B: I'll wait until you're all um hooked up .
D: Oh good grief .
A: D: 'Kay .
B: Okay .
B: D: Oh .
B: Put it on in that way .
A: Oops .
B: Thanks .
B: Okay .
A: Mm .
B: Welcome back everybody , hope you've had fun .
C: A: After lunch .
A: Yeah .
B: Right um this is our conceptual design meeting ,
A: Mm-hmm .
B: um B: I think we're slightly ahead of ourselves
B: from the last meeting ,
C: Yeah , yeah I was getting that impression as well .
A: Mm-hmm .
B: I th I I think yeah um .
D: Mm .
B: This is where we talk about um properties , materials , user-interface and trend-watching .
C: Etcetera .
D: Mm-hmm .
B: So I think we've touched on a few things to do with that already ,
B: but we'll just go over it .
B: Um
B: the minutes from the last time .
B: Um we had a couple of um changes in our plans in that we couldn't use teletext , it wasn't gonna be a control for everything
B: um and that we had to incorporate the image of the company into it somehow .
B: Um
B: we have decided on a leaving out the voice recognition ,
B: we've decided on there being a flip design
B: and um a different shape from what's normal .
B: We were thinking a shell , but something along those lines ,
B: just a different shape from what's normal , um .
B: You were going to look into the rechargeable batteries
C: Yeah .
B: and we were gonna think about the port and an alarm for getting it lost ,
A: C: Yeah .
B: things like that ,
B: um and our market was going to be young , business , kind of range .
A: 'Kay .
B: Okay , so shall we start with the first presentation ?
D: Shall I ?
A: Yep .
B: Yes if you feel D: Okay .
D: We just connect up .
B: D: Thank you .
D: There we go .
D: Okay um
D: so we decided on our market
D: and so this feedback from the marketing department is really about trend watching . Um
D: the methods we used to decide on uh current trends and so on , market trends , were that we did our traditional uh our usual market research study uh with a hundred subjects
D: and the the general feedback from them is that the most
D: im uh w I'm sorry
D: I'm slightly tongue-tied after lunch ,
D: sorry Project Manager .
A: C: B: It's okay .
D: Um we decided on the most important aspect i uh required in a remote control device
D: and we'll come to that later .
D: So that was one of the first things we did .
D: Also with our company um being forerunners in uh putting fashion into technology , we also looked at a fashion update um using our consultants on fashion and design in Paris and Milan . D: Uh so the general findings from that was uh in the market trends the most important aspect for remote controls were people want a fancy look and feel , rather than the the current functional look and feel of remote controls .
D: They also also want a remote control to be technologically innovative ,
D: and of course , as we predicted , that it should be easy to use .
D: Now I should point out that the first of those findings , fancy look and feel , is the most important ,
D: is twice as important as the second , technologically innovative ,
D: which is in turn twice as important as being easy to use .
D: So possibly that the feature that we put first is actually third
D: is still important , but it's third in order of preference for the the subject group we looked at .
B: Yeah .
D: Okay , um ,
D: now the fashion update which relates to very personal preferences among our subject group ,
D: um we found from our um consultants in Paris and Milan who des attended all the design and fashion fairs there , that fruit and vegetables are going to be the theme for clothes , shoes and furniture .
D: So should we be thinking of using something like that in our remote control design too ?
D: There also seems to be um a trend towards a spongy feel to materials ,
D: uh again in contrast to last year .
D: So a lot of interesting feedback there ,
D: both from our market research departments and from our people in Paris and Milan .
D: Be interesting to see what our design people make of that .
A: 'Kay .
B: Okay thank you very much . Um
A: Yep .
B: let's start from the inside and work our way out .
A: Fine . It's okay with me .
C: Yeah , okay . D: Unless anyone has any questions about that ?
D: Not yet ?
B: I don't think so , not yet .
D: 'Kay .
B: Um , yes , thank you .
C: That screwed in ? D: Okay .
B: I hate those little things
C: Yeah .
B: especially if you do them on too tight and you can't get the leverage on them to undo them .
D: I know .
C: 'Kay ,  B: Okay .
C: Okay .
C: Um this is uh all about the design of the actual components
C: and the availability of the components we have in stock at the moment .
C: Okay , first uh the Into the method .
C: The the main idea of the whole thing is just so you sh you just press buttons and it should activate things on the T_V_
C: and we discussed last meeting that it should be easy to find .
C: Um also in this study I've looked into the availability of some of the materials ,
C: 'cause some of the things that we looked at last time aren't un unfortunately aren't available .
B: 'Kay .
B: .
C: Um , findings , I've got my nice little picture there .
C: This is uh the chip called the T_A_ double one eight three five
C: which is what's used in pretty much every remote control 'cause it sends out standard signals , based on your input
C: and um it's pretty much used for all all T_V_ remotes at the moment .
B: 'Kay .
D: C: Um and then we we're loo looking into battery options .
C: There's um actually no rechargeable option available ,
C: so we C: I saw the um the standard double A_ and triple A_
C: which we thought were a bit bit too bulky at the moment ,
C: dynamo charging ,
C: I thought that that might be a bit silly to be to be honest ,
B: Wa B: can you explain that ?
C: people won't C: it's it's basically like wind-up radio .
B: Like a B: right , okay .
C: So you wind up your remote control before you use it .
D: B: How  B: what kind of C: It might B: how l long can you get out of that ,
B: I mean can you pick it up and then wind it for two minutes and then that's it for the night ? Or C: You C: Yeah , yeah , oh yeah I presu you wouldn't have to wind it for very long ,
C: but I don't I don't think it's really sort of necessary when you th you think of the next two options ,
C: like the the solar charging ,
C: 'cause most people have the light on in the room anyway so they could get when when you got T_V_ .
B: That doesn't count though does it ?
D: Does does light charge as as sunlight does ?
B: I thought it was U_V_ like D: Artificial light ?
C: No .
C: Is it ?
C: Alright i
D: Has to be solar .
B: Any , any A: Yep .
A: Regarding those sizes , which one you think will be light
A: because we we have to take into consideration size also ,
A: so maybe a standard triple A_ might take lesser space or A: and dynamo might take more space .
C: Yeah it would the d yeah the dynamo would take more space
C: 'cause you actually need a physical sort of handle to wind up .
B: I'm pretty sure that solar is from the sun .
C: Yeah , okay .
D: Mm .
B: Uh , I don't think it counts electric lights
D: Artificial light , no .
B: no ,
B: but I mean not many you don't want to limit your market .
D: That's going to B: I mean people who live in basement flats there's not that many people , but there are people .
D: I know ,
D: different parts of the world too , if we're if we're marketing internationally .
A: Uh C: But C: Yeah
C: and most people most people also watch T_V_ in the in the night anyway .
A: Right .
A: Night .
B: Mm , but then it would be charging through the day ,
B: I think the point is that it charges through the day and then you've got it charged for the evening .
C: But I I think I think the the next one's the best anyway .
B: Okay .
C: The the kinetic charging which is like you get it in r you get it in wrist watches
B: Yeah I've seen C: and you d you don't even notice it .
C: I mean the amount the amount of probably moving around you'd be doing all the time would would charge it up ,
C: I don't think you'd ever need to actually physically start shaking it up to make it work .
A: And are these like uh A: what are the life of the kinetic battery ,
A: it like it runs for long time ?
C: Um yeah
C: it's C: it charges into um some form of C: it's a smaller cell which it charges into and uh the si the size sort of a watch a watch battery ,
A: Mm-hmm .
C: 'cause they use them quite frequently in watches .
A: Okay .
C: And that'll that would l would last for um
C: well I do I d I'm not entirely sure how long it would last but I've never seen one run out .
B: But then if you think about a watch , it's on your wrist so it's on your whole bod it's on your body the whole time
A: We c
C: Yeah .
B: so you're walking around , you're doing things ,
B: it is moving a lot of the time
C: Yeah
B: . If you'd C: and B: I mean you switch the T_V_ on , then you put it on the side , then you pick it up to change it and then you put it on the side .
D: Mm-hmm .
C: Yeah but then again
B: Is it really gonna be enough ?
C: I I think it is
C: because if you think about it , the watch , although it's only a tiny amount it's it's um it's always moving for the whole day
C: and they don't run out over night when you leave them on the side .
B: Okay .
C: And th for the same the same reason , you're only using it for a v incredibly short amount of time just to send the signal and then you're finished with it
D: Hmm .
B: So it's not the draw on it isn't C: and you put it D: Mm-hmm . Mm .
C: no no I do I don't think the the draw on it would be B: Okay .
D: Could I just ask D: referring back to solar charging , is that compatible with um standard batteries ?
C: Mm .
D: I mean , could people put standard batteries in but with a s you know they could leave it in the sunlight for solar charging
C: Ye yeah I think I th uh g y you could have a dual um power thing
D: or the two things not compatible ?
B: Like a dual kind of .
C: but the the thing with the solar cells is you would need to put them on the case
C: and they C: because , if you lie  C: on a calculator they they're qui they're quite big and they all they all look i identical .
D: Mm .
D: So that affects the exterior design .
A: Solar would be slightly expensives .
B: Expensive as well .
C: They're they're expensive ,
B: What kind of price are we looking at for C: they don't B: I presume the normal batteries are the cheapest ?
A: It's twelve point f
C: Yeah the normal batteries would be the cheapest
C: I'd presume then it would actually be the the solar charging ones ,
C: um but the C: It's i I think they're not very resistant to dropping ,
C: 'cause if you drop stuff B: Solar .
C: yeah
C: if you if you have y
B: Well they're not designed C: the size you'd need to charge a remote wouldn't be that big
C: but I mean if remotes always get thrown around and stuff , so .
C: Y I think B: Practical-wise okay .
C: yeah , practically .
C: I mean calculators you don't really throw around a lot C: whereas remotes you do ,
C: they can t
B: You do get a bit of wear
B: but don't calculators have a battery in them as well ?
C: Yeah they do ,
C: they C: yeah they've got dual things , but they're the batteries are smaller I think .
D: Mm .
B: Mm .
A: Another question is like D: Again it de
A: sorry .
A: W w which one would last the longest ,
A: because we don't want customers to be like you know charging like a mobile phone every day .
C: Mm .
A: A remote control , like ,
C: W m yeah
A: so we have to s look at the life also .
D: Mm .
C: so the C: Yeah
C: the the s if you
C: if you had something du uh using the standard batteries and the solar charging ,
C: um , I don't think you'd C: I think the C: it would d well you know how long the standard double A_s would last in or triple A_s would last .
D: It would just detract from the attractiveness of the of the whole feature ,
C: Yeah I think i I think it would , yeah .
D: i it's not gonna add anything , okay .
B: Okay , can we add in uh an attachment to closing feature ?
A: Okay .
B: Can we think about that ?
B: 'Cause if we're doing the kinetic thing
C: Yeah .
B: and it's D: Shouldn't we do some market research on that first before we add it in
D: because I I personally B: Well add it in to think about um
D: right , okay .
B: because ,
B: where am I ?
B: If it is the kinetic thing
B: and it is small and it is portable and it is a different shape
C: Yeah .
B: and the kinetic is something people don't do kind of B: we're doing something original and different
B: um but if you wore it if it's something you could just clip on your pocket then you would have that less , you you wouldn't lose it so much .
C: Yeah .
B: But then maybe that's looking at someone who's just sitting on their own rather than
C: Yeah .
B: the eternal battle for control of the controls .
C: D: It's not something that's come up in any of our uh focus groups and market research ,
B: No .
D: it's not a thing that people are looking for
B: Okay .
D: when we threw it open to the field yeah .
A: So C: Okay .
D: But it's something to put on the side to think about maybe .
B: Okay , right .
C: Okay ,
C: well I'll move on .
B: Mm-hmm .
C: Um , my second part of my findings
C: uh the mo
C: most current remotes use this silicone uh P_C_B_ board which pr printed circuit board ,
C: which basically has these contacts that are really close together and then when you press down on the rubber button , it'll connect the circuit
C: and each each switch is connected to two uh different legs on the chip and so sends a different message
C: and that then uh gets translated by the chip into a code
C: and then it's fired out of this L_E_D_ in the sequence of l on and off bursts .
B: What kind of things do we have to consider there ?
B: Can we B: what kind of size ,
B: does it come in varying sizes or is it just one size and we would have to fit the design of C: Well
C: well this the thi
C: the thing about is um they they can be as big or as small as you want them to be
C: because you can you can print circuit board like that
C: that it's it's simply spaced like that so you can have fit the n the size of the nine buttons in .
C: If you if you see how thin the tracks are , you could you could s you could put them virtually right next to each other and have a much smaller switch on each one ,
B: Mm-hmm .
C: if you if you wanted to
B: Okay .
C: but um the C: there is an option to do to do it like that ,
C: or you could have some sort of
C: array of switches
C: which I'll speak about in the next bit
B: Okay .
C: so that C: And then to uh yeah ,
C: so to conserve battery life the remote should be in a standby mode no while not being used .
C: Now what I was thinking about that was 'cause sometimes when y when you have these things , they've got little lights on behind the buttons , so you can see what all the buttons are ,
C: like on a mobile phone , they do it more often than on a than on a T_V_ remote ,
B: Mm-hmm .
A: Mm-hmm .
C: but you could you could have lights behind the buttons
C: and um after like five or ten seconds of not being used I'd have that turned off ,
C: if we decided to go for buttons that could light up .
A: Okay .
C: Um , the case material , I've a been sent what the factory can actually give us ,
C: the C: there's the plastic
C: which I think we were gonna go for anyway as the main case case housing
B: Mm-hmm .
C: and
C: the the main problems with the C: well you could go for wood
C: but I think it would be a bit impractical .
C: Titanium um very expensive just to process ,
C: which to make it is expensive ,
B: Mm .
C: and rubber ,
C: well you're saying that people like this uh spongy feel this year ,
D: Mm .
C: so perhaps uh some something made of rubber ,
C: but I was thinking more of the buttons ,
C: because the buttons which they've they've said
C: that they've they've put across are what is used in some stress ball manufacture
D: Okay .
C: and it's meant to be anti R_S_I_ .
B: Mm-hmm .
C: I'm no I'm not sure how that would work because surely your fingers would still be moving over the short distances
C: but that's what they said .
C: Um the problem with the casing is that uh there's
C: quite um there's quite a few design restrictions that they've got on the shape of the case .
C: If you go for titanium they can only do a standard box shape ,
C: whereas if you come to plastic they can they can be a little more they can they can do sort of curved shapes .
C: But whether whether or not C: because we'd have it in two separate units
A: Second thing is C: for the flip phone .
B: Hinged , yeah .
A: yeah and second question is like , a mobile you can change the cover ,
C: Yeah .
A: you call it a skin or whatever .
A: So in this case if you're looking at like a customer can change the colour like from green , parrot green to chilli red or something like that .
D: Mm .
C: Yeah I th
A: So is that feature available in like uh titanium ,
A: or it's like only specific to plastic or C: Uh .
C: Yeah in in titanium I don't I don't think it would be available at all really ,
D: Mm-hmm .
C: the ju just C: it w well you could make it available in the titanium ,
C: it was just it would be so expensive to buy a new case for it , because of the expense of how much titanium is is A: Mm-hmm .
C: it's light and strong
C: but I think it should be left for aircraft design rather than for
D: It does mark quite easily too if you let it fall .
C: for a remote .
D: I've got a mobile phone myself which is titanium and it does mark very easily if you drop it .
C: Yeah , yeah .
D: I was just wondering if we make the basic mould out of plastic but have like a rubber cover that goes over ,
C: Rubber , yeah .
D: that would give the spongy feel ,
D: that also allows us to kind of have different fasciae for the phone .
C: And you can peel them off yeah .
B: So instead of the fascia that comes off being plastic , the fascia that comes off would be the rubber ,
A: Yeah .
D: Like a rubber sleeve almost , yeah .
C: Yeah .
A: Something like B: like those pens that you get with the grip , that you can you can pull that off .
C: Yeah .
D: Mm .
A: Alright .
A: That could be a good idea .
D: Mm .
C: Hmm .
A: It could B: Okay .
A: it would be comfortable to hold on also .
B: Mm .
D: Very cheap way of changing the look of it and people can just buy a new one if they want to .
C: T
C: Yeah .
B: Well that's been really popular with mobile phones so I don't see why not .
D: Mm . Yeah .
C: Also the B: 'Kay .
C: just just going back to the interface designs with the buttons ,
C: the C: I kno we were planning to do some sort of touch screen .
B: Mm-hmm .
C: Now what I was saying before about instead of having C: you could have just a bare P_C_B_ circuit board
C: and I'm sure you could probably get it in different colours
C: and so just by touching it with your finger it'd make the connection
C: over if you had them close enough ,
C: that would be one option .
C: Um the second option th they offer rubber buttons ,
C: but I thought that an L_C_D_ type of screen C: 'cause one they're incredibly thin um and don't take up much space ,
C: two they you can have them in a sort of array and you can arrange the buttons on the screen in a sort of set thing and you could have them like a touch