Layar to Educate
Welcome to Layar’s newest mobile app Layar to Educate. As an augmented reality technology, Layar is the first company to focus exclusively on augmented reality for educators. Watch the elevator pitch and visit my venture pitch.
Assignment 3 (Venture Pitch) – Allan Cho
Enjoy!
Posted in: Venture Forum
jtpatry 1:43 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Good Day Allan,
Thank you for sharing your pitches. I agree with you from an educators perspective and business end, that AR is going to be a game changer and now is the opportunity to get in on the game. Layar to Educate has great potential to provide educators an opportunity to create an AR experience without having to have any extensive programming experience. One advantage that I think that Layar to Educate has against other companies such as the ones you mentioned and also Aurasma, is that this offering of technology can be directly integrated into textbooks or other print media seamlessly. With the current format of the application Layar, allows users to upload images and links to interact with the application (in a selected format), would Layar to Educate allow for opportunity for users to create a magazine/textbook/poster layout to print directly from the site, which then could be distributed to students or other participants? The idea of providing lesson plan examples is also a really great selling feature, especially for new teachers or users. It would provide beneficial real stepping-stone for those leery users. Great pitch and idea to incorporate into the current Layar platform. Investment made!
Thanks,
Jon
janetb 9:17 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Allan,
Great elevator pitch – it was engaging and appealing. You make a clear point as to the trend towards AR. As someone not very familiar with augmented reality, it would have helped me if you had included a line or two in your elevator pitch about how, specifically, AR could be used in the classroom. However, that could be a reflection of my lack of knowledge, rather than your pitch.
All the best in your venture,
Janet
chrisaitken 12:32 am on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great to see a pitch on augmented reality. Someone if the next few years will be very successful in an AR for education pitch. I would have to think the the development of this product would be extremely expensive. I am going to look into your venture pitch and respond shortly.
Leonora Zefi 8:58 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I really enjoyed your elevator pitch message Allan.
Very clear and persuasive message . You succeeded in giving a clear and promising prospect for Layar in less than a minute. The future of Layar in education seems very promising.
Concept and Marketability
Your venture concept addresses an important need in education. Your analysis through questions and answers of what the app will address makes the venture credible and alleviates any issues related to risk in investing.
You have done a great job in differentiating the app from other solutions that show thorough market research as well.
Venture strengths and weaknesses
The only strength you focused on is the team and their expertise – it would have been helpful to see other strengths that you have in fact identified in other sections, for example, under “benefits”I think you have a couple of strengths that could add value to promoting the venture. Also, I would suggest that you think about any weaknesses because that kind of critical reflection and honesty makes the venture pitch even stronger.
I liked how you ended the venture pitch – reiterating The Ask and, that’s extremely important.
Thank you for sharing your elevator and venture pitch Allan
Leonora
ping 10:11 am on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Allan,
I’m very interested by your pitch, because it’s the first time I’ve heard about AR on mobile. In my conception, AR or any other virtual reality technologies are very computing-intensive, that makes them too expensive from general use, no matter to be used on a battery-limited mobile phone. I also have a question: why people need AR on mobile, is the immersive feel of VR really shown on a small screen like this? I take these questions into your venture pitch, I think I’ve found many answers there. Now I know that Layer is a VR app already available on mobiles (sorry I never heard of it), it can be used as scanner + search engine. With this feature, I believe there is a good chance for it to be used in education. One thing I would like to know is that who will be your targeted user, the teacher or the learner? Does a teacher need this tool during his/her lessons? I would like to see more description in your pitch on how this tool works for Education specifically. What kind of change do you need to add on the existing Layer, so that the scan & search results will be suitable for education usage? From an investor’s position, I suggest you highlight more differentiation of your app to the alternatives, including map-apps on mobile, so that I could have a better sense of how many user would be attracted to ensure the return.
Thank you for this great idea, and bringing me a new vision of augmented reality!
Ping
lisamallen 11:01 am on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Allan,
Great elevator pitch – really well done. I like the concept you’ve come up with for your venture, but perhaps I don’t understand the technology too well because I was left with a few questions about how, specifically virtual reality can be beneficial in the classroom. Keep in mind that I am not a teacher, but I would have appreciated a more detailed outline on how this technology could be used by teachers.
I also would have like to see more on your competition. Are there similar technologies like this already available?
Overall, well done,
Lisa
maybacon 11:32 am on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Allan,
This is a terrific idea! With the current commercial AR gaining momentum, it is good to know that your venture would cover the missing educational component. My main concern as an investor, though, is that I would like to have a better understanding of what the product does, as I felt a bit confused on this point. From what I could deduce, the product allows people to photograph objects/places and connects them with links to educational information (?), which would be a great way to learn about foreign countries, historical monuments, how devices function, and so on.
Interesting idea and great pitch!
May
chrisaitken 12:46 am on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Allan
The possibilities of an AR app for education are immense. There is definitely a market in the education space and with the proliferation on mobile devices a schools could implement this project.
As you mention in your venture pitch, Augmented Reality has been profiled in the Horizon Report in 2010 and 2011 but surprisingly absent in the 2012 edition. I believe this could be because of the size of investment needed to build an augmented reality application. There is no question in my mind that a product such as this would be a massive success, and I do think we will see something soon. However, given the complexity of augmented reality that is beyond the QR code type, I believe we are likely to see this product come from a company like Adobe or Google that employs hundreds of developers and can financially back such a project. I think if your team, as education specialists, were willing to team up with a strong software engineering team I would want to invest. Alone, however, I think the project might be too ambitious!
karonw 10:43 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Allan,
I think that this is a great venture especially with the growing mobile trend. Augmented reality can definitely change the perspective in education. As an EVA, I thought that your elevator pitch delivered the essentials for this product in a very timely manner. You tried to narrate the core points and allow your slides to elaborate on they key points which was a smart/great idea. However, I did feel that I was sitting through a presentation more than an elevator pitch. I think if you incorporated perhaps a few scenes of yourself I would have felt different about this. I would have liked you to be the protagonist for your venture/ elevator pitch as I believe that would not only add creditability but it would also convince me more. In your proposition, you mentioned that your venture is applicable to smartphones including iphone and android, will this AR application also be available to Blackberry? As an investor, I would need to ensure that the venture I invest in would guarantee me an increase in revenue and that what I have invested in was the best out of the best. Through your proposition, I know that your venture have outbeat Junaio and Google with the educational aspect, however Blackboard itself also have an AR application built for educational use, it is also capable for smartphones including iphones, androids, blackberry and also capable to be used on other mobile devices like iPads and with various lines of products that can be paired up with their AR application. What would Layar be able to offer me that Blackboard’s application wouldn’t?
Regardless, this is a great concept.
Best,
Karon Wong
danishaw 9:09 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Although you outlined the potential of Layer to Educate and who it would serve within your pitch, I was unable to grasp what exactly the product would consist of. I am totally aware that it is difficult to determine what to include/not include within the pitch, however because your product is unique, I believe the viewers might need a little additional information on how exactly it might work.
With regards to your venture analysis, you have provided a thorough review of all of the features of the product. To improve upon such, however you could include research-based references and statistics to back up your venture. You have made very good points however as a potential investor I would be skeptical to invest in a product that was not based on sound research.
Danielle
Chelsea M Woods 9:53 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Allan,
Your pitches had me at the edge of my seat! Augmented reality is definitely high on the agenda for education in the future, and you have clearly distinguished Layar from Google and Junaio. Your inclusion of sample lesson plans and support will provide pathways so that teachers can increase use and understanding of augmented reality. You have described the expertise of your team, and you have provided enough technical detail to clarify the purpose and application of augmented reality for people who are as yet unfamiliar. After watching and reading your information I suddenly have a previously undeveloped goal to introduce augmented reality in my school.
There are some clarifications that would make your pitch more effective, although I understand that these are not always possible because of the need to be brief and concise. You could expand on your marketing plan: how will you reach educators? Which educators will you connect to first? You can also clarify how you will make a profit: is it from sale of the App (what is the cost?) or from other sources? How much will your team be paid? A screenshot of statistics on student reading would also be helpful.
Overall an excellent pitch and well-worth further investigation! Thank you.
Chelsea