Let's Talk about .. iRobot

I got the information about iRobot from STeLA, so I went to listen to Colin Angle, Co-founder, chairman & CEO of iRobot in iRobot CEO Lecture at the New Otani Hotel, Tokyo on September 28, 2011.

He talked about his adventure in entrepreneurship after his graduation from MIT.

Nowadays, iRobot has 400 million in 2010 revenue, more than 700 employees located in Hong Kong, China, France, UK, India, and 3 offices in USA. They have shipped more than 1.5 billion dollars worth of robots.

He separated the timeline of his company into 3 phases: Technology development, Robot development, and Robot production. 

He has inspiration to make cool technology. During the technology development, iRobot built cool robots. In the robot development, iRobot built many types of robot including Dinosaurs robot.

He also had many failed business models over time. But he and his company is still keep continuing until they built Roomba-an intelligent FloorVac.

First, because they did not know about how to clean. What they know was only cleaning home was a great application. So, they made a asymmetric strategic partnership to learn how to clean and manufacture using OPM. The concept is that the large company has money, channel, and market knowledge, while small company, like iRobot at that time, has cool technology, and innovation. In fact, the name they gave to Roomba at the first time was "CyberSuck", and then, "DustPuppy", but they are not good to be a commercial product, thus they outsourced the company to create the name, which is "Roomba". One luck they got is the advertisement. Because of the cool innovation, the iRobot were published in many famous media such as Popular Science, National Geographic, etc.

Colin showed the Revised Technology Adoption Life Cycle. The innovators and early adaptor periods are not too hard since the innovation lovers will buy your new cool technological products, but to become the mass product, many factors are needed.

Engineering VS Marketing

Colin described about the vision of engineers and marketers. They are different.

There are 3 rules to make the product:

1. Don't get struck on Oriental carpet fringe.

2. Simple is good.

3. Reliable and Dependable is everything.

iRobot Ava

The new idea, iRobot is doing is the Robot Enabled Home. To be the center of the elements of a home that takes care of everyone, they built the prototype of iRobot Ava. Ava is a Human Interface Robot (HIR). The controller interface is Apple iPad.

Let's Talk about .. Hello World! Hello Life! Mobile Apple Contest seminar

Last Thursday (June 24, 2010) I had a chance to join Hello World! Hello Life! Mobile Apple Contest seminar at Tokyo Institute of Technology. Thanks Ariga san, Kishimo san, and Ikai san for the information.
The speaker of this seminar was Prof.Dr.Masayuki Akamatsu, a professor of sound/media art at the International Academy of Media Arts and Sciences, Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences, Gifu, Japan. He is an iPhone app developer who is interested in media art.

Incubator
He started his presentation with his profile about the Incubator (1999), projecting audio-visual events with 50 MAC computers. They were connected as network and made display and sound. It's a performance that combines human dance with the computer graphics with the rhythm of music and graphic.
Snowflakes
Snowflakes event in Hong Kong
Second, the Snowflakes 2008-2009, in Hong Kong, using 20-40 iPhone with wifi. All of them were opened snowflake application. It's kind like a small music performance that seems amazing.
Largest impact of IT
Next, he talked about the largest impact of IT nowadays. There are many impacts. For example,Bodily information environment and reduction of size like Apple iPhone, palmtop, wearable, and implant; the Sensor information environment which are Sensors /actuators such as a multi-touch screen; the Universal information systems which means everybody, every time, everywhere, every purpose, and every way; the Worldwide information system which are the Internet, and online exchange; and the Inforg the forth revolution.
i.e.,about the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Revolution
First: by Nicolaus Copernicus, we are not immobile, at the centre of the universe.
Second: by Charles Darwin, we are not unnaturally separate and diverse from the rest of the animal kingdom.
Third: by Sigmund Freud, we are very far from bing purely rational minds entirely transparent to ourselves.
Forth: by Inforgs (ourselves), it is modifying our everyday perspective on ourselved and on the ultimate nature of reality, that is, our metaphysics, from a materialist to an informational one.
NOTE: I found an article about Inforg, "Peering into the Future of the Infoshpere" by Luciano Floridi.
Workshop
After that, it's a workshop time. He asked everyone to try 4 applications on iPhone/iPod touch/iPad: iRelax, FingerLite, Soundrop, and Beatwave. First, we tried to open iRelax, an iPhone/iPad application. We were asked to open one sound we like, then he asked us to move and walk around the hall, we felt different when staying in each place..

Real VS Recognition
He also talked about 'Real'. Sometimes, it's hard to identify which is real which is recognition. For example, between 2 Sony Pictures' movies, 2012 and District9, do you think which one is real? (both of them are computer generated images).

Miku Hatsune
After that, he showed the video clip of Miku HATSUNE (初音ミク), a virtual idol singer. She is the Vocaloid 2 Character Vocal Series that released in 2007. She performed a live concert during Animelo Summer Live 2009 in Japan, and at the Anime Festival Asia (AFA09) in Singapore in the year 2009.
Watch Hatsune Miku's Project Diva 2 Trailer Here
About iPhone built-in camera
An iPhone built-in camera is considered as straight direction because we focuses on the object, not subject.
Social Augmented Reality system
By using Augmented Reality (AR) information system and social network system, we can have a lot of information and social. For example, using Sekai Camera: Tagging the World.