I-Corps: Customer discovery for electronic devices with haptic feedback

该项目涉及客户发现一种在电子设备上提供触摸感觉的技术，并向用户产生反馈。这项技术有可能用于虚拟现实应用、远程人与人交互和自然的人机界面。它还具有改变许多行业的潜力，从工业平台到消费品。应用程序的多样性给小型团队的市场翻译带来了挑战。这项拟议的技术基于超声相控阵和基于预测/学习的算法，创建了可以被人类触摸传感器感知的高分辨率气压场，使VR系统的用户能够交互和感知虚拟对象。建议的解决方案使用高密度的压电式换能器阵列来创建高分辨率的超声波图案，以创建3D对象。传感器阵列和算法能够实现复杂的高分辨率图案，同时使用更少的功率和占地面积。将触觉引入人们的日常生活可能会产生重大影响。触觉是人类生活中一种极其重要的感觉。由于目标市场规模庞大，应用(游戏、娱乐、社交等)多种多样，以及VR场景对无缝触觉的需求，该项目的解决方案可以在快速增长的虚拟现实领域产生显著的商业影响。这项拟议的工作将使用精益启动方法来调查并优先考虑提供触觉的电子设备的潜在商业应用。通过加速客户发现过程，i-Corps团队计划快速创建商业模式假设，通过访谈验证它们，并迭代以开发集成的商业模式。参与i-Corps计划将使该团队能够有效地开发一种能够在市场上快速发展的商业模式。

This project involves customer discovery for a technology that provides the sensation of touch on an electronic device, generating feedback to the user. The technology has the potential to be used for virtual reality applications, remote human-human interaction, and natural human-machine interfaces. It also has the potential to transform many industries, ranging from industrial platforms to consumer products. The diversity of applications presents a challenge for translation to the marketplace for a small team. The proposed technology, based on ultrasound phased array and predictive/learning based algorithms, creates high resolution air pressure fields that can be sensed by human touch sensors to enable users of VR systems to interact and sense virtual objects. The proposed solution uses a high-density array of Piezo-electric transducers to create high-resolution ultrasonic patterns to create 3D objects. The transducer array and algorithm enables complex high-resolution patterns while using less power and footprint.The impact of introducing sense of touch to daily lives of people can be significant. Sense of touch is an extremely important sense in human life. Because of the large size of target market, the variety of applications (gaming, entertainment, social interaction, etc.), and the need for seamless sense of touch in VR scenarios, this project's solution can have a marked commercial impact in the fast growing Virtual Reality areas. The proposed work will use the lean startup methodology to investigate and prioritize potential commercial applications of an electronic device providing the sensation of touch. Through an accelerated customer discovery process, this I-Corps team plans to rapidly create business model hypotheses, validate them through interviews, and iterate to develop an integrated business model. Participation in the I-Corps program will allow this team to efficiently develop a business model that can develop rapid traction in the marketplace.