The prototypes

Not every SNAP build was filmed, but this collection tells a pretty amazing story about the success of the Machine that Makes the Machines: a programmatic system that turned out 10 unique physical-digital prototypes every year for three consecutive years across AR, VR, voice, gesture, IoT, UAV, geo-location, and brain-computer interfaces. The program earned 4 Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange (MITX) awards and a Hatch Innovation award.

How the 2-2-2 process worked

1 Designer and 1 Engineer were paired as Makers to participate in the three week project. The IDEATØR 9000 was employed to randomly pair a modality (augmented reality, drones, voice, etc.) with an audience (hearing impaired, overseas service members, child travelers, etc.). The audience and technology categories changed quarterly to have a fresh mix of possible combinations.  The updates also helped weed-out technologies that didn't suit themselves to the constraints of the program; such as, VR which was overly ambitious for a two-week engagement. 

To kick-start the project, Mo led an ideation session with a group of 10-15 co-workers lasting 2 HOURS following a "Divergent-Emergent-Convergent" ideation methodology. The Makers then had 2 DAYS to prepare 3 concepts. The concepts were pitched to a committee of 4-6 leaders who voted on the strongest concept. The Makers then had 2 WEEKS to build a fully functional physical-digital prototype.

And, the program scaled:  At the close of each quarter, the three strongest projects were pitched to the leadership committee with the winning project earning a 200% EXTENSION - four more weeks of development time. At year's end, those three projects were pitched in a Shark Tank competition for executive sponsorship. The winning team was awarded a business developer and IP lawyer to build GTM and IP plans.

A selection of the 32 prototypes

Enjoy a selection of several project videos that describe the unique processes and outcomes.