Pitch Critique: Peekabu Studio’s Gesture Computing technology a nice touch but seems out of reach just yet.
As the Provincial Administration IT manager of SET-BC (Special Educational Technology), I am always on the lookout for new technologies that can assist students with disabilities. Peekabu’s pitch for a “new way for people to interact with their computers without ever touching a mouse or keyboard” sparked my interest.
Peekabu 60 Second Pitch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQSWm1-5ffk&feature=related
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQSWm1-5ffk&feature=related]
Presenter Alex Cole hooks the audience by creating need at the start. He asks, “what if you could…” listing a wide-range of applications manipulated through a computer with “easy to learn” gestures. He is smooth and polished, backed by an image of and association with the University of Edinburgh. One wonders, however, about his American accent, and his young and vital look. Would this pitch have been more effective using someone with a need for hands-free computing, such as a disabled athlete, or a harried businessperson to move this idea beyond the market already served by the Nintendo Wii?
This technology promises interactive online media, games, displays, and even control of lighting with just a web camera and computer. However, on closer inspection it appears to only exist as an Application Programming Interface (API) that is dependent on adoption by software developers in order to create a product. Therefore, despite this pitch’s directed marketing to end users, it is a business-to-business product. While it has a patent pending, indicating some technical worth and protection from competition, it is still at the research stage, and not ready for prime time use.
Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
jarvise 7:12 am on September 19, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Karen,
Great analysis (and good digging, detective!). I agree with you that the use of “what if…” questions as an introduction is effective in establishing the need. Nice way to set the stage. The more pitches I watch, the more I reflect on how the tips we teach students on effective strategies fro writing persuasive speeches are the ones we are noticing here.
Emily
David William Price 12:42 pm on September 20, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great points in your critique! As this is an elevator pitch I guess there are limited ways to incorporate demos. But he seems to like to use his hands in distracting ways while talking…. so why not use his hands to demonstrate the gestures he’s talking about?
I hate “what if” pitches. I prefer “here’s the problem, here’s how we solve it” pitches. He could demonstrate with body language the problems he is trying to solve and how he will solve them. He could identify the markets for this technology and what the (presumably failing) competitors are (like Dragon Dictate for instance). To me this seemed like a pretty thin pitch that didn’t describe its markets properly, competitors, or where money would come from or even how far along the product was in development.
Again…. good critique on the missing points!