FLOTO

Creating a Viable Business Model with Drones under Their Restrictions

  • Year of Project: 2012

  • Project Duration: 1 months

  • Roles of Project: Design Strategist

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Summary

This project was done in 2012. This was the time when drones just came into the commercial market, mostly as toys. We were exploring how drones could create value in a commercial market. The challenge of this project was to comply with restrictions due to technical limitations, laws, and negative social stigma against drones.

How can we apply a drone to a service/product and create value in the market?

Vision

1. WHAT TO PLAY?

In 2012, We researched the market size for drones and their potential market growth over the next 10 years. Drones were expected to take on larger roles for businesses with its market expected to grow more than $10B over the next decade. In the product design process, we had conceptualized ways to use drones and incorporate this new technology into a product/service and create value in the market.

Goal

How can we design a feasible business model with drones under their restrictions?

Outcomes

  • Designing a new business model with drones in the commercial market. 

  • Planning out strategic phases to evolve a service/product in response to a growing market.

  • Getting attention from angel investors/venture capitals after presenting the concept.

Strategy

2. WHERE TO PLAY?

What if..?

Drone + Event = Flying Photo Booth?

At a party/event, people are busy taking pictures and sharing them with their friends rather than enjoying the moment. Can a flying photo booth come into play with this phenomenon? While it is hovering around in the event, people can take pictures on demand and record other memorable moments. In this way, they would feel confident that their memories are in good hands.

Creating a Meaningful Relationship Between People in an Event

Needs of Stakeholders

Every event involves hosts and guests. Hosts want to entertain the guests and maintain a meaningful relationship even after the event. Guests want to capture the memorable moments from the event and have the ability to share them with friends. Can we develop a service that can meet both hosts and guests' needs?

Sharing Interests & Getting People Together in a Virtual Space

Social Trends

Feeling exclusive is essential to engagement in a community. When people gather under a common subject, their shared interest adds a sense of intimacy, building a stronger, lasting relationship. The host communicating contents via private messages can create an intimate bond and create a meaningful interaction with the guests. The guests will also feel privileged to be in the "social circle" and will feel special showing off their memorable moments captured in pictures and videos.

Solution

3. HOW

Sharing Interests & Getting People Together in a Private Virtual Space

How FLOTO Service Works

FLOTO is a fun, interactive system that utilizes a helium balloon drone hovering in the air. FLOTO Drone moves on demand to capture photographs of events. The guests can take pictures using FLOTO App and edit & share them with other SNS. Once the event is over, all the videos and pictures from the event will be compiled and sent to the host along with the given template. The template allows the host to create a private space with the contents and send out the link to the guests and maintain the relationship in it.

Simple Way to Share Pictures under Permission from People in them

FLOTO Drone & App

The guests can interact with FLOTO drones using FLOTO APP to take pictures/videos. Each FLOTO App user has its unique ID which is used to tag pictures or videos taken by them, so that the picture or video taken by the requester will be tagged with the requestor's ID. FLOTO app will also detect and show the list of other Guest IDs nearby a requester, which allows guests to easily sort out their pictures and share other guests after an event under their permission.

Tactics

4. BUILDING CAPABILITIES

Value Flow Diagram

Overview of How FLOTO Service Works

  1. Host can choose a balloon from FLOTO based on the event’s theme; FLOTO offers a wide range of choices from ready-made balloons to custom-made. Host places a package order on FLOTO website and sends an e-card invitation for guests to download the FLOTO app prior to the event. The package will be delivered to the host before the event and he/she can test how it works.

  2. During the event, FLOTO helps the host entertain the guests and take pictures/videos in the events.

  3. After the event, the host returns the package back to FLOTO. FLOTO will upload the contents on the FLOTO website.

  4. Host can make a private social website using available templates and share the link with the guests.

  5. They can recall the memories from the event by viewing the photos & videos, leaving comments, and building up relationships with each other.

Development of FLOTO Core Capabilities

The core capabilities that FLOTO has to develop are Drone Hardware and Software(app, website) developments. As we interviewed people about this service, we realized there is still a privacy issue - some people don’t want to be taken in stranger’s pictures. To resolve this issue, each app has its own ID. FLOTO Drone will detect the ID and adjust focus & range away from the unwanted party. As service expands to big events, this would be a key feature FLOTO must have.

Next Steps

5. Future Foresight

Creating a Private Space Where Hosts Can Interact with Guests During & After an Event

Value Establishment in the Market

The vision for FLOTO is an event company that creates a private space for hosts to make a meaningful interaction with guests during & after an event. Using FLOTO, Party/Event is not a one-time interaction but it is a starting point to form an exclusive community channel. To achieve this vision, 3 phases are planned to proceed from optimizing the operating system in the LA area, to building partnerships with companies who need to expand their marketing channels through events.