As always, we look forward to the latest new venture concepts our students propose -- in domains ranging from Health & Wellness, Energy & Sustainability, Education & Creativity, Commerce & Financial Services, Civic Engagement and beyond -- and we try to help the most motivated teams and promising ideas actually start and thrive!
"Each OwnPhone is custom made to fit the wearer’s ear perfectly. People order the customised phones using a smartphone app. Images of a person’s ear are then turned into 3D-printed models. Colours, styles and materials in individual OwnPhones can be personalised."Kickstarting now...
"In the house of the future, wire-free energy transfer could be as easy as wireless internet. If all goes to WiTricity's plans, smartphones will charge in your pocket as you wander around, televisions will flicker with no wires attached, and electric cars will refuel while sitting on the driveway. WiTricity have already demonstrated their ability to power laptops, cell-phones, and TVs by attaching resonator coils to batteries -- and an electric car refueller is reportedly in the works."
"With the exception of Africa and Middle East, note that the primary difference between regions is not the rate of growth in penetration but rather the delay in adoption. I marked this delay as 4 years between US/EU and Central & Eastern Europe. An additional one year delay to Asia Pacific region and 4 years more to Africa/Middle East adoption. [...] Although 2013 was often cited as the year when smartphones saturated (“everybody that wants one has one”), the total population of users will likely take another decade to reach maximum. The point of inflection in global growth could be expected in 2017. What most observers sensed was the point of inflection in growth in North America and Western Europe. Those regions are 11% of the world’s population."
Thanks to Dinfin Mulupi at HWMIIA for spotting this."Increased Internet penetration and use could propel private consumption 13 times higher than current levels. Demographic trends -- including urbanization, rising incomes, and a huge generation of young, tech-savvy Africans -- will drive this growth. [...] The Internet’s greatest impact in Africa is likely to be concentrated in six sectors: financial services, education, health, retail, agriculture, and government. Technology-related productivity gains in these sectors could reach $148 billion to $318 billion by 2025, and large populations stand to benefit as a result."
"...stainless steel gadget [which] connects to smartphones via Bluetooth using a dedicated app. Its LED screen lights up each time the wearer gets an email, text message, Facebook and Twitter notifications and phone calls, and the ring can also be used as a remote control."(Seems too good to be true. I hope this is not merely "design & visualization" exercise and they've actually figured out power management, etc.)
"Smartphones have essentially the same hardware as hearing assist devices, including a microphone, analog-to-digital converter, and a CPU to process the audio and modulate it to the specific user. The EarMachine is a new app that harnesses the power of iPhones to do just that."
If we combine this sonic adjustment app with noise cancellation, whisperware, voice recognition, translational "babelfish" apps and we can really make progress towards Smartbuds, the acoustic analog to Glass.
