Technology and information management

Theia is a new entrant in the AR Glasses market. We are creating a substitute product since we were not the first movers within this market. However, since it’s a relatively new market, there is a wealth of potential profit. For this analysis, we will analyze current market competition:

Key players include: Vuzix, Google, Toshiba, Everysight, and Snapchat. There are many other key players within this market but for now, we will be focusing on the ones at the top.

Competition level is high. Companies are working hard to capitalize on this rapidly growing market. So far, Vuzix’s AR Glasses are considered the top performing AR Glasses. However, their pricing is very steep so we will see how they hold up when the New Entrants come in.

The threat level for New Entrants is high. The barrier to entry is extremely low as we see big companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and most alarmingly, Apple trying to enter this market. Apple and Microsoft are currently in its production stage for AR Glasses with Microsoft’s HoloLens already available for preorder.

Substitutes for AR Glasses include the main competitors in the market.

Suppliers have medium power, as there are only a few businesses in the world that specialize in lens crafting and frame crafting. Luxottica makes glasses frames for virtually, most of the frame industry so if we were to use them as our supplier, it would be hard to be in control of the pricing as they are a monopoly within their industry.

Consumer power is very low. Since there is insubstantial price differentiation between products, the bargaining power of consumers is low.

There are no low-cost providers within this industry and it is unknown if this can even be a possibility at this time, given the technology needed for AR Glasses and our modern environment.

Potential complements include services/features such as the Amazon Alexa, Weather Channel App, and Google/Google Maps. These are three add-ons that could prove to be quite useful in conjunction with AR Glasses.

2. (Business Goals). Establish the business goals and objectives (ROI, %market share, revenue, and growth aspirations). These business goals need to be clearly related to the (clearly stated) vision and mission of the technology firm (also see Steps 4, 17).

This current quarter Theia’s projected revenue and market share will increase due to the increased publicity of its wearables technology development. However, due to increased research and development costs, the expected return on investment and gross profit will be lower.

3. (Developmental Goals). Define the overall development goals to align business goals, competitive strategy, technology strategy, and market strategy.

The goal is to make these advertisements tell a story, to appeal to viewer emotions and sentiment. A case study on Apple showed that they invested less in advertising versus Microsoft, yet outperformed them in every way. Since we are competing with these large firms, investing in advertising might be a great way to differentiate ourselves. We will also be greatly emphasizing our value proposition and our goal to future proof our technology.

Our key target audience will be tech-savvy consumers and industrial consumers that can integrate our AR glasses into their everyday.

· Product Design of glasses

· Modified glasses lenses for AR version

· AI trained from data set to recognize street names from images

· Custom PCB sized to fit in glasses frame

· Bone conduction technologies to transmit audio

· Miniature wide angle camera

· QI charging electronic components

· Miniature microphone

· Bone conduction audio

· 24-48 hr battery life

· Wireless charging

· Camera with ability to read street signs from images

· Give directions based on GPS

· HUD projector for customizability for general consumers

· Will be shipped inside single box with dimensions:

· 12” x 12” x 5”

· Inside, there will be a cavity in which glasses will sit snugly inside while unfolded. Included will be a charging case, and necessary cables.

· Sold online via website marketplace

· Sold in retail stores that carry technology products such as BestBuy but also try for optometrist offices

· Advertising done on social media platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, and possibly Hulu/TV

a. Competitive Strategy:

b. Developmental Goals:

4. Identify:

a. Technologies related to proposed product

b. Products related to proposed product

c. Construct functional map to show the evolution of these technologies and products

· Small, efficient PCB with enough onboard computing power to deliver product offering

· Small, thin battery capable of being recharged and carry enough power for at least 24 hours of continuous use

· Custom sized hardware to mimic bone conduction capabilities

· Glasses housing to be able to fit:

· Main PCB Board

· Miniature, wide angle cameras

· Audio conducting leads + relevant hardware to achieve bone conduction audio

· Miniature projector to create a HUD superimposed onto glasses lens

· Microphone

5. Train Neural Net using supervised learning from a video dataset collected from approximated eye level height to recognize street signs, street names, traffic lights, and traffic signals.

6. Use NLP to train a personalized AI to be able to respond to verbal cues intelligently, and with audio that is more humanistic

7. Be able to communicate with cell phone using BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) to relay positional data and be able to pull directions to locations from maps applications.

8. For the AR activated version, software is required to run an intuitive HUD

9. (Functional Maps). Create functional maps (time-based evolutionary maps) for engineering, manufacturing, and marketing in order to rationally decide which technologies and products to develop. A revenue map based on product/market segmentation is crucial for the selection of the appropriate target markets for the new product (also see Steps 2, 6, 13, 17).

Smart augmented reality glasses revenue worldwide from 2016 to 2022. (in millions of U.S dollars). [footnoteRef:0] [0: ]

Bluetooth Audio keyword interest over time: Interest over time x Percentage of interest[footnoteRef:1] [1: ]

Global Smartwatch Shipments[footnoteRef:2] [2: ]

Projected economic impact of virtual and augmented reality technologies worldwide from 2016 to 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars) [footnoteRef:3] [3: ]

Interest in ML technologies from 2004 to present utilizing Google Keyword Trends[footnoteRef:4] [4: ]

Interest over time x Percentage of interest [

Summary:

We have chosen to create functional diagrams for technologies: customer interest in machine learning, projected economic impact of augmented reality, smart glass technology, and Bluetooth audio technology.

All of these technologies will be used in creating different functions of the product, and some are the main premise of the Theia’s smart glass product. ML will be utilized to perform analysis on user experience data. It may also be used for the smart glass inputs to better understand the outside world. AR may be utilized for applications that will be bundled with the product. Lastly, bluetooth audio will be used to pair to peripheral audio devices for an integrated user experience.

These functional maps clearly demonstrate that augmented reality, smart glass technology, and Bluetooth audio technology are continuing to grow in popularity and as a revenue source. Capitalizing on these market trends by creating a product that involves them will prove beneficial for Theia.

10. (High-level HOQ). Identify customer needs and translate these needs into high-level technical requirements (for the technology, products, and projects to be developed) using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and, in particular, the “House of Quality (HOQ)”.

Use the structured problem-solving process to create an explicit plan for developing the HOQ for your company’s line of products. This process will include reverse engineering, and assigning specific tasks to the group members

1. Make a FAST diagram

a. How do smart glasses work?

b. Identify the main functions of modern smart glasses.

c. Understand and note the “why?” and “how?” of smart glass functionality.

d. Create FAST diagram.

2. Make a list of customer needs for our product based on what we’ve researched, assess the importance of each need using a convenience scale.

3. Make a technical metrics list and assess each metric using a convenience scale

4. Correlate customer needs from SP2 and technical metrics from SP3 using a correlation matrix

5. Correlate technical metrics to each other using a convenience scale.

6. Assess competing products using customer benchmarking and from a technical engineering viewpoint by using a convenience scale.

7. Set targets for customer needs and technical metrics.

8. Review work, and draw conclusions.

1. Create a FAST diagram

a. Step 1 : First understand how the product works.

Theia glasses are a wearable device that helps businesses improve the quality of their output thus enabling employees to work more efficiently. We are providing hands-on capabilities to professionals with glanceable, voice-activated assistance. Our glasses are designed to be there in a time of need and out of the way otherwise.

b. Step 2 : Make a list of all the important subsystems that are relevant for your FAST diagram

i. Built in camera

ii. Bluetooth capabilities

iii. Optical display

iv. Microphones

v. Android Operating System and Android platform APIs

vi. Audio output via speaker, USB audio, BT audio

c. Step 3 : Make a list of the primary (or main) function, & key sub-functions of the product (Subfunction refers to the function of a subsystem)

i. Primary (main) function: Store and display information for relevant time periods.

ii. Key sub-functions:

1. Use standard Android platform APIs and built in camera to get location data from available location providers

2. Optimize user input via voice commands (at least two words)

3. Utilize audio output and optical display to give user relevant information

a. Grocery shopping list

b. Directions to and from locations

c. Set of instructions for a task

d. Step 4 -6 :

i. Write down the main function of the system on the extreme right of the diagram.

ii. Organize the diagram with the why to the right and the hows to the left.

iii. creating a FAST diagram for a complex product is a trial and error process: to minimize the trial & error work from both ends of the diagram (using results of step 2 & 3)

2. Importance of Customer Needs

3. Make a technical metrics list and assess each metric using a convenience scale

4. Correlate customer needs from [2] and technical metrics from [3] using a correlation matrix.

5. Correlate technical metrics to each other using a convenience scale

1 = No Correlation 2 = Negative Correlation 3 = Weak Negative Correlation

4 = Weak Positive Correlation 5 = Positive Correlation

6. Assess competing products using customer benchmarking and from a technical engineering viewpoint by using a convenience scale.

7. Set targets for customer needs and technical metrics.

Overall, the HOQ and Fast Diagrams seem to be correct based on the team’s knowledge. Our information on the products could be improved with further research or guidance. Several other categories could be added to customer needs and technical metrics, but the team used the essential aspects to assess the product.

HOQ is a method used in product development that allows companies to pick the parameters by which they can make a comparison to other competing products. Using this technique we were able to establish the important features for our product.

We established customer needs as ergonomics, weight, boot time, quality of camera, latency, and processing power. Using customer needs, we were able to specify the technical needs that we need to accomplish as: ergonomics, weight, boot time, quality of camera, latency, processing power, UI, and integration with other devices and peripheral sensors. To choose our technical features, we noted the importance of each feature from a development perspective with consideration to how well each feature coincides with customer needs. This allowed us to see how much we had to focus on each individual facet of our product. HOQ is an extremely useful method of aligning company product development goals with customer needs.

11. (Aggregate Project Plan). Use probabilistic decision analysis to develop an initial aggregate project plan, which is the mix of products to be developed (also see Steps 13, 17):

· Research & advanced development

· Breakthrough

· Platform

· Incremental (Enhancements, derivatives, hybrids)

· Alliance, or partnered projects

1. (Development Funnel). Create an appropriate development funnel to refine and firm up the aggregate project plan. The development funnel is a process for identifying and screening projects over time.

2. (Project Planning). Establish a cross-functional team for each technology/product development project. Develop a project plan using the design/development structure matrix, GANTT, PERT, and CPM charts.

Development (D): To develop each product, concurrently engineer (CE) steps 9-13.

1. (Quality Function Deployment). Develop a comprehensive House of Quality (HOQ) to correlate customer needs to technical metrics and specifications.

2. (Reverse Engineering). Dissect existing products which are similar to the proposed new product using the Function Analysis Systems Technique (FAST).

3. (Conceptual Design). Create a function structure (FS) for your product, and use this FS to generate a morphological matrix (MM). Use the MM to generate several design concepts. Select one (or more) concepts using a utility function, which is based on an appropriate set of weighted selection criteria.

4. (Prototyping Strategy). Develop an appropriate prototyping strategy (physical vs. analytical; focused vs. comprehensive). Build and test proof-of-concept and other appropriate prototypes based on the prototyping strategy.

5. (Product Architecture/Product Strategy). Establish the technology platform and product platform. Define the appropriate product lines to serve the target market segments (also see Steps 4, 6, 17).

6. (Detailed design). Develop the detailed embodiment design of the product. (outside the scope of MOT I).

7. (FMEA).Perform a failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) of the detailed design.

8. (DFX). Perform DFX: Design for manufacturability(X=M) and quality (X=Q). (outside the scope of MOT I).

Commercialization (C) (Steps 13-16, above, are the transitions from D to C).

1. (Financial Model). Develop a base-case (nominal) Net Present Value (NPV) financial model in order to determine the expected profits (payoffs) from the product development projects. The NPV analysis models the appropriate cash-flows (sales revenues, development, production, marketing, and other relevant costs). Perform sensitivity analyses on the base-case financial model in order to understand and quantify trade-offs between time, cost, and quality (also see Steps 2, 4, 6, 13).

2. (Robust Design). Design the product for performance and robustness using the Taguchi “Design of Experiments” method. (advanced topic for CSE270A only)

3. (Product Release Map). Create the product release roadmap (closely related to Step 13).

4. (Supply Chain Management). Design the supply chain and distribution network for your product (addressed in MOT II: Supply Chain Management)