Category: Uncategorized

Step 1: Determine the facts in the situation – obtain all of the unbiased facts possible. 

 

• There is a disease-causing pathogen unique to the water sources in Lesotho.
• Testing is simple, but the cost of sending trained researchers is expensive
• We want to examine the water in Lesotho
• We need the cooperation of the locals
• Our success is dependent upon the accuracy/quality/quantity of the data we are able to collect in the time we have been allotted.
• We are expecting to publish our findings to help further research into making safer drinking water.
• Ethical issue:  What will the people of the community in Lesotho gain from cooperating with the researchers for providing transportation or guidance to the water sources?
  • No short term benefits 
  • There is also no clear long term benefits (there could be  but not guaranteed) 

Steps 2/3: Define the Stakeholders – those with a vested interest in the outcome/ Assess the motivations of the Stakeholders

• Locals (Community in Lesotho who is accessing water sources)
  • We should leave the community unchanged, or better, than we found it.
  • Their lives should stay the same or be better (from their perspective)
  • Building relationships with other cultures.
  • Decreasing possible risk of being exposed to disease-causing pathogens 
  • Attracting outsiders to Lesotho→ This research will make it public that they are actively working towards safer water sources 
• World population (people who are infected with the disease-causing pathogen)
  • Getting a better understanding of how to treat water sources and the pathogens that could be found in them so that communities beyond Lesotho could protect themselves from future outbreaks
• Researchers (The 10 researchers who will be directly working with the Lesotho communities, You)
  • Reputation
  • Credibility 
  • Personally driven to help Lesotho communities 
  • Learn about the pathogen
•  University (The individuals who are publishing the data)
  • all of the papers that are published with the data will be credited to the university
    • reputation
    • Credibility
      • Develop their “brand” and excellence for future ventures
        • More funding opportunities
• Drug company/funding (Company that will produce the chemical additives for the sources of water in Lesotho)
  • Help people who are negatively affected by the pathogen
    • If it costs less to kill the pathogen than cure the disease
  • Improve drinking water
  • Reputation
  • Credibility 
  • Financial gains 
• Research community (Scholars, educators, and specialists invested in the literary contributions to their respected communities)
  • They will be invested in the accuracy of the data methodology
    • Credibility

Step 4: Formulate (at least three) alternative solutions – based on information available, using

basic ethical core values as guide

Solution 1

• Research the locals before the trip or make connections with individuals who understand the local customs so as to make the venture beneficial for both you, the researcher and the individuals in the communities you are visiting

Ethical Principle/code

• Do no harm (beneficence)

Pros

• We get to learn about another culture
• The locals get exposure to our culture(s) and intentions

Cons

• It will take time up front before the trip to learn about the culture
• It might be difficult to find someone who understands the culture

Solution 2

• Incentivize locals to participate in the research
• Teach the locals how to test the water

Ethical Principle/Code 

• Beneficence

Pros

• Local participants
• They know the area

Cons

• Incorrect collection procedures
• Unreliable data

 

Solution 3:

• Incentivize local healthcare workers to assist in the research process

Ethical Principle/Code

• Beneficence

Pros

• True collaboration
• Local healthcare workers add the necessary community connection that might help bridge the gap between researchers and local individuals
• Mutual benefit. (1) Researchers get accurate, reliable data;(2) healthcare workers get to learn about water-borne pathogens and hygiene; (3) locals learn about hygiene which might lead to better quality of life.

Cons

• The research might not lead to a viable solution to the pathogen
• Developing relationships with healthcare workers will cost more time and money
• Locals might not understand the science 

 

Step 5: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate – engineering codes of ethics, previous cases, peers, reliance on personal experience, inner reflection

Talk to the important people in the community to see if they are willing to help the researchers connect with the “right” people to get us to the water. Khanjan’s scenario where he finds his top four locals to help by meeting many, by offering an incentive (pre-approved by the community leader) and then have the community help identify the best helpers might be a great way for us to get together with the healthcare professionals who are most likely to benefit from a collaboration with us. An organization like Doctors without Borders might also be a good resource to help us develop the necessary relationships. 

 

Step 6: Select the best course of action – that which satisfies the highest core ethical values.

Incentivizing local healthcare workers to assist in the research process is the most ethical option.

This is the best course of action because educating people is very important. Lesotho is a small, developing country that would benefit greatly from more modern hygiene practices. Having trained researchers do the sampling, and teaching the local healthcare workers to do the sampling would insure reliable data and might lead to future research if the healthcare workers learn the necessary skills. This education, in addition to other compensation, would go a long way to ensuring a continued relationship with the healthcare workers. The community would benefit from the research with healthier drinking water, if the pathogen can be identified and an additive engineered to neutralize it. The local healthcare system would benefit because it would not have to treat patients sick from the pathogen. The local community might also benefit from exporting their new, healthy water. 

 

Step 7: (If applicable) What are the implications of your solution on the venture. Explain the

impact of your proposed solution on the venture’s technology, economic, social and environmental aspects.

 The implications of utilizing local healthcare workers to conduct research can greatly impact the living conditions of the community.

• Technology: The research is meant to help researchers understand the mechanics of the water-borne pathogen. If researchers are able to understand how the pathogen is transmitted, an additive might be developed to clean the water. This technology might be transferable to other water-borne pathogens.
• Economic: If the locals no longer suffer from the disease caused by this water-borne pathogen, they will be able to work more and spend less on healthcare. If the additive is something available locally, this might also add to the economy. If the additive can’t be made locally or if the ingredients are too expensive, it will have ethical implications.
• Social: If the additive changes the taste or color of the water, the locals might not be convinced that it is healthier than the natural water. If the research leads to an acceptable solution to the problem, both the researchers and their university will gain credibility.
• Environmentally: The additive that kills the water-borne pathogen might also kill wildlife species. If the additive is effective, the locals might be more inclined to sell their resource, which might lead to a shortage of water for the community.

 

While trying to develop a low-cost syringe for the developing world context, you (the designer) hit a cross-roads. Constructing the syringe to auto-disable after a single use, an important safety feature, significantly adds to the cost of the design – making it potentially unaffordable for some hospitals and clinics. However, if you don’t add the safety feature, you are enabling the potential for the spread of disease. How do you as a designer proceed? 

 

Step 1:

Problem 1: Without the auto-disable safety feature, it might be possible for people to misuse the syringe, enabling the potential for the spread of disease.

Problem 2: If the safe syringe is too expensive, it won’t be used for those for whom it was developed.

Ethical question: do you forgo the safety feature, and potentially put people at risk, to keep the syringe affordable, or do you keep the feature and potentially keep the syringe out of the hands of the people who would benefit the most.

Facts: You are the designer of the auto-disable syringe, adding the auto-disable option makes the syringe more expensive. The syringe must be low cost but not adding the safety feature is a hazard.

Step 2: Stakeholders

Hospitals/Medical centers

Doctors/nurses

Patients

Designers

Company

Step 3:

• Hospital/med center admin
  • Trying to help as many people as possible within the budget
  • Reputation/treat spread of disease
  • Bring in Profits
• Designer
  • Making sure our design is safe, accessible, helpful
  • keep job
• Patient
  • some will prioritize treatment over safety
  • better safe than sorry
  • receive treatment at lost cost/risk
• Doctors/nurses
  • Do no harm
  • Help as many as possible while prioritizing safety and reduce the risk of spreading disease

Step 4: Three alternative courses of action include: (1) forgoing the auto-disable feature and focus on education; (2) provide an incentive (cheaper replacement) for returning syringes after a single use without the auto-disable function;and (3)partner with drug companies and combine auto-disable syringe with medication and allow return of syringe for cheaper refill of drug

1. Forego the single-use feature and invest in user-focused education
   1. Ethical Principle: If the syringe is too expensive, they won’t get to the individuals who need them most
      1. Pros: less expensive, more available
      2. Cons: Risk of using inappropriately increased; risk of infection

1. Offer incentive to users to return syringe after single use for a cheaper replacement 
   1. Ethical Principle: People who need the product can afford it
      1. Pros: cuts down on medical waste, encourages recycling/ safe handling of medical waste
      2. Cons: Risk of using inappropriately increased; risk of infection
2. Pair the single use syringe with a medication and allow users to return the syringe for a refill of the medication (single use epipen return for a refill of the med)
   1. Ethical Principle: Eliminate the risk of inappropriate use
      1. Pros: no risk of spreading infection for misuse of syringe
      2. Cons: largely dependent upon relationship with drug companies, need for method of returning

Step 5: 

• What incentives to doctors/hospitals/medical facilities have for collecting “sharps” already and how can we use this as a segue to our recycle program
• How well does recycling work for other things (paper, plastic, etc) in our target area
• How can we determine whether a syringe was used more than once when it has been returned and how do we handle returned syringes if they have been overused

Step 6: 

The best course of action that satisfies the highest core ethical values is to forgo the single-use feature and replace it with a cheaper reactant paper that changes color once the syringe is used.  Then offer the user the incentive to return the syringe after only a single use for a less expensive replacement. Misused, returned syringes would still be replaced, but more training might be necessary. The money saved by forgoing the single-use safety measure should be used to: educate the users of the potential risks of using the syringes more than once; simple, inexpensive method for return; and cost-effective replacements in lieu of misusing the single-use product.    

Step 7:

There are several implications of my solution on the venture. In terms of the technology, while the auto-disable may seem like a good solution to the misuse problem, the cost would preclude its use for the very ones for whom it is intended. Rather than focus on preventing misuse, a better idea is to educate the individuals who are at the highest risk of misuse. If they understand the scientific reasoning behind the single-use, they might be more inclined to use the product correctly.  The economic implications include decreased health care costs for the treatment of infections spread by misusing syringes. In addition, if recycling syringes is lucrative enough, it might lead to other recycling ventures, which is a very positive environmental implication. Socially speaking, educating people as to why reusing syringes is unhygienic and unsafe might lead to curiosity regarding other areas of cleanliness and hygiene. 

Blog #1

Refine the detailed income statement for your venture for two years (at six month intervals) or a more appropriate time scale. Explicitly state the assumptions that underlie your financial model.

1. Income statement based on a rental model 

Lehigh River Watershed immersive learning (SPREADSHEET)   

2. Business Model

RENTAL of packages to libraries and/or bookstores (packages have 3 tiers)

	SMALL	MID	LARGE
Headsets (OculusGo 32Gb)	5	10 headsets	20 headsets
Add-ons	Rechargeable Batteries, Battery charger, 50 hygiene headset masks	Rechargeable Batteries, Battery charger, 100 hygiene masks,power strip	Rechargeable Batteries, Battery charger, 200 headset masks, power strip
Support & Training	Online Playbook** customer support throughout rental period	Online Playbook customer support throughout rental period	Online Playbook customer support throughout rental period
Product Insurance	No insurance coverage***	Minimum coverage	Comprehensive Coverage
TOTAL	$799.99	$1499.99	$2499.99

 2. Refine the Business Model for your venture based on your revenue model. You may use the Osterwalder BMC to refine your business model but prepare one or more visuals that explain how your venture will work and accomplish you BHAG

 SELL big packages to Educational/curriculum businesses (e.g., Powerschool and Cyberschool). *case by case basis, personalizable/variable design and pricing for specific “contractor”*

 

** Playbook: (“recipe” of how develop these immersive learning game/experiences for individuals who are interested in replicating in the future)

 

*** Customer liability during the period of the rental. Every equipment needs to be returned in the same state as they received.

 

    Micro: (individuals, families, etc.) Publish games on XR platform stores such as Oculus Store, and SteamVR @steady price of $2.99/game

 

Year 1: Direct implementation with partners, launch website for rental service in PA, market & publicize venture through working partners (STEM centers, immersive Learning Research Network, PPL Electric Utilities, etc.)

Year 2: Build rental service scale (beyond PA to DE, NY, NJ), develop connections with education/curriculum businesses, place games on platforms (Oculus Store, Steam VR), continue to market primary service (rental)

Year 3: Continue developing rental service scale to other states, launch service of “selling” designed packages to education/curriculum businesses, build connections to national networks (Discovery Education, National Geographic, etc.)

3. Develop an M&E plan for your venture. Clearly list all assumptions. Identify short-term and long-term success metrics. Identify specific methods to measure the metrics.

M&E Discussion
What are your metrics of success: reach X% of environmental science students in the US
Short term measure – reach 80% of students in Pennsylvania by partnering with…???
Long term measure – the changes of knowledge, skills, and beliefs about individuals impacts on their watershed.
USGS National database
→ Water Quality in the Nation’s Streams and Rivers – Current Conditions and Long-Term Trends
→ https://cida.usgs.gov/quality/rivers/home
→Lehigh – HUC 02040106 (data sources being monitored in the Lehigh River watershed )

Number of environmental science students who have used/have access to the game

Metrics could be data from anyone playing the game
User feedback gathered from the Oculus, Steam, Discovery Ed stores…. (e.g., 5-star rating, qualitative written feedback provided), number of downloads, user activity on game

Blog Prompt #1

Develop a detailed income statement for your venture for two years (at six month intervals). Explicitly state the assumptions that underlie your financial model

Income Statement → service provided: providing the educational games/apps (not the headset or hardware)

• Revenue: 
  • Licensing fee every time a teacher/ educator downloads the game or app
  • Less than a cup of coffee $3.50, one time member download cost of $2.99
• Costs of goods sold: 
  • Purchase of minimum required equipment for the development (e.g., 1 VR-ready/gaming computer, 1 Oculus Rift, 1 Oculus GO) [approximate total = $3,000 ] one time cost
  • Salary of employees  directly involved in developing process (e.g., VR game developer, instructional designer)
  • Percent commission charged by Oculus store or other partnership platform for selling or distributing the game through them
• Overheads: 
  • Game engine costs for designing the game (ex. Unity software cost if make over 100k a year) → updates?
  • Marketing & sales costs
  • Utilities

 

			Projected for 1 partner: having 10 Oculus GO VR headsets for implementation
Venture Stage			Number of Downloads	Scheduled  Sessions (happening in LGNC’s yearly 8 public edu events)	Donations/ Grants	Revenue  # downloads * cost/app purchase	CoGS	Overhead	Total Profit
P H A S E 1	Y E A R 1	6 months	0	0	$3000		$3000	$0
		12 months	10  (beta access)	8	$1000		$0	$0
			Conservative Projection of consumers at-large from the Oculus Store as a result of the Field Testing Research Stage
			Number of Downloads (projected)	Scheduled  Sessions	Donations/ Grants	Revenue  # downloads * cost/app purchase	CoGS	Overhead	Total Profit
P H A S E 2	Y E A R 2	18 months	30	24	$500	$89.70	$31.40	$0	$58.30
		24 months	50	150	$0	$149.50	$52.33	$0	$97.17

 

• 6 months
  • Lehigh Valley Watershed (LVW) will continue to build relationships with external organizations
  • LVW will rely on donations and personal funding from the PI and Lehigh
    • One time costs for equipment
• 12 months
  • Partnerships cover working overhead costs
  • Gather marketing & customer interest data through sessions with partnerships (not charged)
  • LVW will continue to rely on personal funding/donation to carry out these activities 
• 18 months
  • Continue working with partnerships, market via publishings & communication channels built in Year 1
  • Begin implementing on public platforms
  • ~35% commission + tax from Oculus store
• 24 months
  • Continue monitoring downloads of app/game, examine profits & work on marketing (outside of partnerships)
  • Transition completely away from personal funding

 

Work Plan

Table 2. iVR game design, development and implementation timeline

	Y1 (Aug 20 – July 21)	Y2 (Aug 21 – July 22)	Y3 (Aug 22 – July 23)	Y4 (Aug 23 – July 24)	Y5 (Aug 24 – July 25)
Design and Development	iVR1,
Prototype Testing	iVR1 (LGNC)
Pilot Testing (building capacity)		iVR1 (LGNC) (professional development with staff)
Field Testing		iVR1 (LGNC)
Libraries and all sites			iVR1 1 informal STEM centers 1 public libraries	iVR1, iVR2, iVR3	iVR1, iVR2, iVR3, iVR4, iVR5

Note: Site locations are in parentheses

Blog Prompt #2

Identify two SPECIFIC funding sources for the design phase of your project and two SPECIFIC funding sources for the dissemination (implementation/distribution/commercialization) phase of your project. For each funding source, explain why this is a good fit for your project and what SPECIFIC aspect of your project might the funding source support.

Design Phase (Planning, Research, Prototype-building)→ 

 

Funding source #1  Lehigh University Office of Creative Inquiry

Why is it a good fit for our project? 

This is a key partnership and the office that our project is working out of and building from the initial idea. The goal of the Office and our project aligns with creating impact locally and globally. Because this is a strong connection that we are already collaborating with, it is a primary funding source for our research stage.

Specific aspect this funding source might support: 

This funding source will support the actual design of our project product (i.e. the game) and implement the beta testing; it covers part of the costs of the necessary equipment and software. It may also fund the rental of media equipment to capture the local geography(content) of the Lehigh Watershed. 

 

Funding source #2  Principal Investigator’s personal funds

Why is it a good fit for our project? 

This is an initial source of funding for our project at our current stage. However, it is not a planned long term source of funding as it is not sustainable for the venture. Our project of iVR1 is in the process of being completed and the externalities not covered by other funding is covered personally.

Specific aspect this funding source might support:

This funding covers the costs of renting professional camera equipment to take 360 degree HD media of the content needed for the design of the game and covers other unexpected quality control issues. 

 

Dissemination Phase (Implementation, Distribution, Commercialization)→ 

 

Funding source #1  National Science Foundation (NSF) AISL (Advancing Informal STEM Learning)  

Why is it a good fit for our project? 

Our project addresses the target guidelines that this grant program supports; we are working with multiple local STEM centers to create a curriculum for environmental science that is engaging. This program supports the approach that we are taking towards education via cutting edge technology. The following are some excerpts from NSF’s Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) webpage (https://www.nsf.gov/ehr/drl/about.jsp):

“The Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program builds on educational research and practice and seeks to increase interest in, engagement with, and understanding of STEM by individuals of all ages and backgrounds through self-directed STEM learning experiences.”

 

Specific aspect this funding source might support:

The AISL program supports six types of projects. Our venture work is very likely to be funded in the following  (1) Pilots and Feasibility Studies, (3) Innovations in Development, and (6) Conferences. This funding allows us to conduct our pilot and field testing after the design and development phase is complete as well as funds toward the end of publishing our work and disseminating the material through large conferences, etc.

 

Funding source #2  PPL Electric Services Empowering Educators Grants

Why is it a good fit for our project? 

In Pennsylvania, PPL participates in the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program, which allows companies to invest in projects that improve education. As an example, PPL’s Empowering Educators grant program provides grants to teachers working to spark an interest in STEM subjects. This is applicable to our project as it is a state based program and our venture focuses on local environmental science and STEM education within the state of Pennsylvania, specifically the Lehigh Valley. 

 

Specific aspect this funding source might support:

This funding might support the cost of buying the equipment such as the iVR headsets for the local STEM centers and public libraries. Also, it may be used to cover transportation costs of the implementation stage with our partners that are based all around the Lehigh Valley since some centers are a large distance away from the university.

 

PPL’s community involvement regarding volunteer work: 

“Employees are generous donors of volunteer time in schools, food banks, youth sports organizations, and many other community settings. PPL encourages employees to volunteer. In fact, the company donates $1,000 to nonprofits if an employee volunteers at least 40 hours in a calendar year. In 2018, employees volunteered more than 20,000 hours.”

As students of a non-profit (Lehigh University), many of us have volunteering work hours in the Lehigh University community. Thus, we might become part of the company’s statistics being receiving $1,000 in donations to support our dissemination stage. 

Blog Prompt #3

Identify five specific partnerships that you need to forge to advance your project forward with the ultimate goal of positively impacting at least one million people. Describe exactly how that partnership might help you achieve scale and why that entity might be willing to work with you

Ultimate goal → positively impact at least 1 million people.

 

Partnership #1 Oculus (from Facebook)  https://www.oculus.com

How would it help us achieve scale? Source A  

Oculus is an extremely large and far reaching platform to millions of users of cutting edge technology; educators interested in building curriculum utilizing this type of advanced technology and alternative media will be able to conveniently find a model (through our game) to use in their classrooms and spread it through word of mouth of at local school district meetings with other principal educators. School administrations may also learn of it and encourage impact through their open curriculum. 

Why would it be willing to work with us?

Oculus receives commission and tax for every purchase made on its platform as well as larger publicity–which in this case will be good press– because it can expand from being an entertainment dominated field to incorporate education as well. This builds up an even larger audience for profit as well as positive impact through supporting alternative learning.

 

Partnership #2 Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) https://immersivelrn.org/

How would it help us achieve scale?

This network connects us to other educators and researchers pursuing similar topics with iVR technology. It has national reach and will help us spread the word of our project through the conferences and publicational podcasts, and etc. that it holds. This can further help to connect us to other partners who may be interested in the same topic we are working on.

Why would it be willing to work with us?

iLRN would be willing to work with us because their goals of creating a larger audience for iVR research connects with our goal of gaining a larger audience for the project. We also hold a membership with the organization.

 

Partnership #3  Wildlands Conservancy https://www.wildlandspa.org/

How would it help us achieve scale?

They reach many people through their public outreach and youth programs such as the summer camps and eco-tourism activities. If we work with them, we will be able to build a large audience through connecting with visitors to the conservancy in person and advertising the project.

Why would it be willing to work with us?

As a non-profit whose goal is environmental sustainability, the organization would be very willing to work with our project of environmental education with engaging Lehigh Valley residents to interact with their local watershed. This falls in line with their initiatives to build impact on the protection and education of important natural areas and waterways; not to mention, they may receive more interest in STEM education programs through this type of new technology.

 

Partnership #4 Educators in VR  https://educatorsinvr.com/

How would it help us achieve scale? https://educatorsinvr.com/events/international-summit/

“The 2020 Educators in VR International Summit, February 17-22, 2020, was a free, open-to-the public, virtual educational conference featuring 170+ speakers in 150+ events across 5 virtual platforms over 6 days, 24 hours a day. It is considered the largest immersive virtual event of its kind in the world.”

 

In addition, they run a very active Discord community 24/7. 

 

Why would it be willing to work with us?

Educators in VR is dedicated to providing training programs and workshops for educators, learners, researchers, and anyone interested in creating educational events in VR. The workshops are a combination of free introductory programs and paid workshops. Here are some upcoming social VR examples:

• April 10 – How to Produce a Virtual Conference in AltspaceVR (Free)
• April 14 – Host and Moderator Training 101 in AltspaceVR (Free)
• April 16 – Speaker 101 Training in AltspaceVR (Free)

 

Partnership #5  PPL Electric Utilities https://www.pplelectric.com/safety-and-community/community-involvement/education.aspx

How would it help us achieve scale?

PPL has a variety of programs to teach electrical safety to children, first responders, contractors and members of the public. In addition, PPL is planning to deliver in-school programming to 100,000 children over five years. As part of PPL’s educational outreach initiatives, including funding STEM school programs, PPL supports high-quality educational opportunities for all students, with a particular emphasis on those in need.

Why would it be willing to work with us?

According to PPL’s core values, their success is tied to the success of the towns and cities they serve. Thus, PPL’s commitment to the local communities may be the reason why they would accept our venture’s partnership proposal.

 

Refined Business Model Canvas

Ten practical lessons from the business (revenue) models of ventures we reviewed today (or others you research) as they relate to your venture.

 

1)  End to end operation (Aravind)

 

• Creating game, bringing game to customers, teaching them how to use, and following up with maintenance services so they are “served” from start to end

 

2)  Building capacity (Reel Gardening)

 

1. 1. • Train people on the ground (e.g., undergrads, grad students at Lehigh, across colleges) to keep training others and advancing the work of the project.
      • During research implementation stage, we emphasize professional development of the staff members of our partnering educational institutions, so that we consolidate the procedure and make it easier to use the iVR

 

3)  Task-shifting (Aravind)

 

• Giving people in the project less skilled but time consuming tasks to divide work and optimize the workflow 

 

4)  Optimization of indigenous knowledge (Barefoot College)

 

• Teaching from the history of the local area and watershed and using their experience as key resources 

 

5)  Certified by the community (Barefoot College)

 

• Experience and effectiveness of our technology will be certified by the people who use it/secondary customers as a key, educational experience; they will not receive a certificate or tangible product, but a set of knowledge

 

6)  Educational Game-changer value proposition (Reel Gardening) 

 

• • Engaging and fun gamified learning experiences containing integrated STEM disciplines. 
  • We have lowered barriers for adoption for our product by studying and adopting a more feasible and affordable hardware device (i.e., we stopped using HTC Vive VR headset and adopted Oculus GO.
    • Listening to teachers in our very first presentations was key for this change. Although they loved the idea of using VR for teaching and learning, ALL of them dreaded the fact of having a bulky computer taking up space in their classroom and all wires involved in the HTC Vive VR set up.

 

7)  Redefine value (Barefoot College)

 

• Like redefining professionalism and focusing on skills and knowledge that is not considered mainstream, the value of the content knowledge of our project can be redefined even if environmental science and watershed education is not a traditional topic. 
• Similarly, once we have our learning curriculum defined, instructional narratives storyboarded, we could select a more appropriate hardware for delivering our project (if need be).
• Creating unique value by developing immersive VR instructional materials. capitalize on emergent technology hardware and mainstream platforms of social engagement (e.g., video games, gamified experiences) 

 

8) When speaking of impact, have different value propositions for different customer segments (Envirofit)

 

• Our technology is very new which means that the nature centers/libraries with the resources to obtain the Oculus GO headsets are our primary customers, we need to have a different value proposition for them than our secondary customers who are the visitors to the centers and libraries 
• Look at the overall picture and how different customer segments might be related to each other

 

9)  Leverage organizations to help advance the venture forward (Reel Gardening)

 

• Working with other organizations to promote ourselves and create more impact because our goal is the education of watersheds in a better, engaging, and personal-relatable way; we can team up with other universities who are also working on teaching watersheds and technology companies that might want to sponsor this type of non-traditional learning with environmental and social impact to reach more people.

10)  Linked prosperity along value chain (Greyston Bakery)

 

 

• Creating value and benefit for everyone involved because there are multiple customer segments; primary customers (i.e. nature centers & libraries) have added value in that they receive more visitors if word spreads that they have fun and engaging learning modules → more funds for them to operate → self sustaining model of promotion by popular word of mouth; secondary customers (visitors/students) are able to learn about environmental issues in an engaging way → overall positive attitude on their local community & watershed → long term positive environmental impact
• Change in larger system order

1) Develop a Business Model for your venture using the Osterwalder Business Model Canvas.

 

2) List ten lessons from the Business and Operations model of the Aravind Eye Hospital

• Find a need, fill a need → creating value
• • Empowering blind people.
  • Giving dignity to people that have vision disabilities.
  • Addressing the issue at its source (80% is preventable/curable)
    • A pair of glasses will make 2.4 million people see
  • Glasses also as a “fashion statement” (value proposition)

• Scale Building → Aravind Eye Clinic (AEC) 
• • [1976]
            a 11-bed clinic

• [2009] it became the AEC SYSTEM!
          4000 beds in 5 eye hospitals
          33 primary eye care centers (key partnerships)
          4 managed eye hospitals 
• Per day the AEC system does: (key activities)
  “A typical day at Aravind, we would do about a thousand surgeries, maybe see about 6,000 patients, send out teams into the villages to examine, bring back patients, lots of telemedicine consultations, and, on top of that, do a lot of training, both for doctors and technicians who will become the future staff of Aravind” (Ravilla, T. — TED India 2009)
• Innovation for lack of resources → create community ownership and rope them in both as a partner and resource
• • Community camp organized by locals to find a place and organize volunteers to line people up for testing & diagnosis
  • Cuts down on costs & manpower needed to gather large groups of people for screening
  • Bringing the treatment to the people who can’t access it
  •  “Community Camps”
    a) Empowering community members: capacity building (Key Activity)
    b) Community members become partners. (Key partnerships)

   6) McDonald’s Business Model → fast service franchise

  • High efficiency by producing eye care, techniques, and methods all in the same way b/c all eyeballs (the problem and the treatment) is the same 
  • Delivery system: a franchise of fast eye care,  (Channels)

  
  7) Counseling & transportation to hospitals offered if needed. (Key resource)

  8) Cutting down barriers to adoption/access → instant “delivery” of glasses after testing at camp

  9) Build systems to target root of problem → set up new system of reaching people/ access to testing

  • Creating new primary eye care centers with tele-consultations with doctors
  • Using technology to decrease need of people going to hospitals in person (as they may not be able to)

  10) Costs of scale → making the system work financially

  • Gave a lot of it away for free (for those who couldn’t afford)
  • Charged local market rates (for the ones who could pay)
  • Idea of ownership and healing instead of exploitation
  • Decreasing costs in the clinical process to create quality, patient-centered care
  • Take advantage of the market inefficiency (e.g., low competition?)

1.

• Remove barriers to adoption (flatten the learning curve, make it easy for people to use it especially because this is generally the largest obstacle for adoption of new technology); don’t ask people to do something you wouldn’t do yourself #PlayLikeUmeanIT
• Make meaning, not money (the nature of our project focuses on preserving cultural heritage about the local history and geographical feature of the LV watershed which in essence is about local significance, not profit); also, this technology which we are working on may better the lives of people who cannot go out to see these environmental features themselves which increases quality of life. #CulturalHeritage
• Don’t limit yourself to a target projected audience (enable test drives to see if your product would make sales and be successful, don’t focus your sights on who you’re “supposed” to be selling too because the important point is that your product is selling)
• Always run your ideas through women! As Guy playfully said on the video: “men have the ‘killer gene’ — a fundamental genetic flaw”, they will always try to put new ideas or long standing ones down.
• Don’t be afraid to polarize people; “if your product doesn’t polarize people, it probably isn’t a very good product (ex. Apple)”. Be authentic, think differently. 
• Find the true influencers! Embrace your evangelists, their genuine beliefs about the product will translate in their outreach endeavors.

Current (and Future) Market Segments

Niche – Since we are using one of the most recent entertainment technology devices — VR headsets — and the development work for this product is very scarce and non-centralized. 

 

Multi-sided platform – At the same time we are targeting the Lehigh Valley inhabitants that would likely visit our informal education partners (e.g., local public libraries, STEM educational centers), there is also high interest and demand from the research and development team at Lehigh University regarding the initial reaction and subsequential data collected about our innovative educational intervention using immersive VR. 

 

Segmented – In the long term, after our product has been implemented, tested, and validated, a following action would be scaling it up to be used by other educational entities located in watersheds located in other states or even in other countries.

 

Total Available Market: Lehigh Valley population at ~800,000 people who are either residents or visiting the area.

 

Total Addressable Market: With our current number of headsets/equipment and the limits of the nature center/public libraries, we expect over 4,000 participants across several local public libraries and STEM centers over the entire grant period of 5 years (if our submitted proposal is accepted). 

 

In Dr. Garrrigan’s Entrepreneur class, we defined an “innovative entrepreneur” as “one who creates a business or program that creates a new service with the intention of making an impact.” We also narrowed down five repeated traits of the innovative entrepreneur (VIPER):

1. Vision – imagining how and when a particular opportunity may occur or the potential market or success of an innovation or initiative.
2. Innovation – comes up with and identifies new ideas that could really work. Often comes from prior study or expertise.
3. Passion – the burning desire to have an impact.
4. Endurance/Perseverance – working hard with unwavering faith in face of difficulties,  obstacles, and failures.
5. Risk – willing to take financial, career, and personal risks.

Given the direction of the class last night, I thought this was particularly relevant. More can be found on his website https://mentaledge.us/innovate/innovate-entrepreneur-links/

– Summarize and report out on the results of the SKS exercise.

I think communication is a big idea from the Start doing category and to improve ours, I am going to make a more concerted effort to initiate communications with the other members of my team by utilizing platforms such as Zoom or Discord. The big takeaway from the Keep category is following the development plan devised by our project leader and continuing to create based on the task allocations. We should stop limiting ourselves in scale as well as not tracking project management together. 

 

-Develop a detailed Collaboration Plan for your team clearly articulating your Goals (Small g and Big G), Roles, Procedures, and Relationships.

– Summarize and report out on the results of the SKS exercise.

I think communication is a big idea from the Start doing category and to improve ours, I am going to make a more concerted effort to initiate communications with the other members of my team by utilizing platforms such as Zoom or Discord. The big takeaway from the Keep category is following the development plan devised by our project leader and continuing to create based on the task allocations. We should stop limiting ourselves in scale as well as not tracking project management together. 

 

-Develop a detailed Collaboration Plan for your team clearly articulating your Goals (Small g and Big G), Roles, Procedures, and Relationships.

My small, personal goals for this project are to improve my skills working with programs like Unity and Blender, which will help me to create my own video game assessments, I would also like to work more closely with the cooperating organizations to create relationships that will last past this project. I believe that education can be fun, in fact, I believe that when we learn in a fun environment, we open ourselves to being more creative. I like the fact that we are working with non-traditional educational environments in real life situations.

The Big Goal of this project is to complete development of the virtual reality headset game and distribute it to non-formal education centers to inform people of the significance of their local  watershed in the Lehigh Valley. We are implementing an alternative style of environmental science education for English language learners and students who may struggle to learn with traditional teaching methods. 

While teams have members whose roles will overlap at different times, there are certain established roles that might fit a certain person more than others. Of the three of us in this team, Junior is most likely to be the Implementer and Specialist because he has the most experience with the project and is the one actively doing development work via Unity as well as mentoring new members on how to use the program. Jennifer is the group’s Shaper and Resource Investigator because she leverages her experience in teaching and formal education to bring a new perspective to the project. She also reaches out to collaborative partners for resources such as media/historical photos for our game. Beigie is currently satisfying the role of Plants because she is the newest member and contributes to creative development during meetings with fresh insight and ideas. With time, she will be catching up with the knowledge of how to use Unity and become a fellow Implementer as well.  

Team procedures for decision making usually switch between coming to a consensus after discussion or deference to expert in the relevant field. Decision making is done at team meetings where we attempt to give everyone a say because this project is not one which might require more authoritative leadership, and it is important that we allow everyone who is a part of this project to voice their opinions. The process of our meetings is generally going over status updates quickly and then reviewing things that require either editing or decision making; everyone has access to the minutes, but it is usually one person making direct edits while others leave comments. Communication methods involve email, Gdocs, Zoom, and Discord since some platforms are more convenient for different purposes. Whole team meetings occur every two weeks for about 2 to 2 and a half hours. Responsiveness is very high and not a problem for our team because everyone is very on point with checking their emails; at most, it will take a day for a response due to time zone and location differences. 

Our interpersonal relationships are getting better and better with frequent communication and trust building exercises such as the activity done in this past CINQ class. Not only are we learning more about each other’s strengths and assets but also different perspectives on the value of technology and things we lack that we can help each other make up for. It will be good to continue improving ourselves and the project by collaborating and giving each other constructive feedback.

The Big Goal of this project is to complete development of the virtual reality headset game and distribute it to non-formal education centers to inform people of the significance of their local  watershed in the Lehigh Valley. We are implementing an alternative style of environmental science education for English language learners and students who may struggle to learn with traditional teaching methods. 

While teams have members whose roles will overlap at different times, there are certain established roles that might fit a certain person more than others. Of the three of us in this team, Junior is most likely to be the Implementer and Specialist because he has the most experience with the project and is the one actively doing development work via Unity as well as mentoring new members on how to use the program. Jennifer is the group’s Shaper and Resource Investigator because she leverages her experience in teaching and formal education to bring a new perspective to the project. She also reaches out to collaborative partners for resources such as media/historical photos for our game. Beigie is currently satisfying the role of Plants because she is the newest member and contributes to creative development during meetings with fresh insight and ideas. With time, she will be catching up with the knowledge of how to use Unity and become a fellow Implementer as well.  

Team procedures for decision making usually switch between coming to a consensus after discussion or deference to expert in the relevant field. Decision making is done at team meetings where we attempt to give everyone a say because this project is not one which might require more authoritative leadership, and it is important that we allow everyone who is a part of this project to voice their opinions. The process of our meetings is generally going over status updates quickly and then reviewing things that require either editing or decision making; everyone has access to the minutes, but it is usually one person making direct edits while others leave comments. Communication methods involve email, Gdocs, Zoom, and Discord since some platforms are more convenient for different purposes. Whole team meetings occur every two weeks for about 2 to 2 and a half hours. Responsiveness is very high and not a problem for our team because everyone is very on point with checking their emails; at most, it will take a day for a response due to time zone and location differences. 

Our interpersonal relationships are getting better and better with frequent communication and trust building exercises such as the activity done in this past CINQ class. Not only are we learning more about each other’s strengths and assets but also different perspectives on the value of technology and things we lack that we can help each other make up for. It will be good to continue improving ourselves and the project by collaborating and giving each other constructive feedback.

CINQ 388–Week 6 blog

 

1) Does your work require IRB approvals? If Yes, articulate your detailed IRB strategy. If No, explain why you don’t need IRB approval and identify situations when you might need IRB approval.  

 

Question1: The purpose of our project is to teach people about the Lehigh River watershed using immersive virtual reality. We are going to be introducing the world of iVR to many for the first time. For some, playing in iVR will be “old hat”. We will be conducting focus groups to get input on the iVR experience and we will be assessing what individuals have learned about the watershed as a result of our program. We will be doing a systematic investigation which will include research development, testing and evaluation with the intention of contributing to generalizable knowledge. So the answer to the first of the three basic IRB questions, does the activity involve research, is yes.

 

Question 2: We will be conducting research from living individuals and obtaining information through interaction with the individual. We will also use, study and analyze the information. So the answer to question 2 is also yes, the research involves human subjects.

 

Question 3, Is the human subjects research exempt or does it require either expedited or full IRB review, is a bit more difficult to answer. However, the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort anticipated in the research is not greater than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological exams or tests. Some individuals may experience discomfort or motion sickness as a result of iVR, but simply removing the VR goggles will alleviate the discomfort almost immediately. It seems like our human subjects research might be exempt