Originally posted by MET student Lilian Marchesoni on 22/09/2018
The technology enables users to transform a simple T-shirt into an awesome learning experience. It’s about interactivity in a fully animated 3D experience.
Check all the details here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/curiscope/virtualitee?ref=category&ref=discovery
No, I would not invest in this venture. Although a neat idea, I don’t really see much value in this product which I assume is an expensive t-shirt. I cannot see this product going any further than a t-shirt. Other than the human anatomy of the chest area what else could they do? socks?, a hat? There are already so many VR applications out there that allow the user to view inside the human body that wearing the t-shirt to do this just seems pointless. To me, I think they have chosen the t-shirt as the product where they should be focusing on the app itself as the t-shirt is very limiting. The t-shirt seems like a bit of a cash-grab.
They also seem a little unprofessional in their pitch video and seem to be not quite ready to get into this business.
No, I would not invest in this company. With that said, I do think its a very interesting concept with a well done pitch video. It is well edited, explores their product and business case and has the trademark silliness found in many successful kickstarter pitches. My issue with this platform is twofold. First, this concept is far form unique. There are a bevy of well established AR and VR applications that allow learners to explore the body, most of which aren’t limited simply to the torso. Second, and most damning in my opinion is the business model. The (likely expensive to develop) software is unlocked via a fancy QR code on a proprietary T-shirt. There is nothing stopping users from simply reproducing that QR code and accessing all the materials for free. Furthermore, even if they could incorporate some form copy protection the need to buy a physical shirt to unlock software really constrains the usefulness of the platform. It is hard enough to get a school-board to purchase a software license, I can’t imagine the hoops a teacher would have to jump through to get approval to purchase t-shirts for their students each year.