Lifelong learning means there is a need to test knowledge of people all the time to measure progress. The time it takes to develop tests, administer them and grade them takes a huge budget from the already tight education budget.
What if we could make a simple device that would use biometrics to authenticate a person and then flash images and concepts from the study materials in front of his or her eyes. A low cost EEG could measure the brain wave activity in response to each image and thus gauge the familiarity of this concepts to the student.
This is of course not accurate but could still give an indication of the level of familiarity of the person with the concepts. This can allow to test and grade people automatically, fast and with very low cost and eliminate cheating.
Could probably be used for knowledge testing rather than reasoning testing.
I was called to sit with a CEO of a new Biometric System venture and review their current business model.
I reviewed the business model and convinced him that the projected costs are under estimated and that customer acquisition will probably be harder than expected in his models.
What followed was a two hour brainstorming looking for alternative business models and solutions that use their focus areas but with innovative approaches that will focus on one of these strategies:
- Bring in larger and more profitable projects that will have a higher profit margin.
- Create a number of cheap and cool products that can be sold with minimal human interaction by investing in online marketing.
We ended up having several very good ideas that each of them could make a good business case.
He will further analyze these new options and consult with his team and they will decide how to proceed.
It was lots of fun. It’s a cool industry and he is a great guy.
