the day that doesn't take a lot of time/energy?
2.) How might we avoid excessive packaging and the need to carry around tupperware containers for our fresh food throughout the day.
The problem statement I am working with moving forward from here, is:
How might we get people to eat more fresh vegetables? Archetypal Product: Most people don’t live in a rural area or have access to quality green spaces. The most common interaction that people have with plants (especially during Minnesota winters) is when they eat them (if they eat them at all). I chose an archetypal product which currently allows people to experience a direct connection to plants and fresh vegetables by allowing them to grow their own. This is, of course, the simple potted plant.
The Simple Pot. Agrarian-age archetypal. Some have drainage holes underneath, some do not.
SCAMPER: I applied the structured ideation technique, SCAMPER, to this archetypal product to see where this design could be improved upon in modern times. Below are my structured lists and seven new product sketches. Substitute:
Substitution list
From this list I selected my substitution idea of "growing in something other than soil." Hydroponics is the obvious solution, but I wanted to develop something entirely new. The idea I had was to grow in something that would be porous enough to hold water while allowing the roots to breathe and retaining moisture for an extended period of time. I came up with “The Root Sponge". I envisioned that the pores of this spongey material could be engineered and structured in such a way as to coax the roots to grow in specific patterns that could theoretically increase the productivity of the entire plant.
The "Root Sponge"
Combine: I contemplated the archetypal potted plant some more, considering what features I could combine in order to solve potential problems that people might experience when growing their own plants. From this list, I chose the idea of attaching a coffee mug handle to a plant pot. This would allow for easier carrying of the plant, and would make the process of watering more convenient - simply hold the mug/pot under the faucet as if you were filling a regular glass of water. Additionally, this item would free up clutter around the house and in cabinets. Rather than having another random clay pot lying around when your plant is harvested, put it to another good use, as a drinking cup!
Combine List
The Pot-Cup is essentially just a mug. A small opening at the bottom can be plugged for drinking purposes or removed to allow for proper soil drainage when growing a plant.
The pot-cup-mug
Adapt: for this brainstorming exercise, I considered the ways that the archetypal plant growth process could be combined with emerging technologies and other existing products. For instance, I considered genetic technologies, but worried that the general public might consider these too controversial. I then thought about applying Henry Ford's classic assembly-line to the process of growing a plant, robotically. My favorite idea however, was to "Gamify growing." I wanted to make the process of growing a plant more interactive and fun so that people would actually take care of their plants and feel a genuine connection to what they are growing. I envisioned a "chia pet" at first, but then thought about applying electronics as a means of providing feedback to the user.
Adapt list
This resulted in the conception of a "Pot Pal"which would incorporate electronic sensors to interpret the growing conditions and display an emoticon based upon how happy the plant is.
The Pot Pal!
Maximize/magnify/Minimize: For this section, I considered things like concentrating the suns rays with a magnifying glass, changing the size and shape of the pot itself, changing the location of the plant for easier access, and magnifying the prominence of the foliage and roots. This idea of maximizing roots resulted in the idea that I selected for this section. I envisioned a clear plastic pot with a sliding door which would allow people to safely examine the roots and determine how well their plant is doing. This would "maximize the root experience" of growing a plant. A product like this would be an informational gauge as to when a plant will need repotting and could also be a fun and educational tool for teaching children about plant growth and the importance of plant roots.
Magnify/modify/minimize/maximize list
I dubbed this, "The Remember Your Roots Pot."
Remember your "roots, shoots, and leaves."
Put to Other Use:
For this section, I considered putting plants to other non-conventional uses. For instance, I thought of genetically engineering a vegetable which would have a stringy stalk that one could use as floss after a meal, making the growing medium edible, making the entire pot biodegradable, engineering the plant into a bioreactor to grow your own medicines, making the plant change color in response to touch, playing music to the plant/using the plant itself as a musical instrument, thought about how it would be possible to grow root vegetables hydroponically, and then I came up with the idea of growing your own lampshade! This is an elaboration of an idea on my Magnify/Modify/Minimize page in which I considered growing a houseplant on a trellis near a window so that the plant would cover the trellis and become a living decoration.
Putting plants to other uses
Eliminate: I thought about eliminating the exposed topsoil of a potted plant because this is where weeds sprout and choke out intended growth. I even considered removing the roots altogether and directly injecting the plant with the nutrients that it needs, however this seemed impractical, unmarketable, and too much like science fiction. I eventually settled upon the idea of eliminating the need for using a cutting device to harvest your plant by sharpening the edge of the pot and applying a food-safe coating so that the pot itself could be used to grow and then snip the plant.
The Grow and Snip Pot
Reverse/Rearrange: For this section, I consideredchanging the orientation of the plant. A plants roots will always grow down towards gravity, so flipping the plant upside down was impractical. Vertical farming is popular in indoor urban agriculture because it maximizes growing space. I considered growing vertically as a good option for reverse/rearrange. I then had the idea of changing the position of the light in relation to the plants. This idea culminated in a "Dyson Garden" in which a series of plants could be arrayed around a light like Freeman Dyson's theoretical Dyson Sphere in which an advanced civilization could conceivably construct a massive sphere around a star in order to maximize solar-panel surface area for the collection of 100% of a star's energy output. In my design, the potted plants would need to be slowly rotated to ensure even coverage of light to all leaves.
Reverse/rearrange list with Dyson Garden Sketch
What the heck is a "Dyson Sphere"? --->
A new, Modern Archetype?
These ideas really got me thinking about plants, but I felt that the ancient archetypal potted plant had been exhausted. So, I applied my table-based ideation to another, more modern archetypal product known as the "Aero Garden." What the heck is an Aero Garden? Check out Miracle Grow's informational video advertisement, below.
There are several different models of this product, but they all share several fundamental functional elements. Here is my list of the Aero Garden's most important features:
Listing features of Miracle Grow's Aero Garden
Table-Based ideation: I then selected the most important morphological features of the Aero Garden and charted them on a table with a few sketches. I consider the product's adjustable light height, growing condition feedback, and open access to the growing area to be among its top strengths. However, there are many other ways to accomplish the same functional requirement.
Morphological Analysis of the Aero Garden
As you can see, this structured ideation was also fruitful. I circled my favorite alternative ideas and sketched two of these potential improvements.
Glass enclosure on a growing device.
I envisioned this enclosure being able to take advantage of the free energy from the sun as well as being supplemented by artificial light. To prevent the lights from becoming annoying at night, the clear glass would incorporate a "micro electronic blind" system that would block the light when darkness in the room is wanted.
My motorized light adjustment system would allow plants of varying heights to be grown. This would also allow the enclosure to take advantage of the physical fact that light intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. By actively adjusting as a plant grows, maximum light penetration can be achieved through all stages of a plant's life.
Motorized light heigh adjustment system
Blue Sky Review: The Krohnie Family didn't come up with too many great product ideas. Most of their ideas consisted of healthy food combinations. Perhaps the "pemmican" idea could be expanded into a modern form using dried fruit, nuts, and granola in place of animal fat and berries. The "yummatrix smoothie" was a vitamin enriched protein shake with vanilla ice-cream base. It could be made healthier by substituting frozen yogurt, perhaps. Their most creative idea was the "health-o-matic 2000", though it would be hard to implement in its original form. It was described as being "a refrigerated machine that would be filled with different kinds of fruits and vegetables that can be dispensed in different forms, chopped, steamed, chilled, etc, with the press of a button onto the dish of your choice." In order to make this into an actual product, I considered combining this with the ubiquitous household fridge. Instead of opening your refrigerator to get milk, for instance, the gallon jug would be inserted onto an internal device that would puncture the seal and port the cold milk through the door via a series of tubes so that it can be dispensed into your bowl of cereal without needing to even open the door. Also, these are devices that would likely need to be certified by the FDA in order to be widely implemented.
10 Best Ideas: Here is my final list of my ten best ideas from all weeks.
