INNOVATIVE REPORT OF VR GLASSES
In the world of today where almost every individual is dependent on technology, bringing products which speak of innovation and creativity has become a great challenge. This is because every other organization is trying to attract and retain customers via innovative ideas and products. The competition in the dimension of innovation is increasing and becoming tense. Every organization realizes the significance of innovation and has ensured that a special budget for innovation is set up so that it can offer to the market what other players cannot. Then innovation has also become a racing factor. Ideas are there all the time with the organizational members but innovation serves as the deciding factor for who wins the race. The organizations who are able to cash their innovative ideas before others reach highest levels of success. Having innovative ideas in stored capacity is useless unless they are not being marketed for the benefit of others.
When given the task of coming up with a product which is innovative and novel in nature, we were really lost because we did not know how to search for it and what kind of product it would be. I would mention here that the task was assigned to group of three and not individually so that the innovative product becomes a result of cooperation and team work. Our first task was to look for ideas of innovative products.
Brainstorming is a technique which is often employed by groups when they want to find a solution to a problem (Sutton & Hargadon, 1996, p.670). In brainstorming, people having different thoughts and mind set sit together and suggest possible solutions or answers to problems one by one. As the ideas are shared, they are noted down on a piece of paper and every idea is discussed and evaluated by the group members from both positive and negative aspects. What makes brainstorming unique is that ideas, when shared, have to stem out spontaneously that is without having second thoughts (Boddy, 2012, p.7). So my team sat together and presented ideas and features they believed an innovative product must possess. Some ideas were valid, some were not practical, some were challenging to execute, some were complicated and rest were costly. So we decided to fine tune our direction. Instead of coming up with ideas in random form, we decided to choose product ideas from the field of information technology.
People now rely on internet and technology for carrying out their daily life activities (Harrison & Leitch, 2005). Due to an immense dependent of people on technology, we decided to come up with innovative product ideas in the same field. We chose the concept of virtual reality since people see a strong connection between their virtual and real lives. When we talk about virtual reality, we see virtual in the meaning of nearness and reality is what makes us human beings and is entirely based on their experiences. So basically, virtual reality is actually looking at things from a very real and near perspective.
So finally, it was decided that we would be choosing virtual reality headset as our innovative product. I would like to add here that the final decision for the product was not only the result of brainstorming. We had to employ the concept of the really big sketch pad
The Really Big Sketch Pad
Before deciding whether the innovative product chosen is a correct decision or not, the design has to be evaluated using the really big sketch pad. This is a tool which is helpful to organizations in the evaluation of their innovative ideas. It contains sections where one can determine the feasibility of the product within the areas of customers, value proposition, offering, the people involved and the technological infrastructure. The product has to be evaluated for different dimensions so that the product is suitable for all stakeholders and it delivers ample value. So in order to decide which projects was a better decision, we laid out all the innovative ideas on the “The Really Big Idea Sketch Pad”. This process showed us factors such as people, customers, value propositions, offering and the core competency of all the innovation ideas.
We came to know that when we looked at all dimensions of the virtual reality headset, the product perfectly fulfilled all requirements of stakeholders and promises to deliver good value. We identified the customers of the product, the investors, the cost involved in the manufacturing and marketing of the headset while focusing on the features of differentiation and core competencies.
Final Product
After carrying out the above mentioned steps successfully, we were able to reach the decision that we want to introduce the innovative product named Vizer into the market which is based on the concept of virtual reality. Basically, we focused on the providing a VR environment which works in conjunction with the use of VR headsets that are currently available on the market. Some of the ideas for the environment were:
Real estates properties
View host’s properties on Airbnb
Get different outlook on art works
Medical - practicing surgery, handling birth some example
Travelling - Country, City, Ancient places/ city
Since it was practically not possible for us as team members, to actually create an environment of virtual reality so the choice of headset came out to be as the final innovative option.
5 M’s of Innovativeness
While carrying out the task for coming up with innovative ideas, we were required to define or break the task into 5 M’s so that it becomes easier for us to glide through the next steps. The five M’s were basically designed so that a project could be managed efficiently and all the elements required in the completion of the project could work in harmony with each other. By incorporating the concept into our product design, we would know about the kind of resources available to us and how to put them to use. Man, material, machines, minutes and money are the basic 5 M’s which we will be using to explain the innovative product design. A sixth M of marketing has also been included in the list but it is not relevant to our product for now.
Man
It is very important to choose the right kind of people for performing a specific task so that the skills and job requirements match and exceptional results can be delivered. Since this is a project so we are three people who will be working in a team to develop an innovative product design. The three members are Shreya,John and Constance. We are all capable of giving out best as a team and we hope to make the product idea a great success.
Materials
It is very important to decide which materials would be required to make the project successful. In this case, we have to come up with a product design based on the idea of innovativeness so the materials which we would use are paper, PCs and generic VR headset that is readily available on market.
Money
It is estimated that about fourteen dollars would be spent per handset during the process of market research.
Minutes or Timing
It is estimated that the project of innovative product design would take at least eleven weeks to reach its final stage.
Materials
A generic VR headset will be used to give a VR experience. The headset will also be used to point out what’s wrong with it and how we will improve it.
Core Features of Vizen
The product features are innovative and classy such as a Visor like the screen which is mobile meaning the user can conveniently adjust it on his head and move in several directions so as to maximize his experience. The sound system is built in and is of premium quality so that when a user is watching a clip on the Vizen screen, he would be able to hear the actual sounds and feels like he is in the real world. The gadget would be designed in a water resistant manner so the customers would not have to worry about the damage which harsh weather conditions such as rain could cause. There is a wireless system too which is connected through NFC, Wifi and Bluetooth. This feature is usually not available in generic headsets. The microphone would be built in too so as to enrich the experience of users. Another very important feature of virtual realiy glasses would be an eye movement recognition system which would sense the eye movement of the user and then adjust the experience accordingly. On the headset, there would be special control buttons so that the brightness and volume can be adjusted as per the preferences of the users.
SWOT Analysis of Vizen
SWOT Analysis is usually helpful when the strategies are being devised for the production and marketing of a certain product (Novicevic, Harvey, Autry & Bond III, 2004 ,p.85). It also allows the organization to find out where it stands in the marketplace and in what direction it should improve its capabilities.
Strengths
Following are the possible strengths associated with virtual reality glasses:
The screen comes with movability which means the user can use the headset in a comfortable manner.
The headphones and microphones are built in which makes the product convenient to handle.
The device comes with a wireless internet connection system which would make the product more desirable.
The product is novel and innovative in nature.
There are certain features which differentiate it from the generic headsets available in the market.
Weaknesses
The cost involved in the manufacturing of the Vizen headset is high because the technology being incorporated is advanced and costly. Moreover, the features are delicate and required intricate system of networks circuits.
The retail value of virtual reality sunglasses would be high which could be counted as a weakness.
The virtual reality glasses are not easy to handle because they are bulky and larger than iphone. So basically, the product cannot be carried from one place to another with ease.
Since the idea of virtual reality is not very common yet so the content which is compatible with the device is not readily available in the market. The customers might not want to invest in these glasses due to the limited availability of the content.
Opportunities
Broad range of uses with further software development (e.g Gaming, Travelling, real-estate viewing)
High Interest in VR - Currently Strong Fan-Base (VR Gaming)
Threats
Competitors such as Playstation VR
Possible No acceptance of VR Technology
Differentiation
There are generic handsets based on the concept of virtual reality are available in the market. Some are compatible with iphones and other smartphones and the rest can link up with operating systems and channels of youtube to deliver the best personal experience. Every product has to look different from the options available in the market so as to gain acceptance and customer base (Hollensen, 2015; Thomson, Strickland & Gamble, 2001). Generic handsets are available in the market but they need to be differentiated in order to gain acceptance in the market. So we would possible attach a wi-fi device and a microphone with the handset so as to add to the convenience of the customers. With the added features, the headset based on virtual reality would offer more value to the target market. The virtual reality headset would actually give the users a 3-d experience without having to visit cinema halls and game zones.
Tidd and Bessant Model
Tidd and Bessant proposed a model for innovation on the basis of which the companies can decide what kind of innovation they would be offering to the market (Tidd, Pavitt & Bessant, 2001; Bessant & Bessant, 2003; Tidd, Bessant, Pavitt & Wiley, 1998). In our case of virtual reality glasses, the type of innovation would be paradigm innovation. This is because the concept of virtual reality is an addition in technology and aims to change the way people relate the virtual world with the real one (Steuer, 1992, p.72).
Source: Bessant & Bessant (2003)
Marketing of Vizen
The marketing of Vizen would be carried out in a considerate manner. Technology products are now being bombarded in the market and everytime a new and innovative products becomes a part of the market, it is readily accepted by the consumers. The marketing of Vizen has to be done in an innovative manner such that the product is able to capture the appeal of its target market. Techniques of advertising would be applied and the advertising message would be designed by keeping the characteristics of the audience into consideration.
My role in the Innovative Product Project
As mentioned earlier, this was a group task meaning we had to think of an idea for a product which is innovative in nature and then develop it too. There were three members in the team. When brainstorming ideas, we worked together to come up with the best of ideas which are both feasible and innovative in nature. We thought of several ideas but the one we finalized was based on the concept of virtual reality in which things seen in the virtual world are perceived as real. We made a full plan for the development and designing of the product which was based on the duration of eleven weeks and then we wrote the tasks which are required to be carried out in order to make the project a success. I took the responsibility of preparing the design for the product. I came up with the design of the product on paper. I proposed several designs and finally showed it to my group members. I took their input in the final design and we were really glad when we presented the design to the instructor.
I was also given the task to come up with the marketing strategy for the newly designed product. I asked my team member to do the SWOT analysis for the virtual reality glasses and then I used it to devise the marketing strategy for the glasses. I proposed that by making use of advertisement and social media, we would be able to reach the target audience in an effective manner.
References
Bessant, J. R., & Bessant, J. R. (2003). High-involvement innovation: Building and sustaining competitive advantage through continuous change. J. Wiley.
Boddy, C. (2012). The nominal group technique: An aid to brainstorming ideas in research. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 15(1), 6-18.
Hollensen, S. (2015). Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.
Novicevic, M. M., Harvey, M., Autry, C. W., & Bond III, E. U. (2004). Dual-perspective SWOT: a synthesis of marketing intelligence and planning. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 22(1), 84-94.
Steuer, J. (1992). Defining virtual reality: Dimensions determining telepresence. Journal of communication, 42(4), 73-93.
Sutton, R. I., & Hargadon, A. (1996). Brainstorming groups in context: Effectiveness in a product design firm. Administrative Science Quarterly, 685-718.
Thomson, A., Strickland, A. J., & Gamble, J. E. (2001). Crafting and executing strategy. Tata McGraw Hill.
Tidd, J., Bessant, J., Pavitt, K., & Wiley, J. (1998). Managing innovation: integrating technological, market and organizational change.
Tidd, J., Pavitt, K., & Bessant, J. (2001). Managing innovation (Vol. 3). Chichester: Wiley.
Harrison, R., & Leitch, C. (2005). Growth dynamics in university spin-out companies: entrepreneurial ventures or technology lifestyle businesses. The role of private equity in growing new ventures.
