scamper assignment 5

8/2/2019 Scamper Assignment 5

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A 21st CENTURY ROOMMathieu Chartier, Bradley Harris, Colman Ing, Sarah Kanji, and Sarmad Qadri

Abstract

It was decided from the get-go that our choice ought to be ad-hoc, and it did not take long todetermine that the most appropriate household item -- which nobody thinks about but useseveryday-- is the room. The concept and structure of a room has not changed for centuries,and is consistent from a slum in Mumbai to a chateau in France. Using the SCAMPERtechnique, we were able to identify two components of the room that we could improve. Theintention of reinventing these components is to give the household room a 21st Centurymakeover.

SCAMPER-ing the RoomThe SCAMPER technique was used during a group meeting to brainstorm innovations for the

modern Room. After agreeing upon two main aspects of the room (the walls and the carpet), we

decided to address and transform each item into a multi-functional and ultra-modern

component. SCAMPER was used on each of these components separately, and an outline of

the process is provided below:

Component 1: Dynamic Walls

The walls in a house are painted or wallpapered for purely aesthetic reasons, but the painting

process is cumbersome, time-consuming and expensive. As a result, it is futile to paint thewhole room to trial a color. It can be very frustrating to try and redecorate a rooms interior while

adhering to the current colour scheme on the walls. To solve this problem the walls must

become dynamic.

The most immediate idea was coloured E-ink, a paper thin display that could keep its current

state without using power. Substitutingwallpaper for large sheets of coloured E-ink would allow

a room to change its appearance in a fraction of a second.

Further discussion found that we could combinea small computer with the walls to allow blue

tooth connectivity. This enables users to manage their wall settings via smart phone or PC. One

further item to be combinedwould be a small capacitive touch panel near room entrances to

eliminatethe need for light switches, but also to control temperature, fans, and change the wall

colour and or pattern.

The coloured E-ink as a replacement for wallpaper is the most important aspect of this

SCAMPER-ed wall because of the qualities it possesses. E-ink is Durable and Reliable:


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Comprehensive environmental robustness based on multi-year investment in sealant methods,

moisture protection, UV block and mechanical protection. Because it is coated in plastic, it is

easier to clean than paint or wallpaper which can be stained by various mediums.

S = Substitute

What can be substituted into the paint/wallpaper?We can substitute coloured sheets of E-ink for wallpaper. This enables the

wall to change in appearance based on what you tell the E-ink to display.

Some advantages include new uses for walls such as displaying books or

notes.

C = Combine What can be combined with the wall to make it better?

We can combine the E-ink with capacitive touch screens to make it tactile.

Although this would increase the price of the wall, it would enable the

user to interact with the wall without a wireless device. This would be

more convenient.

A = Adapt

What can I adapt or copy from someone Else's product?We can adapt the blue tooth capabilities of wireless devices to allow wireless

communication with our new walls.

M = Magnify

What can I magnify or put more emphasis on?

We emphasize the convenience of being able to change the appearance of a

wall by allowing connectivity between a multitude of devices.

P = Put to other uses.

How can others benefit from the modification of walls?

The application of putting E-ink on a wall can be applied to things like

blackboards in schools and even on desks and table tops to provide

reading capabilities.

E = Eliminate

What can be eliminated from the walls without altering its function?

We can remove light switches, fan controls, and thermometer controls from

walls by incorporating them into the capacitive touch portions of our wall.

R = Reverse (Re-arrange):

Are there other patterns, layouts or sequences I can use?

There will be various designs and layouts to choose from. Also new patterns

can be created using a PC and then be applied to these walls.


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Component 2: Self-cleaning CarpetCarpets are a very common component of the room; unfortunately, they are also the main

perpetrators of dust and germs. It requires a weekly house cleaning to vacuum them, and until

the weekend arrives, the inhabitant has to contend with and breathe the uncleanliness into their

lungs.

As a recognition of the seriousness of this problem settled, the idea of a self-cleaning carpet

manifested. And with this goal, we went about employing SCAMPER to determine exactly what

a self-cleaning carpet would entail:

S = Substitute

What can we substitute in the carpet?

The cotton that the carpet is made of can be coated with a super-hydrophobicmaterial to make sure that any stains never settle.

C = Combine

What can the carpet be combined with to achieve cleaning?Naturally, a carpet needs to be combined with a vacuum cleaner if it is to

fulfill its dual role.

A = Adapt A vacuum cleaner in the traditional sense is a monolithic device that looks and

feels nothing like the carpet. How is it going to be adapted to this purpose?

Envision micro-fibres (ie. strands) running through the carpet, just below itssurface. All these micro-strands (see Figure x) are connected to thecentral vacuum system that most houses come equipped with.

A vacuum cleaner collects dust. Having a dust-bag connected to the carpet is notonly an ugly proposition, but it is just as unhealthy as a dirty carpet. How will thedust-collection system of a vacuum be modified to serve this purpose?

The micro-fibres aforementioned are all sucking dust accumulating on the

surface of the carpet. If they are connected to the built-in vacuum system

that most houses come equipped with, then dust will be collected in the

basement. Otherwise, the dust can be sucked to a particular corner of the

carpet, where it is suppressed from spreading with the use of chemicals.

M = Magnify

How can we magnify the cleaning effect of the carpet? Is it possible, for example,to not only account for dust but stains too?

The micro-fibres that are mentioned above, which run through the carpet andact as mini-vacuum cleaners, can be coated with super hydrophobiclayer. This coating repels all liquids [4].

The micro-fibres running through should have small pores. The purpose of

these small pores is to allow the carpet to consume particles and liquids


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alike as they come in contact with the surface.

P = Put to Other Uses How can this idea be put to other uses?

The same idea can be applied to make self-cleaning rugs and mats. The

problem of where the collected dust will be stored will be a difficultproblem to solve, however. However, the idea of stainless rugs and mats

can certainly be achieved with the use of super hydrophobic coating of

the micro-fibers.

E = Eliminate What should be eliminated from the carpet?

Nothing. This is a conscious decision because the original carpet should just

be supplemented with this additional feature. The closer it resembles a

traditional mosaic carpet, the better-received it will be by the public.

R = Rearrange (or Reverse)

Another question that must be tackled, but which doesnt necessarily fit inside SCAMPER is

about managing the electricity consumption of a self-cleaning carpet. It will surely require

unreasonably high energy consumption if the vacuum is turned on all the time. However, that

neednt be the case. The vacuum part of the carpet can be switch -operated, turned on at will by

the inhabitant when the carpet gets sufficiently unclean. Imagine cleaning your room with the

switch of a button!

Figure 5 is a meticulously-created visual of the self-cleaning carpet that brings together all the

SCAMPER components into one product.


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Bringing it All TogetherThe product would not be truly 21st Century without having a central controller (perhaps in the

form of an iPhone app). All the components of the room should be manageable on the network

by the user. An iPhone app that repaints your wall, cleans your room, and opens, closes orlocks your door can be thought of as immensely popular app.

The Business

Market Research

In order to find to which of the products should be considered for reinvention, we conducted

some market research. The result of this research showed the sliding door was the least

favorable out of all the proposed inventions. This led to us dropping the idea, and instead

focusing on the other two components. Another point which was evident after conducting themarket research was that main audience to which these products would be targeted will be

young couples who would be moving in together in a new place as they will be more willing to

try these products. The young au


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SWOT AnalysisThe only way to assess the strength of the business is to assess the strength of its products;these strengths will be how the product is marketed, and the weaknesses are what will beworked on for future iterations. This section lists all the Strengths and Weaknesses regardingthe product, and the Opportunities and Threats regarding the business.

Strengths: Walls:

Instantaneous repainting if you buy new furniture and your current schemedoesnt match.

E-ink requires no energy consumption once the pattern is set. Hence, the walls

will only require energy when they are repainted. There will be low glare, and

paper thin construction will allow it to blend in on a wall. If it is installed correctly,

viewers might not be able to tell it is nota wallpaper.

Installed like wallpaper in smaller sections would allow for scalability.

Long lasting: Over 90% of E-Ink displays will last more than 10 years with typical

usage (Stated with 90% confidence based on lifetime models [2].

Carpet:

Little-to-no-maintenance, even spills and stains are taken care of.

Clean the carpet with the click of a button. Only large objects thrown on the

ground will need to be cleaned.

The air will be fresher as a result of constantly, and automatically, cleaned

carpet.

Weaknesses: Wall:

E-Ink currently costs around 200$ per square foot at retail price. If Dynamic wallswish to target middle class, then manufacturing costs would need to lower.

Like all displays E-ink can develop dead pixels, which cannot be simply patchedand would require replacing the whole sheet.

Carpet:

Development costs will be a major setback, since the technology for micro-fibre

vacuuming does not exist yet.

Opportunities: The business will have to look for opportunities in high-end markets initially, since the

aforementioned technologies will be expensive to procure or develop. However, theultimate goal should be to commercialize the project to an extent that costs come undercontrol. The eventual consumer should be a middle-class family buying a new home.

The technology developed for the business can be sold in other ways as well. Forexample, suburban developers and interior designers might use the e-ink in their demo

rooms / houses to allow potential customers to better visualize how they might want the

interiors of their newly developed house to look.

The main slogan that the company should embody should be about redefining the

concept of a room in the 21st Century context.


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There are plenty of opportunities in having allowing the patented use of this

technology by other carpet manufacturers. It would ensure that the company has

vast and singular control over the market.

Threats:

High cost and relatively short lifespan (compared to regular wallpaper) make this a hardproduct to sell to anyone except the upper class and private sector, especially at thebeginning.

The major threat to the business will come from the fact that it is a very general idea it isbuilt on -- reinventing the 21st Century Room. There can be many copycat companiesthat may dilute the market, and hence the control of the market away from our business.A way out of this is to a) patent everything, including concept designs, aggressively, andb) to license out the technology to third party home developers and carpet-makers sothat our company controls the market. This is similar to what Google has done with theAndroid mobile OS.


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Appendix

Figure 1


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Figure

2

Figure 3


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Figure 4


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Figure 5


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Figure 6

References

[1]http://www.eink.com/display_products_triton.html

[2]http://www.eink.com/rugged.html

[3]http://www.archinet.co.uk/door-operation.asp

[4] Super Hydrophobic Spray:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7is6r6zXFDc
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