While it may sound like the stuff of science fiction, Jansen isn't the only one to take notice of just how useful a real functioning tricorder would be - especially as a medical tool.
Telecommunications giant Qualcomm Inc this year launched the "Tricorder X-Prize Contest" with the slogan "Healthcare in the palm of your hand." Qualcomm hopes to motivate developers with a $10 million prize to make medical tricorders a reality.
Wanda Moebus of the Advanced Medical Technology Association, who is not affiliated with Jansen or Qualcomm, told Reuters the X-Prize "is really cool," but cautioned that making a real medical tricorder device "would have to be measured on its safety and effect, like all other medical technologies."
Jansen said he has been approached by "a couple of teams" about the X Prize, but added that his prototypes are more for science research than medical tools.
Besides, he said he already is on to his next frontier, making a sort of "replicator," another "Star Trek" device that will create 3D objects and foods that are dimensional copies of real items.
Jansen's "replicator" is a 3D printer, which in itself is not really new, but the scientist thinks about it in terms reminiscent of "Star Trek's" famous prologue. It's "like nothing we've ever seen before," Jansen said.
provide support to a large set of early stage high risk innovative SMEs in the ICT sector
Focus will be on SME proposing innovative ICT concept, product and service applying new sets of rules, values and models which ultimately disrupt existing markets.
We are not a SME and have no classical commercialization plan. We can form an Exchange Firm for example, and offer services for OVNi for example, helping local food networks, providing them infrastructure. But in that case, the business plan for the Exchange Firm should contain a revenue model. Who is going to pay for the deployment of the OVNi in order to make the Exchange Firm commercially viable in the eyes of the Commission?
coaching and mentoring support during phase 1 and phase 2
growth plan and maximising it through internationalisation
Enhancing profitability and growth performance of SMEs by combining and transferring new and existing knowledge into innovative, disruptive and competitive solutions
"Specific Challenge: The challenge is to provide support to a large set of early stage high risk innovative SMEs in the ICT sector. Focus will be on SME proposing innovative ICT concept, product and service applying new sets of rules, values and models which ultimately disrupt existing markets."
Electronics supplier SparkFun designs dozens of products a year and they haven’t patented a single one. It’s worked out pretty well so far.
makes its living by shipping kits and components like bread boards, servo motors and Arduino parts to a mixture of students, hobbyists, and professionals making prototypes
the company has made its name is in a stable of its own custom parts and kits, the designs for which it gives away for free.
“We find that people will copy your design no matter what you do,” she says. “You might as well just play the game and go ahead and innovate. It’s fun, it keeps us on our toes.”
“The open source model just forces us to innovate,” says Boudreaux.
the open hardware model means that SparkFun’s existence depends not on any particular product, but on an ongoing relationship with customers that’s not too dissimilar to the loyalty commanded by a fashion house.
wolf of obsolescence is always at electronics’ door
don’t spend much time worrying about the copyists, they just keep releasing new looks
it’s about staying relevant and filling the needs of the community
SparkFun’s rapid turnover model is one that echoes the fashion industry.
keep their service exemplary
listening to their customers
developed a community of loyal users and fans
weekly new product posts
You can learn a lot about what a company cares about by looking at what they give away and what they protect.
SparkFun’s actual value is in the community of fans and loyal customers that keep coming back, and the expertise under its roof in servicing their needs.
Their catalog has about 2,500 items at any given time
SparkFun orders parts from 500 suppliers
15 new products every week
hey retire products at a similar rate, due to either low sales, or obsolescence
Of the 2,500 items, about 400 are things designed internally.
To handle the pace of change, SparkFun needs to keep its inventory lean.
“We try to do small runs and order in small quantities. Especially something that’s going to be obsolete quickly.”
To help manage the demand, they use an in-house software system
along with inventory and CMS management, tries to predict demand for different components and ensure they get ordered with sufficient lead time to account for how long it takes to get there.
the innovation (revisions and new releases) here at SparkFun is organic and not planned,” says Boudreaux, “But we do a few things to make sure we are keeping up.”
monitors all costumer feedback from emails to the comment section that is present on every page of the company’s site. They also ensure that team members have time to tinker in the office, write tutorials, and visit hackerspaces and maker events. “For us, designing (and revising) widgets is the job.”
anyone in the company can suggest ideas and contribute designs.
ideas run through an internal process of design, review, prototyping, testing and release.
“They eat these products up, even if the products are not ready for the mainstream & educator community due to minimal documentation or stability.”
symbiotic relationship with these early adopters, where feedback helps SparkFun revised and improve products for use by the rest of the community
I don’t think they help much
The risk of this rate of change is that SparkFun can end up outpacing some of their customers.
“There’s balance in everything,” says Boudreaux, “Innovation does not necessarily need speed in order to create valuable change. Sometimes innovation works at a slower pace, but that does not mean it is any less valuable to those that benefit from it, and we are constantly balancing the needs of two very different customers.”
unprotected and unencumbered by patents
racing to get the latest, coolest things in the hands of its customers.
patents
“We have to be willing to kill ideas that don’t work, take a lot of tough criticism, and move fast. If we stay agile, we stay relevant.”
cost $30,000 to $50,000
USPTO is so backed up you’ll have to wait three to five years to even hear back on their decision.
how much does technology change in five years?
company’s blog where they’ve been documenting production and business practices for years.
they even want to open source Sparkle. “It’s a wild ride,” she says, “but a fun one for sure.”
"Centrifuges are commonly required devices in medical diagnostics facilities as well as scientific laboratories. Although there are commercial and open source centrifuges, the costs of the former and the required electricity to operate the latter limit accessibility in resource-constrained settings. There is a need for low-cost, human-powered, verified, and reliable lab-scale centrifuges. This study provides the designs for a low-cost 100% 3-D printed centrifuge, which can be fabricated on any low-cost RepRap-class (self-replicating rapid prototyper) fused filament fabrication (FFF)- or fused particle fabrication (FPF)-based 3-D printer. In addition, validation procedures are provided using a web camera and free and open source software. This paper provides the complete open source plans, including instructions for the fabrication and operation of a hand-powered centrifuge. This study successfully tested and validated the instrument, which can be operated anywhere in the world with no electricity inputs, obtaining a radial velocity of over 1750 rpm and over 50 N of relative centrifugal force. Using commercial filament, the instrument costs about U.S. $25, which is less than half of all commercially available systems. However, the costs can be dropped further using recycled plastics on open source systems for over 99% savings. The results are discussed in the context of resource-constrained medical and scientific facilities."
Votorola is social software in support of non-party primary elections and public rule making. We develop the tools to enable a radically free democracy based on unrestricted voting, drafting and discussion. Our alpha prototypes cover everything from voter registration in electoral districts to consensus making, and we lead the field in design, theory and inventions.