I think we  made some definite progress at the last one  and come up with some interesting   w suggestions for our our new remote control .  the the the problem with existing remote controls , we felt , was that they're ugly  and that people are prepared to pay a premium for something better .  they've got lots of buttons on them that  people don't use and find difficult to learn . And We we thought that f for our our new   remote control that everybody will want to rush out and buy ,  that we're we should look at speech recognition rather than r rather than buttons , and that if we have any buttons they should be very few of them and only for those functions that are actually identified that that people use . That  we want to go for  a long lasting battery that we gua we guarantee for the life of the   the product and a shape that will be instantly recognisable , A_  as  a trendy remote control , and and B_ as  a Real Reaction product . So that w  when people are  happy with that , they will they will want to buy  everything else from us . So again  , I'll we'll have the three three presentations from the the the three of you and then  we'll we'll make a a final a final  decision .  and the the decisions that we need to to make today , finally , are  what energy source we want to use , whether i it is practical to use   a a a long lasting one . And  I I think our discussion was around the fact that  if we're gonna go for  a long lasting power supply , then basically it's  sealed for life and  if anybody does manage to run one down , we'll we'll give them another one . And  it it'll be  , you know , prominently displayed as part of the th the advertising literature that it's   , you know , for life , guaranteed for life .  now the the the internal chip  and  this is where I need   Kate's expert advice industrial designer: project manager: and given that th this has to to go to market as quickly as possible  d d do we go for a custom designed chip ? Or or do we buy one off the shelf and and programme it ourselves ?   I'm I'm I'm n not an expert on these things , but presumably , there must be loads of 'em already on the market that we can modify . And then the  , you know , the the overall design of the case  is is is Kendra's field and  user interface: industrial designer: project manager: we we had some discussions last time as as to  how we might go forward and we'll we'll finalise those  da today .  and thi this is all linked in with the the the user interface , whether we p  go for voice , buttons , or or a bit of both .  and then  , you know , f for the next meeting Kate will be looking at the the the s the look , feel and design , Kendra the  ho how the the user actually uses it and and Andrew of course the the product evaluation . industrial designer: user interface: project manager:  so , if if we can have the the three presentations again please , and   p perhaps you'd like to start  k .  basically they wait for you to press a key or give a voice command and then this is translated  into  light signals which are then seen by the T_V_ .  the materials we're gonna need to look at  the two big ones are the integrated circuit chip and the battery and the in integrated circuit chip  works in conjunction with a a diode transistor or resonator ,  two more resistors and a capacitor and the battery works in conjunction with a resistor and a capacitor .  basically what happens is you'll press a number or give a voice command and this creates a a connection within the the remote that allows the chip the chip then senses this connection and produces a signal in a Morse code format . This signal's sent to the transistor which amplifies it and then sends it on to the light emitting diode and  which is then trai changed into a infrared light which is sent to the T_V_ and sort of seen by the T_V_ and which  changes the channels .  so as for how we should end up  using this in our remote  t couple of main questions are the buttons .  y the fewer buttons you have , I guess the fewer internal connections and internal codes you're gonna need .  however  to n not have buttons or to use a voice commands instead of buttons might make these connections more difficult and  raise the production cost . Also we have to work within the company constraints , and the company has informed me via email that  they're experts at pushbuttons and that seems to be the most  cost-effective way of producing it .  also with battery connections the company has some limits on the batteries we can use , so I was thinking perhaps a combination of solar cells with a back-up basic battery and somehow between the combination of that two we might be able to come up with something that  will last the the lifetime or the five to ten years and we could still keep that original idea .  we also need to look at the chips ,  v custom-designed versus off the shelf , and the custom-designed will give us much more flexibility and enable us to incorporate the voice function that we all  seem to have agreed upon .  , however that's gonna cost more , but  the off the shelf is gonna be  cheaper and it's gonna be allow us to produce it quicker and get out there faster , but it's going to be less flexible with the features , especially things like  voice activation , which haven't really been used much on remotes , so there's not really chips out there that would be easy to  to convert , project manager: Okay , industrial designer: so if we were  definitely gonna go with the the voice option we'd probably have to design  our own chip . project manager:  d d d okay ,   inevitably a b a custom design chip is gonna be more expensive . project manager: And and do we know how long it'll take to  develop a a custom chip . Oh w yeah , we did the the problem is the the the voice technology is not really highly developed , project manager: Right , industrial designer: it's sort of still still in an ex experimental form , project manager: okay . project manager: that would appear to  effectively constrain us to an existing chip and thus therefore conventional button technology .   now before we go round everybody else , does anybody  h have any have anyti ha anything to say about that ? user interface: I I just have a question about that .  does it make a difference if there are just a few commands , for example if you  can pre-programme in like numbers one through ten and pre-programme say , you know , nine channels and then just use the voice recognition to say channel one and then you've programmed in say B_B_C_ four as your channel one , as your favourite , it's like to have a certain number of favourites  industrial designer: W just to to incorporate the voice activation in it is is sorta the trick . user interface: and that w industrial designer: Once you've got the whole voice chip in there , then it's pretty much the the world the the sky is your limit , user interface: Okay . industrial designer: but to actually the the big step is to actually get the voice activation chips in there and working . project manager: Cause  I must say I find it slightly surprising given that , you know , mobile phones incorporate voice activated dialling . project manager: I d d for slightly different well no , it's if you you speak somebody's name and it'll dial the number for you , so  bu  the this this information is from is this is the internal company information , is it ? industrial designer:  bits of it , yeah . project manager: So  user interface: Of course mobile phones do tend to be more expensive , industrial designer: Yes , as well . project manager: Yeah ,  true , again but if it's without any without any  p price informations that's  difficult to  industrial designer: project manager:  decide . marketing: Also lots of mobile phones have got a lot of technology in them , not just that , so . It's like it's it's you can't 'cause mobile phones are expensive , you can't say it's the voice recognition bit that is .   I su i  if given that the  the technology is not well developed and and given that it's it's never been done before ,  th th the double risk ,  perhaps we ought to  stick to  to buttons , since the last thing we want to do is present a product that doesn't work . Thoughts ? user interface: Well , another thought I marketing: Would user interface: oh , sorry , go ahead . marketing: Oh I was just gonna say mayb maybe it sh like  maybe we can like cut corners somewhere else to bring in over cost . project manager:  do w do we think that the voice technology is fundamental to the project ? industrial designer:  it's fundament well  I guess it it's something we've discussed  since the the sort of the beginning , so I th I think in in our in our minds it's it's fundamental , but I don't know that the  the upper echelons of the company would necessarily agree with that , so I think you have to project manager:  I think we user interface: Oh yeah . industrial designer: user interface: Well , I kinda think if we're gonna have the voice recognition for part of it , then maybe we should have it for the whole thing . user interface: Anyway , I'm I'm incli kinda inclined to say that we should just go for it . marketing:  yeah , it's the second most important aspect to users that the device should be technologically innovative . project manager: if if that means  if that means we can't afford buttons but  b b industrial designer:  project manager: second question , do we need the five buttons for channel change , up down , volume up down and on off , just as a a backup or just so that people can  j j just sit there pressing buttons ? user interface: Yeah . Sorry , d did you want to say anything ? No ? industrial designer:  nope , project manager: Okay . Is it gonna work ? project manager:  yeah , industrial designer: Yeah , it's thinking about it . user interface: so I did some research on the internet and  what you know , the interf user interface are just aspects that are seen by users ,  commands and mechanisms for the operation , and there're just kind of a variety of choices . user interface: and these were just a couple examples of  different kinds that are a little bit more unusual . user interface: There're some special ones available , like this one right here , project manager: -huh . user interface: and one of the things that n we need to watch out for is a V_ in volume because people some Bring a little picture of what I thought ours could look like . industrial designer: user interface: So just kind of minimise the clutter , project manager: user interface: avoid too many buttons and also  one of the things that people have used is a slide button , like you have on a mouse , that possibly we could use that on the sides for volume , for example , have the slide button on the side , marketing:  . user interface: and then you can pre-programme the channels , the voice recognition and then the voice response sample locator . project manager:  I think the reason everybody uses pushbuttons is that they're they're si simple , cheap and reliable . I  , I think it's just sort of the the there's a lot of slide buttons out there . user interface: Just because I n for example if I'm using a mouse I like to be able to slide it up and down industrial designer:  . user interface: so I thought it might be good for volume to just be able to kind of roll it and then have the up and down project manager: Yeah . industrial designer: project manager: Three buttons , channel up channel up down and user interface: Y yes , yes . marketing: Well , if you g if you if you got a channel up down , we can have a slider in that as well . Because if it if you no user interface: marketing: if you notice on the thing it it kind of like has got kind of if you you know it s kind of like sticks , if you know what  , up like one unit , if you see what  . marketing: So it kinda goes up one , then y like you can keep rolling it up , but it's like like like like a cog or something .  user interface: The only advantage I was thinking of to having the buttons , like the buttons on one side for the channel , and then the slider is that if you're just holding in your hand , and you pick it up , it's easy to n s know , okay , this is just the volume and this is the channel . project manager: This one on the one side and one marketing:  you could you could as l as like a mouse you could project manager: yeah . industrial designer: Ye yeah , 'cause I've definitely picked up remotes and like meant to change the channel and turn the volume , or vice versa , project manager: Yeah . project manager: or yeah  th th the  thi this is what the user interface: That was marketing: Yeah , like the shape of it almost like a mouse , with a project manager: we have to come up with is the the actual shape that people can ins instantly pick it up and and know know  know what it's going to do . project manager: Okay , so we we're looking at sliders for both a  volume and channel change user interface:  well project manager: of one sort . user interface: I was thinking kind of just for the volume , project manager: Just for the volume ,  . user interface: but what what do you guys think ? marketing: Dep I dunno if it user interface: We could marketing: depending on the final shape of it , 'cause you could have like , I dunno , it looks like you can c control the volume with your thumb , user interface: Yeah , yeah . industrial designer: 'cause if yeah , in that kinda position the fingers would be better for pressing and the that for rolling , project manager: It yeah ,  it it it seems to me that  it  it al also has the advantage that it it the two are clearly different , user interface: B industrial designer: just the way it would user interface: Yeah . project manager: that's sorry is that that all you want to say at the mo user interface: Yes . marketing: The data's come off internet  from executive summary for us on the top three things wanted by the consumer . industrial designer: marketing: And  the most important aspect is the l the look it has to look fancy , look and feel project manager: This is a st well I was gonna say yeah twice as important as the second aspect , project manager:  . So  and the third being easy to use is probably a given , we have to try and incorporate , so  project manager: Well I  I th I think that what we're suggesting ought to address all three of those .  yeah , and  from the fashion watchers from Milan and Paris have said fruit and vegetables are an important theme for clothes and furniture and shoes , et cetera . industrial designer: project manager:  I hadn't thought of that , that's different , certainly . But  I was gonna say  yeah , project manager: What ? marketing: fruit and vegetables ,  important to this year  important to furniture , I'm just gonna say  f like it's in if if fashion if we're going for the it looks fancy , then fashion is obviously the line we gotta be going through . industrial designer: Well that can kinda tie into our changing  face things , like we could have the fruit and vegetable theme this year marketing:  . project manager: industrial designer: and  whatever happens next year , we can have the face plates , user interface: Yeah . industrial designer: Yeah , marketing: and then we can just whip that off and industrial designer: yeah . You know , that kind of spongy industrial designer: yeah , that weird I dunno what that is , project manager:  .  you have we could if we could save depending on the cost of the product itself , you know , could we have  a cheaper b cheaper power source and then just have it annually renewed ? Instead of having a ten year guarantee ? With interchangeable covers , could just buy a new one every year , a new one when new fashions come out . user interface: project manager: I  it its  I that's an interesting idea , it's like the old Swatch watch where   on only batteries ever got changed in those , 'cause people just bought a new one when it went out of fashion , industrial designer:  . user interface: Wh project manager: yes if if if they're made in sufficient quantity industrial designer: I I think it's easier sometimes to have them buy changeable covers for it than to buy a whole new one , because you don't feel like you're investing in a whole new product . project manager: W  we we can   b but  my feeling is that current power sources are such that for relatively little cost you can make it last , you know , a long time . project manager:  but if we also make it cheap enough that people either change the cover every year or even buy a new one every year then it it's it's even better . user interface: So  industrial designer: That all c also kind of encourages 'em to buy new covers user interface: like industrial designer: and yeah . project manager: I n I know the only p  the the the the immediate thing that comes to mind with that is that it it it y you've then got the connection user interface: So f project manager: and you've immediately got a sort of unreliability , whereas the advantage of having it plumbed in is that that the whole thing is all , you know , completely soldered together industrial designer:  yeah . project manager: but  I d I I  I know what you're saying and  understand where you're coming from . marketing: Or well , but like  like more than just the battery , like a complete different like you've only got like , you know like th  this bit's the bit you keep , and this is the expensive bit , this is like the chip industrial designer: And then project manager: I th I s I think if we're gonna go down that route , then we're talking about  even if it costs slightly more than that ,  just building the whole thing in one , then having getting cheaper production costs marketing: Yeah , you probably are right . project manager:  and , you know giving people the option of buying a new  a a complete new thing , the advantage of a replaceable cover is that even if they don't it doesn't have a cover on at all , it will still work  totally . project manager:  then if , you know , if people lose the cover ,  they they might be well inclined to go out and spend however many Euros on a on a new one  rather than a a complete new re remote . industrial designer: Well that that's just it with the covers , you're sort of tricking 'em into continuing to spend their money on our products without making 'em feel like they're being ripped off having to buy a new product . project manager: Yeah ,  it is it's up to it's up to industrial designer: So , user interface: Yeah , just another five Euro to get industrial designer: yeah . project manager: it's it's up to our marketing people to to ma to ma turn it into a a fashion item . project manager:  and , you know , as as external fashions change , then we get new new covers on the market and , you know , readily available . project manager: And  industrial designer: And that's the sort of thing , once you get the mould set , you can just whip out different colours , different pictures very very quickly . user interface: Yeah , like they have for mobile phones industrial designer: Yeah , yeah , exactly , exactly .  we hadn't finished your marketing:  oh , don't worry it's all said , I was just gonna say  yeah , are we gonna make this as part of like like  a part of the f like it it the fashions apply to furniture , so are we gonna make this part of the furniture ? project manager: It's the sort of thing that we want people to have prominent dis displayed on their  coffee table to say this says something about me . marketing: with project manager: I , you know , I'm I'm I'm with it , I'm up to date . And you know , th the the design that I've got , and and it could be a a home-made design ,  you know this says this is not just a a television remote control , this is , you know , a fashion accessory .  , so  the the the basic shape i is is what we   given that we've got you know one one on off button presumably , two buttons for  channel change and one slider and basically nothing else , industrial designer:  . And , know whether we go down the fruit and veg route , and I don't suggest we make it look like a banana , but  know sort of the the organic , you know , curved look , industrial designer: user interface: marketing: project manager: you know , t to deliberately get away from the    you know , the the the the square look of most  current  remotes industrial designer:  . project manager: and , you know , whether whether the you know , the the fixed part of it is the corporate yellow .   or  'cause there's certainly you know , the the corporate logo needs to be prominently  displayed so that people s th looked at it and say right , that's a Real Reaction remote control , I want one of those . industrial designer: I dunno that we should make the whole thing yellow I kinda thought with a you'd have like a yellow circle with the R_R_ in it somewhere on it , project manager: Yeah  the the  or or b industrial designer: but I'd user interface: Yeah , industrial designer: yellow seems a bit of a strong colour user interface: like an . project manager: Yeah , I'd I'd  industrial designer: to make the ent like the thing user interface: Yeah .  no industrial designer: no , but  just like white or grey or black or some sort of blah colour . project manager: I d I I agree ,  we're we're we're simply it's simply required to incorporate the the the the corporate logo prominently  . user interface: Well n project manager: Well , th this is this is the whole point , yes , you know , I'm I've got a a Real Reaction  remote control to go with my Real Reaction coffee maker or or whatever . industrial designer: user interface: marketing: project manager: And  then people , you know , people demand more Real Reaction stuff . user interface: Well I was sort of  kinda picturing like maybe  a shape that's almost like a mouse . user interface: So that , you know , when they hold it it's because a mouse is pretty comfortable to hold in your hand  maybe we could make it a slightly different shape so they could hold on to it , but that way they can have the volume on the side and then the channel buttons and project manager: Yeah . project manager: Oh no that well there's the sim my my idea was something a b probably you know a bit fatter than this but sort of tha that sorta shape user interface: Yeah . industrial designer: Yeah , you'd want it narrower than a mouse though user interface: Kind of a c industrial designer: 'cause it a mouse you're kinda just resting on it , you want something you can definitely grip . project manager: W it  well it's sort of it's it's sort of  a a mouse , industrial designer: So maybe it'd be user interface: Yeah . project manager: but held , you know , so it's you sorta hold it in your hand like that , i with , you know , and fiddling with the buttons . user interface: Yeah so yeah , kind of maybe maybe a little wider than this , 'cause this is pretty comfortable to hold , and then if you had industrial designer: Maybe almost like a hairbrush , like you could get the about the width of that end of the pen and then it widens up top user interface: Yeah , industrial designer: and you can fiddle user interface: then wider up here . user interface: And then it would have a l  wider thing to  have the light , the infrared light at the T_V_ and just kinda change channels and adjust the volume industrial designer: Yeah , yeah . marketing: Yeah , that sounds  I'm just I'm suddenly realising that yeah we're discussing how much how good it's gonna be to change channels t we still can just tell it to .  are we are we starting to get away from the the voice functionality of it ? industrial designer: Yeah . project manager: I think we d I think we decided that w we're actually going down both routes . project manager: we need the the manual controls and that they should be of that form , but that  yeah . industrial designer: But do you know , this shape also kind of les lend itself to to voice 'cause if you're you're holding it and you're fiddling , but you can also bring it up like that project manager: Then you just bring it up to your mouth and just speak to it , industrial designer: and it's microphone-esque , user interface: Yeah , and just say project manager: yeah , yeah . marketing: Yeah , maybe we cou like w like we're leaving out the buttons for the the f less frequently used stuff , industrial designer:  . project manager: I th I th honest  my personal view is that if it's not there , people wouldn't use it anyway  . marketing:  I suppose , but t there is the off chance that , you know , th the brightness is wrong on your T_V_ or the contrast needs changing . project manager: It's cer it's certainly possible  , but they we we're going beyond w w industrial designer: Bu  . project manager: given the state of the technology we want something that we kno we know will will work  .   if the power button was also somehow like a menu button you could press that and or do voice commands , and either volume thing could also be to scroll through other options like y and you could scroll through brightness project manager:  marketing: Yeah , industrial designer: and and sc marketing: that's a good idea . industrial designer: and then you can you can minimise the buttons user interface: Yeah , I suppose I sup industrial designer: and still have those , you know , brightness and tint and stuff . project manager: If we we're  I'm getting a clear message that we think that we should have those facilities available . industrial designer: Yeah user interface: We could have the channels and the power and then a menu button and then the volume . project manager:    marketing: project manager: Okay , if we if we're going down that route , then we need some sort of display . Do we need some sort of display ? industrial designer: But the television would be the display project manager: We actually use the television , okay . industrial designer: that things like that usually c pop up on a televi like you hit menu user interface: Yeah , and then y industrial designer: and menu will come up on television and have like tint brightness , and you'd use the scroll , scroll through it yeah . marketing: on a onto like a mouse , the ru the scrolling button , is actually a button as well , you could press it , you could press that and have it as a menu button . user interface: Yeah , press that is t industrial designer: I never understood how that worked though , user interface: yeah , that might work . user interface: Yeah , it's like  yeah , it's like the mouse where you just kinda click it . user interface: Yeah , and you could just click that to so if you had like the menu then you could scroll through and then click it to select . project manager: so  I d I think we've actually very conveniently just  come to  a good point to s to sum up  . project manager: So  b b Kate and Kendra now go away and  pa play play with a bit of Plasticine or play-dough , industrial designer: Play with play-dough . industrial designer: project manager:  and actually put what we've discussed into something  I was gonna say concrete , marketing:  . project manager: but that's a slightly inappropriate word industrial designer: project manager:  to something that we can we can see and  Andrew n can go away and th th think about how we can  actually market this as a concept and not j not just a   a a simple remote control . marketing: Our energy source is gonna be project manager: I think I think we decided that we're gonna for marketing: long term . project manager: for simplicity of , you know , manufacturing and  maintenance that we will go for a a long term battery source  , industrial designer:  .  project manager: I you know , on the basis that  that , you know , if we're going for making it a fashion statement , then  people are more likely to change it anyway  before i it runs out and  make an assumption that we we can aim for a battery that will last most people for  we'll say at least five five ten years marketing: industrial designer: Yeah . marketing: And we're having a custom chip ? project manager: We're having a a custom chip , but given the the we've cut the functions down ,  that will hopefully not be too problematic , but given that  technol technological innovation is important , industrial designer: project manager: then we need to , I'll say it again , technologically innovate . marketing: project manager:  and  we we , know , we must resist any efforts to  to try and water that down  . marketing: And interchangeable case ? project manager: I i interchangeable case seems to be   important to the concept . project manager:  it it should be cheap , you know , if if we avoid any , you know , electrical connections . project manager: And  i you know , i if we can come up with some way of of allowing people to actually personalise it  to whatever they want , then     this is totally new . project manager: We d we don't know whether that to what extent people do it or not , but if they've at least got a a good selection of  covers that they can use anyway , and  and if if we can keep them , you know , rolling , then  you know , so they can get them in the supermarket when they go down to  a any of the famous supermarkets , I won't mention any mention any names , industrial designer: marketing: project manager:  it's  it's good for the supermarket user interface: project manager: and it's good for us and it hopefully makes them feel better . marketing: And  are we gonna have it il being illuminated from inside onto the buttons or project manager:  the that  that's no , because we've got so few buttons that it that actually makes that redundant . user interface: Yeah , and especially for making them so like different and industrial designer:  different to feel , project manager: Yeah , yeah . project manager: you know , that that solves one of the problems of b of battery life , 'cause that would well that would clobber the battery life , industrial designer: project manager: so no ,  given the nature of the buttons we're having , it's actually   unnecessary I think . marketing: Are we having it that it's any angle , or is it just project manager: As  as wide industrial designer: Yeah . project manager: so that if you're holding it , you know , anyway like you're likely to and  it's  you know , i i it will work most of the time  . project manager: Not like my my mum who points it at the ceiling and wonders why the th th the television doesn't work . industrial designer: user interface: project manager:  yeah ,  I d I th I sorta envisaged that if if this was the the thing , then sort of the the whole of the top would be the  the infrared  . project manager: Yeah , 'cause  the r reality is people are they're gonna be looking at the television whilst they're using it , the chances are , so if if they're holding it anyway , the they're reasonably likely to be holding it to use it , user interface: Yeah . project manager: Okay , so thank you very much indeed and I'll s see you all again in thirty minutes