Posts Tagged ‘Innovation’
Smart Phone, Smart Car…Why not Smart Volume?
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
As I was driving around sunny Southern California, running errands with my windows open, blasting music, I realized that at each stoplight my music was too loud, so I would turn it down. Then, when I started again, the music would be too quiet. I did some research and found that the cars already have a system to compensate for this. Lexus and Toyota have “auto sound leveling” which I did not know that I had on my prius. I tested it out and it seems as though it does not compensate for having the windows open- only for speed. I still have to turn the volume up when I open my windows, and sometimes even when I enter the freeway. Hopefully we see more speed related options coming out on cars. For example: the windows rolling up and A/C turning on at a certain speed.innovation pads
Saturday, January 24th, 2009
We just wanted to share our excitement about our newest project called innovation pads! collectively as a team, we have come up with many different ways of brainstorming and organizing our projects and tasks. our designs will hopefully encourage creativity and organization. over the next few months we will be posting more of our “innovation pads” on our website for everyone to use. You will be able to print, email, download and easily share them! Also, if you have an idea or a design that you want us to post, please let us know.
http://incubaker.com/innovationpad/
iPhone feature request
Monday, December 29th, 2008
I have heard a few hot tips that a new iPhone (possibly an iPhone nano version) will be released this January. I have also heard a few people ask what new features could be added…I am a huge fan of my iphone but I still feel there is room for improvement, even to the so called “jesus-phone”.
To the left is a conceptual design sample for the new nano by: John Pszeniczny as seen on iLounge.
I pinged a few friends of incubaker and got some great feedback, some more realistic than others 
Here is a short list of features:
Top requests…
- smaller size
- aluminum casing
- led backlit screen (easier on the eyes, better battery)
- built in support to save files
- search (spotlight) your iphone functionality (emails, text messages results songs, files, contacts)
- see all recent communication (email / phone calls / texts) for a contact in address book
- voice recognition dialing
- copy and paste functionality
- video: record & live video chat
Would be cool to also have…
- TXT improvements: ability to forward txts, also include pics, music, video into text
- improved camera with flash
- ability to send business cards or insert a contacts number into a text
- choice of colour like the iPods
- a screen that doubles as mirror (they actually have screen protectors that do this!)
- Voice mail to text for instant review
- email to voice so you can listen while driving or walking
Maybe a stretch but, anything is possible
- a harmonica (inspired by the pomegranate phone
) - cut down the size in half, and install a projector to project the screen (on any flat surface) the projected screen should also recognize touch
- the ability to capture and share smells
Thanks to all those who contributed ideas! Please feel free to post more ideas and iPhone feature requests in the comments!
Curiously Amazing Movie (& Technology)
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
I recently had an opportunity to participate in a screening of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button epic film. The story is about a child who is born having the physical attributes of a severely aged man (wrinkled skin, arthritis, poor hearing, cataracts etc) but gradually ages backwards. The script, music, acting were all composed masterfully… but the most impressive and exciting part of this movie for me, was to watch how scene after scene Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) aged backwards. At the conclusion of the movie, we had the opportunity to join a Q&A with director David Fincher and screenwriter Eric Roth. They discussed how Brad’s face was actually used through out the entire movie and a revolutionary process allowed them seamlessly blend/ age it to the respective body.
The concept was drawn from an F Scott Fitzgerald short story. Check here for trailers and here for a thorough review of this movie.
*Bonus: found out that Kanye and the “hot guy” from Gossip Girl also attended the screening.
Websites for Change
Thursday, October 30th, 2008
The inspiration: The “Free Rice” website is both an educational tool and a way to help end world hunger. The website is sponsored by advertisements and the concept is easy; you’re given a word and need to find the synonym. For each answer you get correct, 20 grains of rice are donated to end hunger. There is also a digital bowl that gets filled with rice so you can see the impact you are making.
The idea: I discovered this website when conducting research for Wokai and started thinking. Imagine if there were more educational websites that also have a social benefit. Rather than browsing entertainment gossip or playing online games, everyone could achieve great benefits. For instance, there could be an SAT review website that provides sample questions and for each answer you get right, an ounce of water could be donated to children. That way, you answer eight correct questions and provide a child a cup of clean water. Review companies such as Kaplan and Princeton Review and colleges and universities would pay to advertise on this website because they could easily reach their target market.
Interview w/innovator:MagTacks
Sunday, July 20th, 2008
Today we are glad to present Priscilla Barton of Priscillab.com for our second posting in the “interview with an innovator” series. You may remember when back in Feb. when we mentioned the OXO MagTack, well guess what….Priscilla designed them! Here is a short interview between me (Thianh) and Priscilla….enjoy!
Thianh: To begin, do you mind giving us a bit of background? Tell us a little about yourself.
Priscilla: I’m Priscilla Barton. I am an industrial and/or product designer. I started out in materials engineering because I was strong in math and science throughout school, but when I realized that it took more than that to enjoy engineering, I directed myself on the design path.
Sounds like you knew what you wanted and went for it! Was it the same for the MagTack idea? How did you come up with the idea, was it an accident?
When I was in my first year of design school, we had to do hundreds of pages of drawings. And we had to post them on the walls of the school for critiques. Art students come up with all sorts of convoluted ways to mount their work on the walls, but most of those ways are pretty destructive. Once you poke a hole in a drawing, if you try to repost it, the hole will get bigger or you will just make another hole. We tried tape and magnets….it was all a hassle. And it was a faux pas if while you were in critique, your drawing fell off the wall. So, as I was pinning up my drawings one day into drywall that had been patched and repatched, my fingers were getting all red and indented and I thought out loud “why hasn’t someone designed a better tack?”
At that point, since I was new to design, I didn’t do anything about it for 3 years. Around the time I was graduating, a school instructor asked me to enter a design competition. I had limited time and resources at that point because I was working already and I was trying to finish up my thesis. So, I remembered the tack I had thought of redesigning and I just decided that this would be my design entry.
At first, I thought I was just going to make it more ergonomic, but after thinking about the problem of holes in corners and the ones I make when I pin up post cards or pictures, I realized that I could bring more to the table than that. I also wanted something that looked more permanent and presentable than these little clear or silver commodity pins. When I started thinking of ways that this pin could ‘hold’ the paper in place, a short design exploration led to the idea of using magnets.
Very neat! Its amazing how an idea from three years prior came to mind. After coming up with the idea, what steps were needed to get it into production? How long did that process take?
I drew them up, modeled them in 3D, had someone make them for me, and submitted it to the design contest. I didn’t win it, but I had a chance to speak with one of the judges, who prodded me to try to license them to someone. I had a handful of samples, so I started emailing companies that I thought might be interested. I probably spoke with or contacted 10 companies or more and some of them told me they were interested so I waited and waited and called them every month to get in touch but they never did anything with it. So, I wasted probably a year or more waiting for different companies that expressed interest.
Wow, sounds like a trying time and a difficult process. In the end how did OXO find your invention?
When I designed it, I was thinking of the aesthetic that they have with their magnetic clips and their other colorful products that use black santoprene rubber. I had thought of contacting them, but an old boss discouraged me from it, telling me that they were a kitchen products company, not an office products company. In spite of that, I went on their website, emailed their general email, and was put in touch with someone who could evaluate the idea. They took about a month to get back to me to say they were interested, but the project was set back because their lawyers had found a registered patent that included an embodiment of a product that mechanically was doing the same thing as the Magtack. So, it basically was over until I decided I could make it even better by having the two pieces mate together when you are storing it – the pin gets inserted into the other half and it becomes a protective cap for the pin. This has the added bonus of being a lot safer to carry around than a normal tack. I often carried loose tacks in my bag so that I could post drawings up, and I often ended up hurting myself reaching into the black abyss of my backpack in search of tacks. When I presented it to OXO, they were delighted and they decided to take on the product.
Success! As we know the rest is MagTack history from there What other inventions are you most proud of?
Well, I am working on a few more and we will see what they lead to. I have lots of ideas so the challenge with me is taking on the right amount of work.
My senior thesis project which was a messaging drinking glass was a pretty fun project. I got a lot of emails from people trying to buy them. Unfortunately, it is a very complicated product, so although a few people here and there said that they were interested, it never panned out. What with the iPhone, my Connection Glass is less of a dream than it was back then. It is very attainable, but it would take quite a lot of investment to undertake that project.
I’m on your site right now…those are very slick glasses! From the looks of your website, you have experimented with everything from shoes, glasses to backpacks. Do you tend to focus on certain things or do you find a problem then want to solve it?
I tend to find a problem and then want to solve it. I currently work fulltime designing bags, so I do have an affinity for the soft goods/sewn products world, BUT bags can only do so much for you. They carry things. I sometimes want to design the things that they carry.
At incubaker we are inspired by each other and observations that we share with each other on our tumble log, “Let the Juices Flow” Where do find you get most of your inspiration?
Mostly, the problems that I find are just things that come up in daily life. Ways to do things easier and more efficient, ways to make things look nicer. Lately I have been having ideas for services rather than products. Here’s a free idea – a company that sells insurance for sunglasses. How many pairs of expensive sunglasses have you lost? Would you pay 5 bucks a month or pay a $30 premium to get your Prada shades that you dropped in the lake back? If it has been done for cellphones, it makes sense to do it for sunglasses. But I think friends are finding holes in my argument. They say that renters insurance can cover your sunglasses. But how many people out there have renters’ insurance?
Haha thanks for the free idea! Does commercial success with MagTack allow you the leeway to experiment and take more risks?
Uh, hopefully. It’s too early to tell, but to be honest, I’ll only do well if Magtacks sell like Coca-Cola. It’s just a bonus if it does well and having that mindset helps me to not get anxious. What with your investing and watching stocks, you’re probably better off than I am or will be.
Your too humble! At Incubaker we came up with an idea for a luggage seat – What’s your first reaction!?
Well, have you seen Zuca bags?
Having the picture of the luggage and the picture of the seat helps me to understand the two objects that you would like to combine. That other luggage product that attempts to do this is interesting – it seems that their approach is just to make the luggage strong enough to bear the weight of an average person. It doesn’t look that stable or comfortable. I have often sat on those old molded Samsonite luggages when they are laid on the ground horizontally – i.e. when you are cramming old clothes into it and you have to sit on it to get it to close? And then you are so tired out that you sit there for a while and rest. I would probably either want to sit in a normal lounge chair at the airport OR I would sit on my luggage in the way I just described. There are a lot of constraints with luggage because the ultimate requirement is that it needs to fit in the overhead bin and within the carryon dimensions set forth. The carryon dimensions are narrow in the depth such that it would probably not be a comfortable seat. I guess if you sat on it like you were riding a horse, i.e. at McDonalds or KMart, that might be more stable.
But, a brief exploration with drawings may help you to assess whether or not is a good idea. I have designed luggage before and it is not cheap. This may be one barrier to entry – maybe others have tried it and it ended up being so expensive and not that alluring that consumers weren’t willing to pay extra for it.
Nice feedback, thanks! How did you find out about Incubaker anyway? Do you have a favorite posting?
Googling and finding your posting on Magtacks. I liked the brush and rinse toothbrush. I just hope it wouldn’t squirt water on my clothes or face if I didn’t have the perfect angle.
Yea we are still trying to get our hands on a prototype toothbrush…Any last words of advice for other innovators?
I think that if you have ideas, it behooves you to know how to build things or draw them – paper or computer, it doesn’t matter.
Not everyone will like your idea, but it is important to recognize when an idea doesn’t jibe well with your target consumer. This doesn’t mean quit while you’re ahead, but maybe rethinking things will get you to an even better idea.
Thanks for the words of wisdom and inspiring interview Priscilla! Looking forward to seeing more of your designs
Brown Bag Lunches – Web2.0
Sunday, March 30th, 2008
We blog, we read RSS feeds in an aggregator, we twitter, we tumblr, we email, we IM, we use online project management software, but which of does tools did we already use 2 years ago? And how many people are keeping up with the speed of technical innovation?
When I go and look at advertising agencies, lawyers, PR companies, insurances, banks etc. here in Europe, I see many people who dont have time to find out about the newest technology by surfing the web or reading blogs and many of them only use the most common technologies. But wouldnt they all be more productive if they knew how to use those tools? Knowing about those technologies and especially, knowing how to use them, might be an important advantage in competition.
What about a company that would offer technical innovation training for all kinds of companies? A young, tech experienced teacher would come once every 2 months at lunch time and show the employees the newest technology and run them step by step through it, an innovation teacher. One lunch, they would learn about RSS feeds, how to find them, use them, integrate them, aggregate them, etc. Another time maybe about blogging, etc.
