This week in class we learned about market research, coming up with a value proposition, and lean startup methodologies. Our task for the week was to talk to the professors and gather more information on the patents we selected.
Since our team suffered a couple hiccups where professors didn't reply, or we simply couldn't schedule an appropriate time to meet, I will talk here about the one patent we actually will (today still) gather more information on with the professor.
Market Needs for Ultrasonic Fingerprinting
When figuring out the market for this product, it is important to consider that there are three different types: Existing Market, Resegmented Market, and New Market. I believe that the Ultrasonic Fingerprinting technology fits into the Resegmented Market, where the current technology of fingerprinting has so many issues and this solution is probably going to disrupt the market once it becomes main stream. It solves many of the pain points such as cost, size, efficiency, and even adds on extra features.
My team had a great conversation with the inventor to better understand what made this patent unique and how it stood out. What I found most interesting was that the reason why this solution is better than its competitors is in the way it scans the finger. Usually a finger scanning device uses capacitive sensing which detects and measures proximity, position or displacement of humidity, fluid level and acceleration. So it uses the fact that human are basically made up of water to scan the "valleys" from you dermis skin level. Prof Bernhard found a more efficient method of scanning that wouldn't be prone to errors due to dirt, water and skin oil: sound. Think of his patent as a finger "ultrasound" that scans your finger even from a distance because it shoots sound waves, and then listens to what is returned and calculates the finger print.
Since his device is thinner than current finger scanning devices, phone manufactures would save on not having the need to create a hole in the device to fit a finger scanner. Also, since the solution is so thin and cost efficient, it could also be used on a wider scale, such as on keyboard keys, or even car steering wheels and work as a security measure so that only you can operate the device or vehicle.
It was really great to get the opportunity to speak to the professor and learn more about what use cases he had in mind, and how he had initially imaged the patent could be marketed. Unfortunately he has already licensed the patent to a startup that is currently conduction research and working with it. My team's next task is to continue speaking to the other professors and try to land another awesome patent.
My team had a great conversation with the inventor to better understand what made this patent unique and how it stood out. What I found most interesting was that the reason why this solution is better than its competitors is in the way it scans the finger. Usually a finger scanning device uses capacitive sensing which detects and measures proximity, position or displacement of humidity, fluid level and acceleration. So it uses the fact that human are basically made up of water to scan the "valleys" from you dermis skin level. Prof Bernhard found a more efficient method of scanning that wouldn't be prone to errors due to dirt, water and skin oil: sound. Think of his patent as a finger "ultrasound" that scans your finger even from a distance because it shoots sound waves, and then listens to what is returned and calculates the finger print.
Since his device is thinner than current finger scanning devices, phone manufactures would save on not having the need to create a hole in the device to fit a finger scanner. Also, since the solution is so thin and cost efficient, it could also be used on a wider scale, such as on keyboard keys, or even car steering wheels and work as a security measure so that only you can operate the device or vehicle.
It was really great to get the opportunity to speak to the professor and learn more about what use cases he had in mind, and how he had initially imaged the patent could be marketed. Unfortunately he has already licensed the patent to a startup that is currently conduction research and working with it. My team's next task is to continue speaking to the other professors and try to land another awesome patent.
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