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| Cerevellum, The Development Of The World's First Digital Bicycle Mirror |
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| Written by Evan Solida | ||||
| Thursday, 11 June 2009 12:19 | ||||
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As with any industrial designer, I was always searching for that one portfolio piece to make me standout from the hundreds of applicants of junior design jobs while first being out of school. Sure, everyone seems to have a great idea for a new cell phone or camera, but I needed something to really stand out from the crowd. The Cerevellum project may or may not have had a role in getting the design jobs that I’ve had, but it’s possible that it will be the project that defines my career as an industrial designer. In the spring of 1999, as a junior studying industrial design at Purdue University, I was presented with a project sponsored by RCA (Thomson Consumer Electronics) of Indianapolis. The basic premise was to utilize a new technology coined the “silicon-eye,” which, in short, was a very small circuit that could recognize objects. Hmmm….how very interesting. And with that, the Cerevellum, a digital bicycle mirror, was born. The system works by having a small camera lens attached to the seatpost of a bicycle facing reward. The image is then transmitted to a handlebar-mounted display via a small camera. The resulting image is then flipped horizontally so it shows itself just as how a normal mirror would. As it uses progressive-scanning for the display, the resulting image is not adversely affected by road vibration. For more details on the final product, please visit www.cerevellum.com.  After graduating and getting a design job in Chicago, I continued to develop the Cerevellum project on the side. With the help of an electrical engineer, we hacked up a Nintendo GameBoy camera and created the first working prototype to demonstrate how the idea worked. In short, it worked great!! Even though the prototype was using a very small 1.9” screen and technology from 1989, I could clearly see who was riding behind me. It’s definitely an advantage when approaching a city-limits sprint!  Years later, I wanted to properly finish the entire project so I could show it in my portfolio when speaking to prospective employers. In doing so, I created a website to promote the concept and released it in late 2007. The response from the cycling and electronics industry was overwhelming! Cerevellum was shown on Gizmodo, Bicycle Design, Wired and G4TV. A few months later, I enlisted the help of a firm to help in submitting for a formal patent so that I could technically be “U.S. patent pending.” With that, I went about hiring a number of firms to assist in developing a proper business plan and to help setting up a whole new company, aptly named Cerevellum. I’m currently polishing up the revised business plan and will be presenting to investors in the very near future. If all goes well, the Cerevellum could be in production in early spring of 2010. Amazing how long it takes to get something onto the market if it’s a bit ahead of its time. Here are a few things that I wish I’d known beforehand. Tip 1: Save up the money and hire firms for the work you can’t do yourself. From patents to business-plan development, contract out the work so you can focus on what you’re good at, and that’s improving on the product design. Tip 2: Build an advisory board. This is incredibly important because it gives your product credibility. Focus on working with people that can aid in acquiring solid market data and try to have at least one person on the board be the end store buyer. You’ll always have possible consumers saying that they’ll purchase your product, but having actual store owners saying how many they will buy for their stores is priceless. Tip 3: In searching for help with business plans, setting up a company, etc., try looking on www.gobignetwork.com. Once you have a solid business plan prepared and a good executive summary (you’re 30-second pitch,) try posting on Angelsoft.net. Focus on a couple of investment groups that are located near you and try to sell your idea to them in much the same way you would sell your design to a client. Also look into programs such as www.sclaunch.org that aid in starting up new companies that might possibly bring in jobs to the local economy. In many cases, they’ll provide grants or, at the very least, point you in the right direction when in need of funding. Tip 4: Stay cheap. In the business plan, don’t start out listing your capital requirements as a MacBook Pro and a couple of Cintiq monitors. Only list what you know you can get by with. Be smart and frugal and the investors will take you much more seriously. Tip 5: Invest your own money, and not just sweat equity! It’s difficult to quantify the worth of all the work that goes into developing a project. To make an investor more comfortable in giving you their money, show them that you feel confident enough in your product that you’ve spent your own money. And more than likely, it will be quite a bit. Tip 6: Hire a firm such as North Angels (www.northangels.com) to tear your business plan to pieces. Although it’s great to have an outside firm create the first draft of your business plan as that gives you a great starting point, it’s imperative that you revise every section yourself. Know all the numbers inside and out. Nobody knows your project better than you, and that should include the financials and marketing.
About the author: Evan Solida is a senior industrial designer for Confluence Watersports and CEO for Cerevellum LLC. You can contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it We really appreciate it if you share this with others:           Trackback(0)
Comments (1)
samarth mungali
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extremely elucidating! Hello Evan, Congratulations for the success.. And thanks for giving us such a vivid picture of the entire product evolution.Your tips bring out the most practical advice in the most laconic manner. Great job! |
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