Inovation Engineering Episode 9 ppsx

Together, presence, imagination and mind bandwidth can make three constituents for building integrated value propositions in business model based on virtual reality technologies.. The im

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3 Focus of attention gets undivided For the user, this is a mind defragmentation

and this can imply among other things: cognitive enlightenment, a throughput, simplification, intuitiveness, globalization, forgetfulness and focus, efficacy, etc

Together, presence, imagination and mind bandwidth can make three constituents for building integrated value propositions in business model based on virtual reality technologies The synthetic information and knowledge levels brought about by VR enhance a user’s understanding VR brings a new type of cognitive reference ability in application systems, that, for instance, AI methods did not succeed in tacking smoothly

When virtual environments to tasks and outcomes are mapped, it is useful to consider the following three levels:

1 Identify tasks and objectives

2 Perform a knowledge level task analysis (perceptual, cognitive, motion)

3 Match clues to technologies

This reveals the need for usability engineering In the face of take-up by markets, three topical challenges face the development of virtual environments today:

– Can VR make it possible to speak in the first person? In other words, can VR enable a self-identification in engagement? Not that we would ask identification and

authentification of a user necessarily, but that the user must feel empowered by the

VR system with a degree of intensity such that he can accept the transfer of consciousness through the system Further to this, developers may want to consider building personalized locales

– Can VR generate new how-to knowledge? Two kinds of new knowledge can

be generated: knowledge about “how to field VR”, called development knowledge, and knowledge about how to build good and best practices, called collective knowledge

– Can VR enable new business models? It has become clear that VR adds intelligence to communication In a sense, VR “modulates” communication This

seems to reveal a marketing sweet spot that marketers may have not tackled yet

Yet, can we tell when VR becomes effective? A virtual environment is effective when users reach their goals, when the important tasks can be done better, more easily or faster than with another system, when users are not frustrated or uncomfortable, and when there is some measurable gain in targeted real world performance Typical computing performance metrics such as speed of computation are really not important in themselves and, for instance, computing speed is only important insofar as it would affect a user’s experience or tasks

10.5.2 Perspectives

In this chapter we presented what today may be the set-up of the enterprise around the “numerical chain of conceptualization”, why the enterprise must promote collaborative work through a virtual project and how it virtualizes its fundamental

“professions” This will help in sustaining a competitive differentiating advantage during the virtual era We considered the challenges that the developer and the user face Let us now see what virtual technologies hold for the future of numerical innovation

Since people are at the heart of the innovation processes, our efforts will have to

focus on them with the aim to create intelligence amplifiers, which means allowing

people to consciously assemble ideas, information and knowledge in order to result

in virtual concepts for innovative products and services Immersion will, for instance, amplify creative skills as it can improve the quality and quality of sensation as a result of being present in a virtual environment People can obtain quicker loop feedbacks, react to those, and therefore accelerate design and development cycles in significant proportions If we examine the automobile sector, where design to market cycles constitutes the major competitive battle among automobile companies, we begin to take the measure of what virtual reality can mean in terms of competitive advantages: the mastership of innovating time-to-market processes Incredible gains can be obtained by those who will master the virtualized processes of engineering

The immersion of people in a virtual environment can be split up into sensory immersion and psychological immersion Today, sensory immersion is mainly based upon vision Although we once believed that the virtual reality helmet was the panacea of the field (see Figure 10.5), enterprises nowadays prefer giant projection screens or “CAVE”4 that do not limit users’ movements in the virtual environment (see Figure 10.3) Nevertheless, new HMDs are now better engineered and offer a low cost and portable solution for some applications

4 Large cubes of which the 4 to 6 faces are projection screens which allow the immersion of one or more users in a virtual environment

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Figure 10.5 Virtual reality immersion helmet with movement-sensitive glove

The sense of vision is often completed by that of audition because the spatialization of sound today is very well controlled even if it requires additional processing and computing power However, new developments in audio rendering reduce the costs and the complexity for delivering compelling 3D sounds in VEs

Haptics and force-feedback sensation have also been the subject of much research The feeling of contact, burden, kinetics or deformation of an object does build the notion that the user is in the presence of a virtual object The current goal is

to increase the field of maneuver for the user which usually remains very limited with a force-feedback arm (see Figure 10.4) This can be achieved, for example, through systems with nylon threads such as the Spidar of the Precision and Intelligence Laboratory (PIL) of the Tokyo Institute of Technology (see Figure 10.6) The sense of light touch is also the subject of researches but it is more difficult to apprehend, given the complexity of the human skin

Figure 10.6 Force-feedback mechanical interface, the Spidar 8 (photo: PIL)

Smell is also a very powerful sense that supports immersion We simply have to remember our reaction when, in the street, we catch the smell of a croissant shop equipped with computerized diffusers of synthetic smells As for a perfumery, research makes it possible to constantly broaden the range of the available smells These mostly arise in the form of oils diffused rapidly by computer driven fans The question of spatialization of the smells like that of sound is yet unsolved

The first interfaces allowing us to simulate the taste of a virtual product have just appeared in laboratories They will perhaps someday allow us to test virtual dishes and to obtain complete sensory immersion for users of VR

The psychological sense of presence is what is commonly used to describe the intimate feeling that users “exist” within the simulated situation of the virtual environment This sense is closely linked to the cognitive schemes5 integrated since childhood and to the users’ imagination Video games constitute a good example of psychological presence that it is possible to trigger in users The need for psychological presence can even become pathological in certain gamers, or even, according to a recent and worrying Japanese study, modify the players’ mind, called

game brain and trigger violence in their behavior

Fortunately, the psychological presence in virtual environments has many positive effects, which explains why the subject is intensively researched in the field

of the psychology for the treatment and rehabilitation of certain pathologies The treatment of phobias (fear of spiders, fear of the void, fear of flying, agoraphobia, etc.), memory disorders (following a head injury for example), behavioral disorders (bulimia, anorexia nervosa, etc.), rehabilitation of people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (soldiers returning from battle) are some examples of clinical targets in which interactive virtual environments have been used The results of such therapeutic research also benefits from other fields They indeed make it possible to understand and validate environments intended for other uses Which are the colors, the sounds, the images, the smells which are going to support the well-being and effectiveness of users in order to enable them to carry out their tasks under optimal conditions? In addition, which are the sounds, the images, the effects, the angles of vision which are going to give rise to strong emotions?

5 The notion of design is the one proposed by psychologist Jean Piaget [PIA 79] According

to him, by analyzing the birth of intelligence of the child, particularly in its sensori-motor dimension, design constitutes a means of the subject through which situations and confrontation to objects can be assimilated

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The study of feelings of sensory and psychological presence of the user of the interactive virtual environment arose from different fields of scientific research: psychological, neuropsychological, industrial, etc Increasingly, worldwide research laboratories have studied these issues Their efforts, in our opinion, are going to allow the development of powerful tools which will make it possible, in the field of innovation, to amplify the creative capacities of the ideating teams

10.6 The challenge ahead

This product of which I always dreamed is there, in front of me I catch it, I feel its weight, the touch of its material, I try it, I test it, I assess it sensorially and psychologically If it suits me, I will buy it… as soon as it will really exist The claim: “I dreamed about it, X made it” can be fulfilled The interactive virtual

environments, inserted in the numerical chain of conceptualization, allow the

sublimation of the innovating capacity of conceptualizing teams Virtual reality is not a simple technology, it is a method of “perception” and interaction, which underlies the arrival of new data-processing paradigms, liable to invade our daily life in the next 5 to 10 years, and to justify new methods and practices of relations between people and system, people and nature, people and their peers in long-distance and long-term relationships

Will VR someday understand the user? In the IT business, usability is crucial as many potential customers are simply afraid that they will not be able to “figure it out” Who will use the system is as important to the development team as to have a realistic view of the users Users’ characteristics encompass factors such as age, education, language, motivation, domain knowledge, knowledge of computers, etc Moreover, usability covers these three aspects of:

– efficiency: requires an appropriate level of ration performance/resources;

– effectiveness: task is completed to an appropriate quality level; and

– satisfaction: the one the user experiences in doing the task

If users cannot complete their tasks efficiently and effectively, the system is somewhere faulty The usability principles, as derived from Universal Design Principles, cover these 10 points:

1) Real fallback and realism – the metric that gets used all the time

2) Navigation – I can find my way around

3) Functionality – I can do what I need to

4) Control – I am in charge

5) Language – I understand the terminology

6) Help and support – I can get help when I need it

7) Feedback – I know what the system is doing

8) Consistency – I do not have to learn new tricks

9) Errors – Mistakes are hard to make and easy to correct

10) Visual clarity – I can recognize things and the design is clear and appealing

With the approach of the virtual era, which will follow the epoch of communication from 2010 onwards, and according to Malo Girod of Ain [GIR 05], these questions will probably be solved The process of global virtualization of numerous professions has already been undertaken with commitment This new phase will likely experience many more flourishing innovations than the previous one which, however, saw the birth of electronics and trips to space being born Let

us not doubt the capacities of virtual technologies in order to endorse this challenge

In this chapter we would like to describe the principal components of the “tool box” that are needed to implement an innovative action This will, on the one hand, help to determine if a new methodology is valid and, on the other hand, will prevent the designer from using only his intuition to ensure continuity in his own approach

to designing

11.1.1 Product designing methods

“Organizing the designing means methodically programming the process and at the same time not hindering the creativity of the designer: that is leaving one bit un-programmed, a bit of disorder in process management, a bit of chaos in the order” [CHR 95]

Chapter written by Darrell MANN and Pascal CRUBLEAU

The combination of constant new demands of the market and technological progress forces companies to rapidly renew their products by using the best suited technologies as much as possible For designing, engineers have explained their designing processes and have identified the progression fields [LEC 92] The designing process satisfies three unavoidable requirements: cost, time and quality, but today, these do not suffice to have a competitive edge on an area of a given market; the new product has to be innovative [CRU 02] (see Figure 11.1)

Besides this, tools and structured processes are indispensable However, they have to be used judiciously so as not to inhibit one of the essential components, which is creativity

Figure 11.1 New requirements of the market

11.1.2 An important stage

The efficiency of the design tools can only be optimized through collaboration between the principal actors in the designing of products We must not forget the thing which is the key in identifying any innovative solution: creativity

“Creativity is a major human capacity, it consists of bringing forth new forms, […], creativity brings out new information, sometimes surprising and disturbing” [VID 98]

For a long time inventing, or more generally creating, meant discovering The discovery was therefore an object, or a hidden phenomenon which existed quite independently of the researcher Inventing therefore meant finding the place or the path to follow, as one would for a treasure

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Systematic economic requirements have changed this traditional framework Creativity is more firmly entrenched in a general designing system The processes of creativity use various methods at different stages of the designing process Here we differentiate systematic methods from random methods

Systematic methods such as general combinatorial analysis, morphological analysis and discovery matrices are appropriate for simple products made up of fewer components and which can be modified in an innovative way Using a discovery matrix for a complex product is long and meticulous, but it can, however, help explore systematically all the possible combinations

Random methods such as brainstorming or metaphorical method reject rationality in favor of the creative powers of each individual in a design group These methods are most productive in terms of number of identified designs if the different applicable tools are rigorously used Just as examples, we can recommend some methods that could be defined before beginning a brainstorming session: – no censoring of another person’s statements as well as one’s own;

– priority for research of verbal associations, even absurd ones;

of genetic analysis of the products as well as the prospective methods such as historical analysis This step is at the same level as the creativity methods [CAV 99], the main objective, in its initial version “classic TRIZ”, is to encourage emergence

of ideas, provide rapid design solutions [IDE 99a] (see Figure 11.2)

Set of solution designs for a reliable choice

Exhaustive set of solution designs

solutions

considered

Time

Critical date Starting Date

Definite decision

Forced decision

Method emerging from empirical Designs from TRIZ Number of

Conventional methods

Figure 11.2 Importance of the controled development method

This method was created in the USSR in 1947 at the behest of Genrich Altshuller The main factor of its success, associated to this theory by the users, is the speed of mastery of the tools This theory is based on technological realities (see Figure 11.3) and can be applied in all the different industrial sectors

Figure 11.3 Position of TRIZ in the tool box of the designer

Lateral thinking Analysis

Six Hats Method Trigger

Synectics Circeps

F.A.S.T of creativity Morphological analysis Check lists

Analysis of patents

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In the “classic TRIZ” [ALT 88], recognized as the original version today, the solution of a problem depends on the identification and formulation of a contradiction

There are two types of contradictions:

– the physical contradictions: in order to function in an ideal way, the system should have properties “A” and “non-A” Two modalities of the same characteristic have opposite properties:

- the same “object” should be:

Hot and Cold

High and Low

Hard and Soft

Active and Inactive

Mobile and Stationary

Big and Small

Rapid and Slow

Impervious and Porous

Thick and Thin

Long and Short

Conductor and Insulator

Strong and Weak

– the technical contradictions: an action taken on the system meant to improve characteristic “A” leads to the deterioration of another characteristic “B”

B

A B A B

11.2.2.2 Ideal situation

An essential idea in TRIZ is that of the Ideal Final Result (IFR) This is the

driving force of the development [SAL 99]

The majority of the systems created by man are developed to satisfy the demands

and needs of clients

In best situations, the ideal machine has no mass, no cost, undertakes the entire

set of necessary useful functions and does not generate any detrimental effects

It can be expressed in the following manner:

Genrich Altshuller demonstrated that the majority of the systems created by man

evolve according to predetermined laws, rather than in a random manner These

laws can be used to speed up the development of a system rather than wait for the

system to evolve naturally

11.2.3 Postulates of TRIZ

11.2.3.1 Introduction

The TRIZ method includes a set of postulates established after a deep historical

study of the evolution of different systems [ZLO, ZUS 99]:

– specific technological systems and all the technologies;

– specific sciences and “the” science;

TRIZ: A New Method of Innovation 219

– the different social groups and companies;

– the arts;

– etc

Hereafter we will describe the main laws and some lines of evolution such as they exist in current literature [IDE 99a] with the objective of highlighting the difficulty and complexity of using them to identify and determine the future developmental state of a given product

In order to understand this presentation, it is necessary to link it to a set of postulates related to the technical systems so as to understand the meaning of the different developmental laws It should be noted that some of these have a more general application, not limited to artificial systems (created by man)

11.2.3.2 Definition of a technical system

In the latter part of this presentation, we will propose that a “technical system” is

a whole on which rests the problem to be dealt with According to TRIZ, a technical system must contain at least four entities: a drive, a transmission, a work organ or actuator, and a control element or control organ (see Figure 11.4) It should be possible to control at least one of the entities and each of the four entities should be present in the system and should fulfill the minimum of one function [IDE 99b]

Figure 11.4 The functional components of a technical system

11.2.3.3 The postulates

Postulate no 1: generation of change and selection

Each technical system evolves in a way that:

– different ideas are first generated leading to modifications or creation of new systems;

– a selection process retains the best system to satisfy the requirements on condition that they represent an increase in the ideality of the system The main

ENERGY

ACTION Command

selection factor is the response from the market which provides the finances which are vital for the development of the system

Two types of selections are identified – positive and negative – which influence the development of a system:

– positive selection: applicable in healthy economic situations to encourage systems capable of effectively benefiting from available resources and those which can be rapidly circulated through industry or the market;

– negative solution: effective during periods of economic recession to encourage systems capable of surviving with minimal resources and which are well protected from the negative impact of the environment

Postulate no 2: evolution at the cost of consumption of resources

A system is developed through the consumption of resources available in the system itself, in surrounding systems, and/or in its environment Each stage of the development generates new resources which can be used for the future development

of a given system as well as for other systems However, the negative resources, which can generate undesirable effects, can also come from the evolution process

In the evolution process of a system, the consumption of resources leads to a greater difficulty in the mobilization of the same Consequently, there are a certain number of sequential transitions towards different types of resources These transitions concern the following types of resources:

– easily available resources;

– from simple resources to astute or intelligent resources (including inventions)

Postulate no 3: redundancies and superfluousness in the existing system

The majority of the existing technological systems have redundant resources; consequently, they have more resources than necessary to fulfill the required functions

Postulate no 4: co-development of different systems

Many of the technological systems are interconnected The power of their connections increases with the evolution process

Postulate no 5: co-development of systems belonging to different hierarchical levels

The systems belonging to different hierarchical levels (a system and its systems or a system and its super-system(s)) highly connected in their evolution and evolve in mutual coordination (co-evolution)

sub-TRIZ: A New Method of Innovation 221

Postulate no 6: long-term forecast as against short-term forecast

The short-term development (improvement) of a system depends first on its inherent resources Long-term development, including the emergence of new generations, technological advances, etc., depends upon evolution of the entire technology and/or of the market rather than of the specifics and resources of the given system

This postulate can explain why many forecasting techniques proposed in the period between the 1950s and the 1970s were inefficient

Most of them believed that forecasting had to be carried out by those who were experts in the system and had to be based on the information collected about the development of this particular system

Postulate no 7: there are a limited number of type of solutions that will be appropriate for a particular function

A function can be realized by a limited number of distinct paths based on the usage of known resources New types of resources will appear as a result of a discovery

Postulate no 8: alternatives in the development

There is more than one alternative, but they are a limited set of almost equal directions through which a given system can be developed from its current position

to the next This development is based on the deployment of different types of resources The “winning” development is normally the one which emerges first and which attracts the highest number of human and financial resources

Postulate no 9: standard process for resolving problems

There are common methods, based on the laws of development, of solution of problems and of improvement of a system These laws can be revealed through the analysis of the history of inventions and the licencing of knowledge of the innovation to be collected and transferred

11.3 Conclusion

Right up to this day, the TRIZ method is particularly well adapted to resolve recurrent technological problems Its principal advantage is the systematic approach that it recommends; it is based on a vast corpus of information requiring a large investment if one desires to assimilate the entire theory However, our scientific techniques and our industrial applications have made it possible for us to assimilate