For all the mobility products out there if they priced them right, they would get more user input and that would be able to develop something that would mean that $5000 price tag but right now if you’re on a budget, it’s a nice video
Hey! Thanks a lot for your message. Price is definitely a blocker. We went for a drastically new approach that uses advanced robotics, and you’d typically find such hardware in 20k+ USD humanoid robots these days. It will take some time before the price drops and the distribution model changes. A simple electric bicycle will retail for a similar price tag with no software costs, 3X cheaper components and way smaller distributor margin. The fundamentals probably remains the lack of subsidy for mobility tech. But that’s a deeper societal issue for sure
@@walkwithbiped see something like this I could actually use being that I live out in the country. There’s no sidewalks and in North Carolina or ditches or anywhere from a foot to Yahoo bye-bye, so no one where these bitches are and how to get around some of these places when you have to walk would be a very help and well your price and I just might income I’d have to solder one up myself and that ain’t fun either
Hi Carrie, Really nice interview. Once again it seems to be the same old thing, let's rip off the blind and vision impaired. Now I am not naïve, these things cost money to make and there is allot of work and technology that goes into them. I just want to know, who are they actually for? What you said about the costing at the end of the video is so true. These devices aren't for the blind and vision impaired because those people for the most part will not be able to afford them. I think if you set out to make one of these sort of devices then you have to understand that you will have to operate as a loss because to make something that most of the blind and vision impaired can afford then you have to bring the cost down. There is another point here, do any of us really trust our lives with AI right now? I certainly don't. When you go out there you are relying on AI to get things right and it doesn't always do that. Maybe in the future there will be such a device and I live in hope for that day, however that day is not today.
I agree with your sentiments. I think AI is a tool and I definitely use it a good amount every day, but always with the mindset that it can be helpful and may be a starting point, but is not the end all and be all and can be completely wrong. The price is always a frustration and I think it is a frustration on all sides.
Hi! Biped co-founder here. Just wanted to bring some clarity on the points you mentioned. Regarding AI trustworthiness, that’s a major point for us. The base of our reasoning for obstacle avoidance is done over 3D vision processing, using robotics software, just like Boston Dynamics for example. This software relies on physical constraints and does not involve AI. We simply integrate AI models to provide speech descriptions upon request, not to detect holes or incoming obstacles. Regarding the pricing, of course I understand your feeling but I just want to give some level of transparency there, as the term rip off is really far from our reality, and I think transparency is always beneficial. We’re a team of 5, and in order to get our device on the market, we all left our jobs and I invested all my savings to create the first prototypes. We then had to invest around 2 million USD, over the past 3 years, to get our device on the market. That covers hardware components, testing, iterations, certifications, software engineering salaries (on average 40% below market for engineers who joined us), travels, rent… Once a device enters market, you compute your costs of goods sold, which are typically very high for products like ours, as we buy the most expensive cameras from robotics manufacturers, an AI computer that has twice the power of an iPhone, etc. Then, we must negotiate retail margins with distributors. Some of them will charge up to half of the device’s price to agree to help us retail the device. I’m not complaining at all about the system, it is what it is, but I just think that not a single person I’ve met on this market is doing it to rip off anyone. In the US, there is a clear lack of subsidies for mobility technologies. This is fortunately not the case everywhere in the world, and we probably need more people to be building in the space, and more subsidies for assistive technologies in our society!
Interesting, so you have this versus the glide. Of course the price is a huge factor, for me, the glide caught my attention right away. I like how compact this unit is and how it allows you to keep your hands free but that price…
@@carrieonaccessibility something about the glide is definitely catching my eye. I haven't been up-to-date with blind Tech, but I am leaning towards getting this. Even though I don't travel as much as I used to.
Thanks for your message! The Glide will definitely be useful for some use-cases, we met their team multiple times and see many synergies in the technologies we’re building!
Thanks for your message! We host many demos around the world if you’re close to a city we’re visiting so feel free to join! We’ll announce new pricing models soon to make things more affordable and mostly support reimbursement when possible. Thanks again for listening to the episode!
I used to dream about creating a full body leotard with all these sensors to be used in conjunction with a car that I would drive with shades that I could connect with someone at a 24 hour interface similar to aira. That could have simulated driving controls that could work in tandem with constant communications. To just drive out for milk middle of the night. Now I just do it on foot with my long white stick. Weather and health still interfere but I am more willful and strategic than my first three years of longing to jump in my car whenever I wanted, prior of course to everyone being tracked in near all vehicles all the time if they are having mobile phones. I sometimes go au natural unconnected, like I did for years.
Oh, we all have similar dreams. ... it's really that one thing we want in the middle of the night that can really get us. .. or just going to the park with my son... i feel ya!
Another greate interview, Carrie. Thanks. Very interesting and informative. I appreciate their merging of GPS and image processing for the navigation solution to make up for the inherent lack of precision for pedestrian navigation. I'm a bit confused on the means of communication between the harness and the phone (app). So it requires WiFi for that communications. When you are basking in reliable ambient WiFI that's no worry. But when you are out and about and have no consistent WiFi you need to provide your own WiFi via a hotspot on your phone. How difficult is it to provide that WiFi? Also, what then are the impacts on your phone's data usage for this use case? My phone usage to date requires very little data usage and I've never used my phone as a WiFi hotspot so I have not idea what this entails. And yes, the price. Eye watering. One advantage of the rental option is that if you find it isn't providing the value commensurate with the cost you can terminate the rental contract. There was no mention of whether that rental arrangement has minimum duration of rental.
First, thank you. :) I'm glad I can share all this info with the community. Those are all very good questions and I will share this with Mael and see if he can answer them for you.
@@motobojo2 right, another benefit for the glide is the payment installments feature. I don't really like the idea of the rental unless they will subtract whatever you've already paid from the final price if you decide that you want to purchase it.
Hi! Mael here from biped. The communication is happening over a hotspot indeed. So by going in your phone settings, if you click on “Personal hotspot” and enable it, your NOA device will automatically connect. It’s quite straightforward to set up. In terms of data consumption, the good part is that it only uses data when you use the AI feature. So we’re talking only about a couple of Mb per picture you take with your device. This usually doesn’t have an impact on a 5Gb data plan for example, even after a whole month of use. Glad you like the episode! The rental will launch soon so I’ll share more details on the website and in our newsletter. Thank you!
As I saide I've never set up my phone as a wifi hot spot. I gather there are some considerations about power consumption when your phone is serving as a wifi hotspot. Since this usage case is for when one is out and about my phone will not be tethered to a charging port, so how much should this factor in to my overall experience. Do I need to carry a bandalier of remote charging devices to support my phone being the wifi hotspot for communicating with the harness?
we optimized battery consumption so the impact to expect on the phone’s battery is minimal. We are also currently training our own AI models to completely remove the need for phone connectivity. Obstacle avoidance already runs without a phone / internet / Bluetooth. Our AI features will follow the same path
Such a cool episode, the whole team at Biped is thankful for the invitation Carrie!
Thank you! It was a very nice conversation. :)
Wow!!!!!!! So Extraordinary Carey!!!!!!!!!!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂❤❤❤❤❤
Thanks Philippe! :)
For all the mobility products out there if they priced them right, they would get more user input and that would be able to develop something that would mean that $5000 price tag but right now if you’re on a budget, it’s a nice video
Thanks for the compliment, and I definitely agree with you.!
Hey! Thanks a lot for your message. Price is definitely a blocker. We went for a drastically new approach that uses advanced robotics, and you’d typically find such hardware in 20k+ USD humanoid robots these days. It will take some time before the price drops and the distribution model changes. A simple electric bicycle will retail for a similar price tag with no software costs, 3X cheaper components and way smaller distributor margin. The fundamentals probably remains the lack of subsidy for mobility tech. But that’s a deeper societal issue for sure
@@walkwithbiped see something like this I could actually use being that I live out in the country. There’s no sidewalks and in North Carolina or ditches or anywhere from a foot to Yahoo bye-bye, so no one where these bitches are and how to get around some of these places when you have to walk would be a very help and well your price and I just might income I’d have to solder one up myself and that ain’t fun either
Hi Carrie,
Really nice interview. Once again it seems to be the same old thing, let's rip off the blind and vision impaired. Now I am not naïve, these things cost money to make and there is allot of work and technology that goes into them. I just want to know, who are they actually for? What you said about the costing at the end of the video is so true. These devices aren't for the blind and vision impaired because those people for the most part will not be able to afford them. I think if you set out to make one of these sort of devices then you have to understand that you will have to operate as a loss because to make something that most of the blind and vision impaired can afford then you have to bring the cost down. There is another point here, do any of us really trust our lives with AI right now? I certainly don't. When you go out there you are relying on AI to get things right and it doesn't always do that.
Maybe in the future there will be such a device and I live in hope for that day, however that day is not today.
I agree with your sentiments. I think AI is a tool and I definitely use it a good amount every day, but always with the mindset that it can be helpful and may be a starting point, but is not the end all and be all and can be completely wrong. The price is always a frustration and I think it is a frustration on all sides.
Hi! Biped co-founder here. Just wanted to bring some clarity on the points you mentioned.
Regarding AI trustworthiness, that’s a major point for us. The base of our reasoning for obstacle avoidance is done over 3D vision processing, using robotics software, just like Boston Dynamics for example. This software relies on physical constraints and does not involve AI. We simply integrate AI models to provide speech descriptions upon request, not to detect holes or incoming obstacles.
Regarding the pricing, of course I understand your feeling but I just want to give some level of transparency there, as the term rip off is really far from our reality, and I think transparency is always beneficial. We’re a team of 5, and in order to get our device on the market, we all left our jobs and I invested all my savings to create the first prototypes. We then had to invest around 2 million USD, over the past 3 years, to get our device on the market. That covers hardware components, testing, iterations, certifications, software engineering salaries (on average 40% below market for engineers who joined us), travels, rent…
Once a device enters market, you compute your costs of goods sold, which are typically very high for products like ours, as we buy the most expensive cameras from robotics manufacturers, an AI computer that has twice the power of an iPhone, etc. Then, we must negotiate retail margins with distributors. Some of them will charge up to half of the device’s price to agree to help us retail the device.
I’m not complaining at all about the system, it is what it is, but I just think that not a single person I’ve met on this market is doing it to rip off anyone. In the US, there is a clear lack of subsidies for mobility technologies. This is fortunately not the case everywhere in the world, and we probably need more people to be building in the space, and more subsidies for assistive technologies in our society!
Nice job my friend
Thanks 👍 Cheers.
@@carrieonaccessibility you’re welcome
Interesting, so you have this versus the glide.
Of course the price is a huge factor, for me, the glide caught my attention right away.
I like how compact this unit is and how it allows you to keep your hands free but that price…
Yes... I agree with you about the compactness... but that price indeed..! Do you think you'll try the glide?
@@carrieonaccessibility something about the glide is definitely catching my eye. I haven't been up-to-date with blind Tech, but I am leaning towards getting this.
Even though I don't travel as much as I used to.
Thanks for your message! The Glide will definitely be useful for some use-cases, we met their team multiple times and see many synergies in the technologies we’re building!
nice
Thank you!
At this point I feel like a broken record. It all sounds nice and interesting and I would love to try it out but not at that price point lol
I feel ya there Lindon. :)
Thanks for your message! We host many demos around the world if you’re close to a city we’re visiting so feel free to join! We’ll announce new pricing models soon to make things more affordable and mostly support reimbursement when possible. Thanks again for listening to the episode!
I used to dream about creating a full body leotard with all these sensors to be used in conjunction with a car that I would drive with shades that I could connect with someone at a 24 hour interface similar to aira. That could have simulated driving controls that could work in tandem with constant communications. To just drive out for milk middle of the night. Now I just do it on foot with my long white stick. Weather and health still interfere but I am more willful and strategic than my first three years of longing to jump in my car whenever I wanted, prior of course to everyone being tracked in near all vehicles all the time if they are having mobile phones. I sometimes go au natural unconnected, like I did for years.
Oh, we all have similar dreams. ... it's really that one thing we want in the middle of the night that can really get us. .. or just going to the park with my son... i feel ya!
Another greate interview, Carrie. Thanks. Very interesting and informative.
I appreciate their merging of GPS and image processing for the navigation solution to make up for the inherent lack of precision for pedestrian navigation.
I'm a bit confused on the means of communication between the harness and the phone (app). So it requires WiFi for that communications. When you are basking in reliable ambient WiFI that's no worry. But when you are out and about and have no consistent WiFi you need to provide your own WiFi via a hotspot on your phone. How difficult is it to provide that WiFi? Also, what then are the impacts on your phone's data usage for this use case? My phone usage to date requires very little data usage and I've never used my phone as a WiFi hotspot so I have not idea what this entails.
And yes, the price. Eye watering. One advantage of the rental option is that if you find it isn't providing the value commensurate with the cost you can terminate the rental contract. There was no mention of whether that rental arrangement has minimum duration of rental.
First, thank you. :) I'm glad I can share all this info with the community. Those are all very good questions and I will share this with Mael and see if he can answer them for you.
@@motobojo2 right, another benefit for the glide is the payment installments feature.
I don't really like the idea of the rental unless they will subtract whatever you've already paid from the final price if you decide that you want to purchase it.
Hi! Mael here from biped. The communication is happening over a hotspot indeed. So by going in your phone settings, if you click on “Personal hotspot” and enable it, your NOA device will automatically connect. It’s quite straightforward to set up. In terms of data consumption, the good part is that it only uses data when you use the AI feature. So we’re talking only about a couple of Mb per picture you take with your device. This usually doesn’t have an impact on a 5Gb data plan for example, even after a whole month of use. Glad you like the episode!
The rental will launch soon so I’ll share more details on the website and in our newsletter. Thank you!
As I saide I've never set up my phone as a wifi hot spot. I gather there are some considerations about power consumption when your phone is serving as a wifi hotspot. Since this usage case is for when one is out and about my phone will not be tethered to a charging port, so how much should this factor in to my overall experience. Do I need to carry a bandalier of remote charging devices to support my phone being the wifi hotspot for communicating with the harness?
we optimized battery consumption so the impact to expect on the phone’s battery is minimal. We are also currently training our own AI models to completely remove the need for phone connectivity. Obstacle avoidance already runs without a phone / internet / Bluetooth. Our AI features will follow the same path