Virtual Product Building Platform for Accessible Solar Light Assembly
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
There is a challenge in increasing accessibility and awareness about energy poverty, particularly in developing nations, where solar lights are needed, as existing solar light kits may not be widely available or accessible to all, and individuals with physical impairments or lack dexterity may be unable to build them.
Innovation Solution
A virtual building platform that allows users to assemble a virtual solar light device on a canvas, using positional and fastening user inputs, which corresponds to actual solar light devices, enabling users to experience the building process and potentially cause an actual device to be built.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If physical solar light kits are distributed to enable hands-on building experience, then user engagement and awareness increase, but accessibility is limited for people with physical impairments or in remote areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the physical solar light building experience through a digital platform. Users can assemble virtual solar light components on a digital canvas, mimicking the physical building process without requiring physical dexterity or access to physical kits. This virtual replica makes the building experience accessible to people with physical impairments and those in remote locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions the building experience from the physical dimension to the digital dimension. By creating a virtual platform that replicates physical assembly operations through digital interfaces (drag-and-drop, click-to-attach), the system enables access across different physical constraints while maintaining the core educational and engagement value of the building experience.
2Adaptability or versatility
If virtual building platform is implemented to increase accessibility, then more people can participate, but the tangible impact of actual devices being built may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where completing the virtual building process triggers the actual assembly and donation of a physical solar light device. The system provides immediate feedback to the user that their virtual actions have resulted in a real-world impact, maintaining the connection between digital engagement and tangible outcomes while preserving accessibility for all user groups.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual platform serves as an intermediary between user engagement and physical device donation. Users interact with the virtual model, and the system mediates by translating this digital interaction into the coordination of actual device assembly and distribution, ensuring that virtual participation reliably translates to real-world impact.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for generating a virtual product that corresponds to an actual product that can be built. The computerized system can graphically display a canvas including parts of the virtual product and one or more tools to build the virtual product, each of the parts and the tools corresponding to actual parts and tools used to build the actual product; detecting one or more positional user inputs for positioning the parts on the canvas relative to one another; detecting one or more fastening user inputs for attaching parts to one another using the tools and fasteners; and displaying a generated virtual product on the canvas that corresponds to the actual product that can be built. In some examples, when the virtual product is generated, the computerized system can cause the actual product corresponding to the virtual product to be built.