dpryan

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At a local-level, each sensor builds a background model, which we diff against & combine w/ inference outputs for detections (background modeling helps reduce our false-positive rate). At a global level, we continuously push new pre-trained models over-the-air. These are built using 3rd party data sources (so not sourced from the sensors themselves).

Retail analytics are a potential use-case, but we've decided to focus on space-optimization for buildings because we believe it's an underserved market relative to the opportunity. There are a lot of established companies doing footfall analytics for retail (using things like WiFi, BLE, door-counters, thermal images, analytics on video surveillance data, etc.).

As for sensor coverage, we cover about 1k sqft per sensor (it'll vary a bit depending on mounting height - higher mounting equates to a wider area of coverage)

Great question - we believe there are a lot of potential add-on modules, especially around building control. One that is gaining a lot of interest recently is using people-counting data to more precisely control HVAC systems (most systems today rely on simple motion sensing for control).

Modulating heating / cooling based on the exact count can help cut energy consumption, sometimes by as much as 30% for commercial buildings.

ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency) recently put out a proposal for such a system - you can read more here if you're interested:

https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/

ByteLight - http://www.bytelight.com - Boston, MA (on-site)

ByteLight is building a combined hardware/software platform for delivering contextual mobile computing experiences. Our core technology modulates LED lights to transmit data to smartphones, using the existing cameras as the receiver. We're partnering with major lighting manufacturers to embed our solution into their fixtures, turning the light into the equivalent of a GPS satellite indoors.

You’ll be joining at an exciting time. Indoor location is a rapidly evolving market that is poised for major growth over the next 5 years. We’re in the process of deploying the first major installations of LED indoor location technology, with Fortune 100 customers. We just moved into a brand-new office in Boston’s Innovation District. And we’re building a world-class team of engineers to join us on our mission to put ByteLight into every lightbulb.

We’ve raised over $4M in capital, with backing from Flywheel Ventures, Motorola Solutions Venture Capital, and VantagePoint Capital.

We have multiple positions open, including: -Full Stack Engineers -Senior Ruby/Rails Developers -Embedded Systems/Wireless -Mobile Engineers -Algorithms/R&D

If you’re interested, please email me dan@bytelight.com, or jobs@bytelight.com

Exactly.

Hardware needs pre-funding more than anything. The article is opening up a discussion for alternative models that work better than Kickstarter.

The problem with Kickstarter's approach is that oftentimes, the reality of the product is divorced from the perception of the product. There are countless examples of high profile hardware products that failed to deliver on expectations. That hurts the Kickstarter brand.

Kickstarter can't be expected to guarantee projects. It's too costly. And it opens them up to liability.

I'm not suggesting that self-starter is the final version of this model. It's an evolutionary process - and an opportunity for a new startup with a different approach.

Yes - but it doesn't work for hardware. It leads to projects failing to deliver on their expectations. Failures hurt the Kickstarter brand. They know that. Which is why they're moving away from hardware.

The "kickstart" part is what's missing with the selfstarter approach. We're funded so we didn't have this problem.

Maybe a new model could be a hybrid of incubator and crowdfunding. You apply with an idea. The incubator provides some up-front capital to get you started. They have expertise in hardware mentoring. Logistics, manufacturing, customer support, IP, warranties etc.

The incubator could build a brand and network of supporters, but be purely focused on cultivating innovative consumer product ideas and getting them to market.

Indoor positioning using LED lights. Our market is in enterprise (not the home).

We're using selfstarter to experiment if there's enough demand for individual developer/hacker kits. It's not economical for us to sell small orders unless they're batched together.

Kickstarter has been responsible for funding Oscar nominations, museums, and countless creative projects. Their 2012 summary is full of stunning success stories.

The goal of this post is to kickoff a discussion about alternative crowdfunding models that work better for hardware startups. It's clear that Kickstarter is moving away from these and focusing on creative.

This is we like the selfstarter model. Backers don't get charged until the product is ready. And project creators are incentivised to use efficient techniques that get their product to market quickly.

There are flaws with this too, which I touched upon in the post. I think this is an opportunity.

I believe there's an opening for a crowdfunding model focused purely on hardware startups. Perhaps some of you are already working on it.

App.net, Lockitron and most recently Lumawake helped kick this off, with selfstarter. We contributed some changes back to help push it along: https://github.com/lockitron/selfstarter

There are flaws with this approach (no third party payment verification, no established network of donors). Which leaves room for further improvement.

Kickstarter is clearly focused on creative (which they're doing incredibly well with). The 2012 Kickstarter summary didn't mention any of the massive hardware projects.

They didn't cite a specific reason - only that it "wasn't in their focus".

My take is that they are going to be very selective about admitting hardware projects, given some of the high profile projects that failed to deliver.

Thanks for the feedback. Answering the "Why" is our biggest challenge. More clearly outlining the use cases would help.

For any HN's that want free access to our native SDK (we'd love feedback), fill out our contact form and put "HN" (no quotes) in the content field.

ByteLight (Cambridge, MA) - Full time, local, relocation

We're a funded, early stage start-up creating a revolutionary indoor GPS platform using LED lights. We're looking for an experienced full-stack software engineer to join our team as a senior developer. While the majority of our work is in software, we aren't afraid of blowing stuff up (our most recent addition to the team was a blast shield).

Candidates must have the experience and skills necessary to design and build a product platform from the ground up including server architecture, REST APIs, back office applications, automated testing, deployment procedures, and supporting a stable platform while evolving it.

We're looking for people with the following skills/experience:

-Multiple years creating database-driven web applications

-Strong in Ruby, Rails and front-end technologies (HTML, CSS, JS)

-A generalist that can work full stack: from database to front end

-Modern software engineering tools and disciplines such as version control, TDD ,continuous integration, and agile process

-Mature with lots of passion for creating great software

-A great work ethic and the ability to consistently deliver high quality work

-A need to be challenged, wear lots of hats, and create something great

If you're a fan of game changing technology, and not afraid of the occasional explosion, email me at dan@bytelight.com. Also check out our complete list of job postings at http://www.bytelight.com.

At least since Alexander Graham Bell and the optical telephone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photophone

One of the (many) issues with IrDa is that there are severe restrictions on the power output, since the radiation is invisible. Using visible light, especially in the context of general purpose lighting, allows you to achieve much higher SNR.

This is an open problem. The dream scenario is to utilize power line communications, but that technology has its own set of issues.

It's also convenient in that it takes advantage of the existing infrastructure if you're performing the communication with general purpose LED lamps, which are being rapidly adopted for their energy efficiency.

Fraunhofer recently demonstrated 800 Mbps through visible light as well. http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2010-2011/20...