SCAD StartUp is an annual, week-long design sprint hosted by FLUX in collaboration with SCADpro. Start Up 2020 was sponsored by Ford Motor Company, Youtube and more!
Teams were given a week to build their business based on the prompt : giving a voice.
“What if we made hearing aids for deaf dogs? Giving their owners a voice”
- Charlie Bowles
“Can we solve for the same target in a less intrusive way?”
- Harrison Kent
Research
Through interviews, blog posts, articles, reddit, YouTube videos and more, we found a community of deaf dog owners longing for new methods to help communicate with the nearly 9 million deaf dogs in America.
Business Model
The 72 billion dollar pet industry grows 2.3 billion annually. If we could reach only 1% of our demographic, we’d still have an estimated 3.6 million in revenue, including production costs.
Competitive Analysis
Similarly, vibrating vests exist, but they work through a remote and codes, which is unnatural. Additionally, research is going into hearing aids and cochlear implants, but they are expensive costing upwards of $40,000.
Prototyping
We prototyped an inexpensive device that translates vocal frequencies into vibration frequencies.
Cooper Collar is a device that clips onto your deaf dog’s collar. Targeting the animals innate ability to respond to sensory commands through conditioning.
It does this by translating your voice into vibration. Allowing your dog to feel commands.
With multiple clips to distinguish direction of owner! Helping dogs understand where their master is calling from.
Check out my team members work!
SCAD Start Up Charlie Bowles Eli Clein Jake Wyand
Read these publications detailing our winning efforts! Placing 3rd of 47 teams.
