A 21st CENTURY ROOM

Mathieu Chartier, Bradley Harris, Colman Ing, Sarah Kanji, and Sarmad Qadri

Abstract
It was decided from the get-go that our choice ought to be ad-hoc, and it did not take long to determine that the most appropriate household item -- which nobody thinks about but uses everyday -- is the room. The concept and structure of a room has not changed for centuries, and is consistent from a slum in Mumbai to a chateau in France. Using the SCAMPER technique, we were able to identify two components of the room that we could improve. The intention of reinventing these components is to give the household room a 21st Century makeover.

SCAMPER-ing the Room

The SCAMPER technique was used during a group meeting to brainstorm innovations for the modern Room. After agreeing upon two main aspects of the room (the walls and the carpet), we decided to address and transform each item into a multi-functional and ultra-modern component. SCAMPER was used on each of these components separately, and an outline of the process is provided below:

Component 1: Dynamic Walls

The walls in a house are painted or wallpapered for purely aesthetic reasons, but the painting process is cumbersome, time-consuming and expensive. As a result, it is futile to paint the whole room to trial a color. It can be very frustrating to try and redecorate a rooms interior while adhering to the current colour scheme on the walls. To solve this problem the walls must become dynamic. The most immediate idea was coloured E-ink, a paper thin display that could keep its current state without using power. Substituting wallpaper for large sheets of coloured E-ink would allow a room to change its appearance in a fraction of a second. Further discussion found that we could combine a small computer with the walls to allow blue tooth connectivity. This enables users to manage their wall settings via smart phone or PC. One further item to be combined would be a small capacitive touch panel near room entrances to eliminate the need for light switches, but also to control temperature, fans, and change the wall colour and or pattern. The coloured E-ink as a replacement for wallpaper is the most important aspect of this SCAMPER-ed wall because of the qualities it possesses. E-ink is Durable and Reliable:

Comprehensive environmental robustness based on multi-year investment in sealant methods, moisture protection, UV block and mechanical protection. Because it is coated in plastic, it is easier to clean than paint or wallpaper which can be stained by various mediums. S = Substitute What can be substituted into the paint/wallpaper? We can substitute coloured sheets of E-ink for wallpaper. This enables the wall to change in appearance based on what you tell the E-ink to display. Some advantages include new uses for walls such as displaying books or notes. C = Combine What can be combined with the wall to make it better? We can combine the E-ink with capacitive touch screens to make it tactile. Although this would increase the price of the wall, it would enable the user to interact with the wall without a wireless device. This would be more convenient. A = Adapt What can I adapt or copy from someone Else's product? We can adapt the blue tooth capabilities of wireless devices to allow wireless communication with our new walls. M = Magnify What can I magnify or put more emphasis on? We emphasize the convenience of being able to change the appearance of a wall by allowing connectivity between a multitude of devices. P = Put to other uses. How can others benefit from the modification of walls? The application of putting E-ink on a wall can be applied to things like blackboards in schools and even on desks and table tops to provide reading capabilities. E = Eliminate What can be eliminated from the walls without altering its function? We can remove light switches, fan controls, and thermometer controls from walls by incorporating them into the capacitive touch portions of our wall. R = Reverse (Re-arrange): Are there other patterns, layouts or sequences I can use? There will be various designs and layouts to choose from. Also new patterns can be created using a PC and then be applied to these walls.

Component 2: Self-cleaning Carpet

Carpets are a very common component of the room; unfortunately, they are also the main perpetrators of dust and germs. It requires a weekly house cleaning to vacuum them, and until the weekend arrives, the inhabitant has to contend with and breathe the uncleanliness into their lungs. As a recognition of the seriousness of this problem settled, the idea of a self-cleaning carpet manifested. And with this goal, we went about employing SCAMPER to determine exactly what a self-cleaning carpet would entail: S = Substitute What can we substitute in the carpet? The cotton that the carpet is made of can be coated with a super-hydrophobic material to make sure that any stains never settle. C = Combine What can the carpet be combined with to achieve cleaning? Naturally, a carpet needs to be combined with a vacuum cleaner if it is to fulfill its dual role. A = Adapt A vacuum cleaner in the traditional sense is a monolithic device that looks and feels nothing like the carpet. How is it going to be adapted to this purpose? Envision micro-fibres (ie. strands) running through the carpet, just below its surface. All these micro-strands (see Figure x) are connected to the central vacuum system that most houses come equipped with. A vacuum cleaner collects dust. Having a dust-bag connected to the carpet is not only an ugly proposition, but it is just as unhealthy as a dirty carpet. How will the dust-collection system of a vacuum be modified to serve this purpose? The micro-fibres aforementioned are all sucking dust accumulating on the surface of the carpet. If they are connected to the built-in vacuum system that most houses come equipped with, then dust will be collected in the basement. Otherwise, the dust can be sucked to a particular corner of the carpet, where it is suppressed from spreading with the use of chemicals. M = Magnify How can we magnify the cleaning effect of the carpet? Is it possible, for example, to not only account for dust but stains too? The micro-fibres that are mentioned above, which run through the carpet and act as mini-vacuum cleaners, can be coated with super hydrophobic layer. This coating repels all liquids [4]. The micro-fibres running through should have small pores. The purpose of these small pores is to allow the carpet to consume particles and liquids

alike as they come in contact with the surface. P = Put to Other Uses How can this idea be put to other uses? The same idea can be applied to make self-cleaning rugs and mats. The problem of where the collected dust will be stored will be a difficult problem to solve, however. However, the idea of stainless rugs and mats can certainly be achieved with the use of super hydrophobic coating of the micro-fibers. E = Eliminate What should be eliminated from the carpet? Nothing. This is a conscious decision because the original carpet should just be supplemented with this additional feature. The closer it resembles a traditional mosaic carpet, the better-received it will be by the public. R = Rearrange (or Reverse)

Another question that must be tackled, but which doesnt necessarily fit inside SCAMPER is about managing the electricity consumption of a self-cleaning carpet. It will surely require unreasonably high energy consumption if the vacuum is turned on all the time. However, that neednt be the case. The vacuum part of the carpet can be switch-operated, turned on at will by the inhabitant when the carpet gets sufficiently unclean. Imagine cleaning your room with the switch of a button! Figure 5 is a meticulously-created visual of the self-cleaning carpet that brings together all the SCAMPER components into one product.

Bringing it All Together

The product would not be truly 21st Century without having a central controller (perhaps in the form of an iPhone app). All the components of the room should be manageable on the network by the user. An iPhone app that repaints your wall, cleans your room, and opens, closes or locks your door can be thought of as immensely popular app.

The Business Market Research

In order to find to which of the products should be considered for reinvention, we conducted some market research. The result of this research showed the sliding door was the least favorable out of all the proposed inventions. This led to us dropping the idea, and instead focusing on the other two components. Another point which was evident after conducting the market research was that main audience to which these products would be targeted will be young couples who would be moving in together in a new place as they will be more willing to try these products. The young au

SWOT Analysis
The only way to assess the strength of the business is to assess the strength of its products; these strengths will be how the product is marketed, and the weaknesses are what will be worked on for future iterations. This section lists all the Strengths and Weaknesses regarding the product, and the Opportunities and Threats regarding the business. Strengths: Walls: Instantaneous repainting if you buy new furniture and your current scheme doesnt match. E-ink requires no energy consumption once the pattern is set. Hence, the walls will only require energy when they are repainted. There will be low glare, and paper thin construction will allow it to blend in on a wall. If it is installed correctly, viewers might not be able to tell it is not a wallpaper. Installed like wallpaper in smaller sections would allow for scalability. Long lasting: Over 90% of E-Ink displays will last more than 10 years with typical usage (Stated with 90% confidence based on lifetime models [2]. Carpet: Little-to-no-maintenance, even spills and stains are taken care of. Clean the carpet with the click of a button. Only large objects thrown on the ground will need to be cleaned. The air will be fresher as a result of constantly, and automatically, cleaned carpet. Weaknesses: Wall: E-Ink currently costs around 200$ per square foot at retail price. If Dynamic walls wish to target middle class, then manufacturing costs would need to lower. Like all displays E-ink can develop dead pixels, which cannot be simply patched and would require replacing the whole sheet. Carpet: Development costs will be a major setback, since the technology for micro-fibre vacuuming does not exist yet. Opportunities: The business will have to look for opportunities in high-end markets initially, since the aforementioned technologies will be expensive to procure or develop. However, the ultimate goal should be to commercialize the project to an extent that costs come under control. The eventual consumer should be a middle-class family buying a new home. The technology developed for the business can be sold in other ways as well. For example, suburban developers and interior designers might use the e-ink in their demo rooms / houses to allow potential customers to better visualize how they might want the interiors of their newly developed house to look. The main slogan that the company should embody should be about redefining the concept of a room in the 21st Century context.

There are plenty of opportunities in having allowing the patented use of this technology by other carpet manufacturers. It would ensure that the company has vast and singular control over the market.

Threats: High cost and relatively short lifespan (compared to regular wallpaper) make this a hard product to sell to anyone except the upper class and private sector, especially at the beginning. The major threat to the business will come from the fact that it is a very general idea it is built on -- reinventing the 21st Century Room. There can be many copycat companies that may dilute the market, and hence the control of the market away from our business. A way out of this is to a) patent everything, including concept designs, aggressively, and b) to license out the technology to third party home developers and carpet-makers so that our company controls the market. This is similar to what Google has done with the Android mobile OS.

Appendix

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References
[1] http://www.eink.com/display_products_triton.html [2] http://www.eink.com/rugged.html [3] http://www.archinet.co.uk/door-operation.asp [4] Super Hydrophobic Spray: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7is6r6zXFDc