I’m considering applying for an Innovation Voucher.

An Innovation Voucher is £4000 of university or college research and development time which can be used for new product scoping, new process development or similar practises. The recent location tracking scandal which affected iPhone and Android (and probably affects Nokia – if anyone cared) highlighted that I’d really like a tiny chip device which … Continue reading “I’m considering applying for an Innovation Voucher.”

An Innovation Voucher is £4000 of university or college research and development time which can be used for new product scoping, new process development or similar practises.

The recent location tracking scandal which affected iPhone and Android (and probably affects Nokia – if anyone cared) highlighted that I’d really like a tiny chip device which had GPS+COMPASS+LCD+GPRS that was small enough to fit on a wrist band. The unit has a unique code which is used to identify it. The LCD has two views – one being an information/hold screen and the second being an arrow.

When paired with the web service, the wrist unit displays an arrow pointing towards a pre-determined position. If nothing is pre-programmed, then it always points north.

The wrist unit therefore tells the user which direction the preprogrammed position lies.

The web service (and attendant Android and iPhone apps) allow you to plot the location of your wrist units, communicated over GPRS. The apps on smartphones can also act as wrist units too – reporting location.

The Innovation Voucher would be to scope out the development of the hardware components and software system. Could it be built cheap enough? What would the service costs be? If the wrist unit could display more information or store more data, what would you put on it?

Would you aim this product at worried parents? Tour guides (giving a wristband to each tour participant)? Schoolteachers?

Could you make a game out of it? Yes, yes I think you could.

0 thoughts on “I’m considering applying for an Innovation Voucher.”

    1. Hi Phil,

      The comments on that page are exceedingly negative but the device is quite impressive – over-engineered for what I want but impressive nonetheless. Shows that if you have enough money, you can build anything.

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