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The latest game I've been working on is called Baja for PS3 and Xbox 360, due out this fall. Based on the Baja 1000, an endurance race that takes place along the Baja peninsula in Mexico, it includes over 150 vehicles and 95 tracks spread out over 9 environments. It's been a long and fun process, and here I talk about some of the work I did.
http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/14240390/baja/videos/baja_openworlds_053008.html
It stands for Preliminary Innovation Evaluation System.
The PIES format is a comprehensive, structured evaluation system consisting of 45 criteria that are used to evaluate the commercial potential of your idea or invention and to provide you with a risk profile of your project. These criteria are based on over 35 years of research and new product experience, and will provide you with insights into the risks you face and the strategy you will need to employ to reach the marketplace.
A month or so ago I submitted my attachable pour spout to the Innovation Assessment Program, where they would go over my product with a fine toothed comb, and find results as to it's commercial feasibility. Earlier this week, I received the results of the PIES analyses. It's based on a rating from 0-50. As you can see in below,
not that many products get the green light. The number in the rightmost column signifies the percentage of products given those ratings in 2005-6. As a result of the six week evaluation, my product got a 39. The lack of a functioning prototype brought the score down some, but I'm currently in the process of actually creating a fully functional prototype, which will boost that score up, as well as do significant product testing with neighbors and friends.
In addition to this, I've become a part of the Big Idea Group (http://www.bigideagroup.net/.)I've submitted my product for evaluation for an infomercial. Unfortunately, I won't find out about the results of that until early next year. Keep in touch everyone, I'll be sure and let you know what happens in the next stage of the process!
Oh yeah... On Monday I received a letter from the USPTO, giving me a receipt of my provisional patent application on my invention. It's valid for a year, so within this timeframe (from August 24,2007 to August 24,2008), I have to a)file for the actual patent, b)establish manufacturers and distributors, and c)market the thing.
Also as of August 24th, I can now file for an international patent, which will be protected as of that date. It's all slowly coming together. What's my invention, you ask? Well, ask and you shall receive! The patent, in a nutshell, covers an 'attachable, adjustable pour spout', fixable to pots and pans and irregular containers, via magnetic force or suction. The spout allows liquid to flow from the larger pot or pan, into a small vessel, without spilling on to a table or surface (try pouring from a pot into any container, and see if you can avoid spilling anything on a table!). An example of prior art is here. As you can see, the spout is within the bowl already. My invention allows you to use any pot or bowl of any size, and do the same thing. In addition, it also allows the straining of materials from the liquid in the larger bowl. It's a strainable, open-topped, magnetic or suction funnel.
Like any invention, this one relies on the general public's acceptance. Would you use this item? How much would you pay for something like this? Feedback is most important, so please, give me your honest thoughts. I'm hoping to put up a .PDF of the PPA (provisional patent application) soon, so you can actually see the product for yourself.
I haven't posted anything in a little while, but over the last several months, work has been getting to me. Just regular visual effects work. It's quite fun and entertaining, but like many of you know, I have higher aspirations. Since I filed for a business license (sole proprietorship, at the moment) at the beginning of the year, I've run through several ideas that have been backlogged in my head, of which only Lisa, and a select few coworkers with NDAs, have been privy to.
The last several weeks have involved me banging my head against a wall to create a workable prototype with materials I acquired from Burman Industries in Van Nuys. They were great in helping to decide what materials would be beneficial to the construction of my product. However, next week will be the culmination of several months of preparation and decision making, as I have a consulation with T2 Design, a local manufacturing and marketing firm here in the Santa Monica area. I hope to gain a little more detail in final prototyping for my product, and possibly arrange for some marketing and distribution. They were one of the companies featured on American Inventor last year, and my research led me to them as well as several other product design and marketing companies in the area.
Anyway, I thought I would do some time/money breakdowns for what's in my head. While Time Value of Money strictly relates to investments, I found it could be another apt description for gaining money while not actively working, which begins below.
I was looking online at NetJets, which has fractional jet ownership.. Don't ask me why I jumped onto that page, but I was interested. They have a Marquis Jet Card, for the low price of $115,900, you can use their jets for 25 flight hrs. That's about $4600/hr.. That got me thinking. How could I earn that much an hour? It's an exercise in futility, as it'll take forever to work up to that amount, but let's try it anyway. I'll round it out to $5000/hr. Which comes to about $43,800,000 a year (24hrs/365days). For comparison, Steven Spielberg made $332 million last year. That's about $38,000/hr (24hrs/365days).
If I wanted to sell my product, let's just say for a profit of 20 cents each ($0.20), I'd have to sell 416 of them per min, or about 7 per second. If there are around 3000 Walmarts here in the states, I'd have to sell about 0.13 of my products per store.. Rounded up to 1 per store is definitely overkill, but there are times when stores are closed, things are out of stock, etc. But the greater problem arises. There are not enough people to buy this product! The US Census predicts a rise to 115 million households by the year 2010. If each one of these households were to buy my product to meet that 416 items sold per minute, I would reach my target audience in 191 days. Each household would have that product and wouldn't need it again. But what about the population of the states? 300 million people. It'd take only 500 days for everyone to have one. At that's at a rate of only 416 per minute.
In a nutshell, in order for me to make $5000/hr, it would take, in a perfect scenario, selling my product continuously every second of every day for 191 days for a personal profit of 20 cents each.
Lots of interesting things have been going on on the business side of things. The paperwork has been done, and all that's left is to get my Federal EIN (Employer ID Number). I'm ready to conduct business in the great state of California, and am registered in Alameda County. I've parked a bunch of domains (inversin-innovations.com, .us, .org, etc) and will be putting up a webpage this month.
I've employed the use of a patent agent to clean up my USPTO patent pending document, and I hope to have my disclosure in his hands by mid March. Depending on how long it takes him to rewrite or clean up my PPA (Patent-Pending Application) claims, I should have the finished documents by mid April! Once the USPTO receives the document and I get a receipt, I'll have patent pending! I'll then be able to discuss my invention with interested licensees and companies, attend tradeshows and discuss my invention with peers. If the marketability of my product succeeds, I'll then be able to file a utility patent application that will be valid for 20 years from the date of issue of the PPA.
I'm finding that the hardest thing at the moment is writing up the invention disclosure. I keep on thinking about it, and the more I do, the less that I think it will succeed. However, I have to stop thinking like that, or else I'll never get anything done! I'm sure there's a market for it.
