4 projects from NYU’s Inno/Vention prototyping competition

A product doesn’t have to look pretty for people in the know to see its potential.
One of the most powerful ideas in entrepreneurship is that of the minimum viable product (MVP). What’s the essence of your idea? How can it be demonstrated for people with a bare minimum of functionality? For those not steeped in entrepreneurial culture, this idea is completely foreign. The only products the average person sees are finished, market-ready products. Most people don’t realize how rough products can be as ideation begins.
For the more technically advanced college students at NYU Polytechnic, the engineering school is organizing teams and providing mentorship to members of its community so they can put together prototypes. Teams wrapped up a ten-week program called Inno/Vention last week, and six prototypes were presented to a panel of three judges from different facets of the tech industry at last week’s demo day.
First place went to Spectre, a virtual reality headset that uses eye tracking to solve motion sickness. Spectre also won best hardware.
We reached out to the teams and asked about if they will keep developing their product, with an eye toward starting a company, and if there’s any particular skill sets that they could use to add to the mix.
VIT took second place overall and also won best software. The company makes nutritionally balanced vegan meals in custom shakes and pairs them with workouts that are also customized. Using a mobile app, they are able to help users track their combination of fitness and nutrition. Danielle Soto, from the three-person team, said that their next idea could benefit from the help of a mechanical engineer.
Physiometrix is a wearable hardware product to help trainers assess athletes as they train and watch for danger signs of repetitive motion injuries. They have the beginnings of a Facebook page now. Jay Kumar, from the team, said that they will work on the product over the summer in hopes of having it much further along by the next school year. The team needs a data scientist and experts in mechanical engineering or wearables, Kumar told us via email.
Project Brew is the product of two Bay Area brothers, now in NYC, and their mechanical engineering friend. Downtown Brooklyn’s Nicholas Molinski, from the team, said that they are working to come up with an on-the-go coffee solution for individuals. “We have gone though lots of lab testing to get the perfect extraction rate and temperature, while at the same time keeping the whole brew process quick and efficient,” Molinski told Technical.ly Brooklyn via email. There’s nothing there yet, but check back here for a look at their product as it moves toward release.