SaraEye
SaraEye is probably the only home assistant with a 360-degree rotating camera lens that leverages AI to provide a more personalized experience and unique opportunities, unlike similar products on the market.
We have been in charge of the whole product development process, from the finest design aspects like fabric selection through PCB and hardware development, as the project's sole R&D and design partner.
The client's main expectation was that the device should look attractive, friendly and more innovative than other voice assistant devices on the market. They also had initial prototypes based on CCTV cameras.
We explored various materials and manufacturing technologies, as well as how the device should look and the type of components needed for embedded hardware.
We prepared 4 visual concepts and presented them to the client so that they could choose the most favourable direction. At this phase, we did not know much about the electronics and how they would be mounted, so the concept's dimensions were not 100% accurate.
We added buttons to avoid going into too much detail in the previous phase. The client was satisfied with the selected concept, so there was no need to make any aesthetical changes.
We 3D printed 3 full scale prototypes within the range of a single block just to better reflect the devices actual size. We fully equipped each prototype to make sure they would operate as planned.
So the first functional prototype came to be. It was nearly identical to how the final product would function and look. We did need to go through one more iteration, which changed the way the device would fold. We picked a suitable fabric that wouldn’t absorb any sound and we ran an audio quality check.
Closing this development stage we updated the 3 prototypes to equal specification.
FOR MANUFACTURING
At this stage we focused on refining all the elements to best fit the desired production technology with active involvement of the selected manufacturer. We also prepared the necessary documentation, guides and recommendations for materials to be used in production.
SUPERVISION
We worked with a team on the chosen manufacturers side to work out design details that would help optimise the production process. We were also responsible for running a quality check to ensure full functionality and a material-wise flaw-free final product.
Unlike similar products on the market, SaraEye is the only home assistant equipped with a 360-degree rotatable camera lens that uses the power of AI to unlock a more personalised experience and unique opportunities.
The main idea behind the voice assistant device was to add a vision functionality. The client came to us with their innovative image recognition algorithms, which required less processing power and allowed for detailed image recognition. They also had software expertise and wanted us to develop the driver layers, firmware, core software and embedded electronics.
At this phase, we assessed what computing power was needed to run the customer's application. Then, together with the customer, we selected the primary hardware platform, which in later phases, expanded with additional elements such as microphones, sound processors, motor drivers, speakers etc.
We created an initial prototype to see how the various components worked together. It was crucial to test the computational power for heat dissipation/management and select a sound processor capable of aggregating sound from multiple microphones. This was the most critical and challenging part of this project. The processor needed a high computational power to capture sound from the surroundings using multiple microphones, determine which direction the sound - the user's voice - was coming from, and remove unwanted background noise.
We have placed all the components we had tested earlier into a target-sized enclosure and saw how this would affect the sound recording and playback. We also started combining the mechanical elements and electronics at this phase, testing whether everything worked together.
We developed software to test all the device's functions, then prepared a Linux image system and a layer of custom drivers that we shared with the client.
At the beginning of the DFL phase, we had a 1:1 scale prototype that had all the features of the final device. The design needed minor but significant modifications to reduce the cost of production and make the process less complicated. We also created a list of tests that each manufactured device would go through.
SUPERVISION
We suggested several possible laminate suppliers to the client and assembly companies and prepared final documentation. We also provided product maintenance support if replacement parts were needed.
Unlike similar products on the market, SaraEye is the only home assistant equipped with a 360-degree rotatable camera lens that uses the power of AI to unlock a more personalised experience and unique opportunities.
Every product design is the result of a team effort. It never boils down to one person, but every project has its lead designer or lead contributors. If you want to know more about our current team, visit our team page.
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