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1. Skywalk
Building the bridge between virtual and
reality
Tyler Chen Cindy Huang Bingyi Wang
David
Harrison Jackie Yang
Picker
PhD, Bioengineering
Hustler
MBA, BS Chem Eng.
Hacker
PhD, Physics
Hustler
MBA & BA Econ
Designer
PhD, Comp Sci
Advisor Mentor
Kenneth Brinson Rafi Holtzman
117 total interviews
Day One:
Building a wearable
gesture control device for
real and virtual worlds
Today:
Building a future-proof
gesture control solution
for AR headsets + DoD
2. Gesture control today leaves something to be desired...
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
3. Where it all started
A wearable gesture-based
controller to interact with
devices in real and virtual worlds
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
4. We provide a wearable gesture-
based controller to interact with
devices in the real and virtual
worlds, with a powerful developer
toolkit for any user to build intuitive
interfaces for VR/AR gaming, home
automation/connected devices,
fitness tracking, and other spatial
digital interactions.
Value Prop
“We have no
idea who our
customer is”
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
Our first attempt...
5. We thought we could solve gesture for these five markets
Skywalk
AR/VR Gaming
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
6. Week 1: We found our market! (...or so we thought)
Key Takeaways
AR Enterprise Training
Rapidly growing, we unlock significant untapped training use
cases. Might require building generic hardware and custom
software.
Consumer AR/VR Rapidly growing, network factor for dev + user base. Big
competition for few users.
Health/Fitness Tracking
Athletes want sport-specific metric tracking. Entrenched
players, little hardware differentiation
(Wearable) Virtual
Assistant
Need to differentiate from voice, home use means all-day
use
Prosthetics +
Accessibility
No dominant player, current sensors are terrible, current
hardware is underutilized. Untested on amputees
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 The Future
“I sent this to my coworker
and he’s excited to try to
incorporate if you want
field testing.”
- Enterprise AR Dev @ Altoura
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
24 Interviews
7. Week 1-2 Insight: Robust gesture control is the limiting factor
for AR enterprise training
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Surgeons
We provide an all-in-one XR
enterprise training solution,
enabled by a wearable device
that offers seamless control to
improve skill acquisition.
Value Proposition
The Future
Pilots
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
“30 years ago I taped
cardboard to my hotel walls
to simulate a cockpit. That’s
still my best option today.”
- Commercial pilot
“The current approach is see
one, do one, teach one with
no standard for progression
to the next step.”
- Neurosurgeon
8. Week 2-3 Insight: The need for our solution may exist at both
the application and platform level
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
But early signs show…
AR platforms may be
interested!
The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
According to 10 pilots + 7 surgeons
AR training meets a major
market need
9. Week 4 Insight: Gesture is a huge pain point for AR headset
manufacturers
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
“We contracted gesture out to two
different companies, and we've
received so many complaints about it.
We need a more robust solution...”
- Gesture Dev Lead at AR Headset company
Time to
make an
MVP!
The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
10. Week 5: Our initial spec sheet MVP...
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
“If you can deliver this we
will definitely plan to
integrate it and go to
market. When can we try
it?”
- CTO, AR headset company
The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
11. 7. Key
Partners
8. Cooperation
5. Key
Activities
4. Customer
Relationships
3. Channels
2. Customer
Segments
9. Cost Structure 8. Revenue Streams
6. Key
Resources
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
High-fidelity gesture
input device for AR
Value Proposition
12. Week 5 Insight: Without intuitive and combat-ready control,
Hololens is a $22 Billion paperweight
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
“We can’t use Hololens hand tracking
for the army - it gives us away to night
vision. Your product solves that issue.”
- Branch Chief, Soldier Sensors (Army)
The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
13. 7. Key
Partners
8. Cooperation
5. Key
Activities
4. Customer
Relationships
3. Channels
2. Customer
Segments
9. Cost Structure 8. Revenue Streams
6. Key
Resources
1. Value
Proposition
Headset manufacturers
DoD (IVAS)
High-fidelity gesture
input device
Marketing/Channels
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
Headset Manufacturers:
Department of Defense:
Customer Segments
Marketing/Channels
AR reference design integration!
Key Partners
14. “This would be a really cool demo
for our reference design, and after
that it’s just about timelines…
Let’s make it happen.”
- C-Suite Exec at Qualcomm
Week 6 Insight: We are a peripheral, and a highly-valued one
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
“Being a peripheral allows
greater focus on details that the
big guys who worry about the
whole platform cannot have, i.e.
better quality.”
- C-Suite Exec at Logitech
The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
15. Week 7: We embraced our peripheral-ness and built a new
MVP
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
“Our mission is to prevent
ourselves from becoming an
easy-ripoff peripheral."
- Rafi Holtzman
Key Question:
Can we sell our product as
more than just hardware?
The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
16. Week 7: It’s nice to be wanted.
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
“Unless they desperately need you,
no one will pay you to build an
integration with their platform."
- Steve W.
“If you meet our specs we’ll pay
you a contract price to build an
integration with our platform."
- Marketing Coordinator,
ThirdEyeGen
The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
:)
17. Week 7: We received a contract!!!
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Skywalk +
The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
Drafted a 1-year contract:
Integration fee, bundled sales, revenue share
18. Week 7 Insight: Subscription models may provide us
recurring revenue
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Yes! We’re more than
just hardware.
Skywalk + “We could also go the device-
as-a-service model and pay a
subscription for gesture."
- Head of Commercial AR, Lenovo
The Future
Bundled Sales
&
Software Subscription
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
19. 7. Key
Partners
8. Cooperation
5. Key
Activities
4. Customer
Relationships
3. Channels
2. Customer
Segments
9. Cost Structure 8. Revenue Streams
6. Key
Resources
1. Value
Proposition
Headset manufacturers
DoD (IVAS)
Today: Robust
gesture input solution
Tomorrow: Digital
representation of
hands for 3D spatial
interaction
Marketing/Channels
● Materials and device assembly
● Packaging and distribution
● Software/hardware design
● Platform integration and expansion
● Marketing/social media
● Legal, insurance frameworks
● Infrastructure costs
Headset OEMs and AR platform providers
● Purchase of device
● Customized/contract solution development
● Subscription to full postural algorithms + UI
● SaaS revenue sharing agreement
DoD
● Contracts
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
Revenue Streams
Headset OEMs and AR platform providers:
Bundled device sales
Upfront integration + development contract
Subscription to full postural algorithms + UI
SaaS revenue sharing agreement
Department of Defense:
SBIRs
Contract solutions
20. Week 7: We were naïve about manufacturing and IP
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
Manufacturing requires
working with multiple
firms, industrial design
will be a bottleneck.
Patents will be owned
by us if the university
decides to pass.
We thought...
However...
21. Week 7: We identified manufacturers who can take us from
proof of concept to mass production
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
- Will support us in early stage
design (DFA and DFM)
- Can scale from 10 unit to
1000s per day
- Validated COGS progression -
$500/prototype, <$40 at scale
Key Takeaways
“We did this for Fitbit when they
were early. We build in
certifications and can scale with
you to MM of units/mo.”
- C-Suite Exec at Racer Technologies
The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
22. Week 8: We learned about university IP by trial and error!
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
Key Takeaways
- OTL is willing to pursue our
first nonprovisional patent!
- OTL licensing negotiation for
our combined patents
- Pursue patent sublicensing in
parallel domains (e.g. toys)
The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
23. Weeks 8-9: We have received serious interest in joint marketing
demos
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9
“YES. We can collaborate on pitches to brands, have
you at our booths. This will totally open up our SDK.
Let me intro you to our partner at Coachella.
- GTM Strategy Lead, Niantic
The Future
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
24. Week 9: High-fidelity gesture control will enable mass adoption of
AR
Sources: Accenture Grandview Research Fortune Business Insights Statista T4
Total
Addressable
Market
Served
Available
Market
Target
Market
Enterprise AR
Market
$18 Billion
$9.9
Billion
$3.5
Billion
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 The Future
The hand is mightier
than the mouse!
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
25. 7. Key
Partners
8. Cooperation
5. Key
Activities
4. Customer
Relationships
3. Channels
2. Customer
Segments
9. Cost Structure 8. Revenue Streams
6. Key
Resources
1. Value
Proposition
Headset manufacturers
DoD (IVAS)
● Materials and device assembly
● Packaging and distribution
● Software/hardware design
● Digital platform development and
expansion
● Marketing/social media
● Legal, insurance
frameworks
● Infrastructure costs
Manufacturers
Marketing/Channels
GET
● Viral, blogs,reviews, SEO
● Direct applications
KEEP
● Co-development, customization,
support
GROW
● Forums, documentation
● Cross-sell, Unbundling
● File IP early and often
● Increase TRL
● API + SDK Integration
● Algorithm + ML development
● Device hardware engineering
● Interaction design
● Developers
● User-captured training
data
● Hardware/Software
● Algorithms
● Direct partnerships
(bundled/OEM sales)
● DoD requisitions
Today: Robust
gesture input solution
Tomorrow: Digital
representation of
hands for 3D spatial
interaction
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.
Headset OEMs and AR platform providers
● Purchase of device
● Customized/contract solution development
● Subscription to full postural algorithms + UI
● SaaS revenue sharing agreement
DoD
● Contracts
27. We ARE continuing this
journey!
Advisor Mentor
Kenneth Brinson Rafi Holtzman
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 The Future
Tyler Chen
Picker
PhD, Bioengineering
Cindy Huang
Hustler
MBA, BS Chem Eng.
Bingyi Wang
Hacker
PhD, Physics
David Harrison
Hustler
MBA & BA Econ
Jackie Yang
Designer
PhD, Comp Sci
Reach out at:
tyler.chen@stanford.edu
$250k
Pre-
Seed
Aug 2021
Validation
at
Stanford
July 2021
This document is confidential and intended solely for the client to whom it is addressed.