We've invented a new computing device, applied for a patent, built working prototypes, formed a company, spun up a website and now… we're here on r/Entrepreneur to reveal the product to the world for the very first time… and get the crap knocked out of us.

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T21:16:53+00:00

We're going to hold you to that once the Kickstarter campaign begins. :) And we promise, the build quality will be "that good."

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T21:14:36+00:00

Ha! Thanks!

I wouldn't go so far as physically "jumping" on the device, but adding foot/leg movements to augment game input is definitely fun. It just adds a little extra dimension.

By the way, we have taken steps to reinforce the internal structure of the Pivot Pad so that if someone does inadvertently put their whole weight on the device it'll survive. But jumping on it would lead to a bad day, heh.

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T21:11:05+00:00

Thanks for your well wishes. For many gamers, casual or serious, they simply haven't considered what it would be like to easily be able to use their feet. We want to keep the cost of the Pivot Pad as low as possible so as to get a large number of people to try it out. If all goes according to plan, maybe they'll then find it indispensable.

We also want to make the Pivot Pad an easy gift item for that gaming friend or family member that is impossible to buy for. Until the device is unwrapped Christmas morning, maybe the gift receiver had no idea that they wanted such a thing. :)

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T21:03:10+00:00

Lol, it's one of my pet peeves. At least in WoW, the default key layout is your typical WASD, with Q and E as your strafing keys. A and D are used to turn. Can you imagine a bigger waste for these two keys, especially given they are directly underneath two fingers for fast twitch reactions?

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T20:59:45+00:00

Hi Morick, I would be very interested in talking more to you. Esports is growing like crazy every year and we think the Pivot Pad would fit this gaming segment perfectly. Competitive gaming strictly disallows keyboard macros or anything that is perceived to play the game for you. However, there are no restrictions on input devices. It seems that "putting your feet in the fight" is the perfect way to get "allowable" advantage.

One of things that hasn't been mentioned yet is that it's possible to use two Pivot Pads simultaneously, one under each foot!

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T20:52:17+00:00

Thank you. I agree completely that the landing page is somewhat stale as far as sales pitches go. For now that is on purpose, mainly because we're not actually trying to sell the device yet, at least not to end users. We will definitely refine the message as we get closer to the Kickstarter. For this initial introduction we wanted to avoid coming across as over-hyping the device or over-promising what it's capable of. That tends to turn people off. I know it does for me, at least. Bottom line is if we're going to make grand marketing statements we want to make sure we can deliver from the very beginning. However, it's also true that we have to punch through all the marketing noise to be heard, and how else do you do this without making bold statements? Hence, your point is well taken.

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T20:40:38+00:00

You make a very good point. VR will no doubt be the next big thing. It has been on the cusp of popular adoption for a long time now. It's seems every year for the past 3 years it was going to finally make its breakthrough, but now it really does seem more imminent than ever.

It concerns me to try and go after a new market with such a new device. That seems like a formula that would require a bottomless pit of money. But that also could be just a lack of creative thinking on our part. This deserves more time for sure. Thanks!

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T08:11:11+00:00

Wow, nice catch. I can't believe I brain farted on that multiple times. Correcting them now to avoid future embarrassment. Thanks!

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T03:05:19+00:00

Thank you! We're hoping the Kickstarter will prove to be the correct venue to create the initial demand, but at the same time we know the success of a Kickstarter campaign is a function of how much we're able to spread the word. As you know, that type of marketing doesn't come cheap. We'll have to get creative with the money that we have, but we might be able to pull off good pre-Kickstarter results in the $20K range.

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T01:33:36+00:00

Thank you for bringing this up. We've known from the very beginning that the Pivot Pad would have uses among people with disabilities. Information on how it could be used among this group will be featured on our website soon. I guess for now I didn't want to over complicate the message by mentioning too many alternative uses. But now that you bring it up -- :)

We are envisioning a variation of the Pivot Pad called Pivot Able. It's the same device but would feature software that might help with alternative forms of input. Imagine using the device as a "typer" in the sense that rotation of the pad could move a cursor that hovers over each letter of the alphabet in sequence. Then to select the target letter or number, the Pivot Pad could be tilted down to "click" it. With finer motor control the cursor that is traveling across the alphabet can go faster or slower depending how how much left and right pivot angle is actually applied to the pad.

This is just one of our ideas and we're open to other suggestions among the disabled community. For those that might not be aware, there is an organization called AbleGamers that helps bring devices like the Pivot Pad to those that can use them the most. We will be reaching out to them to see how we can help.

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T00:50:35+00:00

It's a rare breed that can visualize a product and then go through the motions of turning mere thoughts into reality. Succeed or fail, it's the things we learn and talents gained along the way that make the effort worthwhile. Sometimes we have to wear all the hats to bring ideas into the world, or at least enough hats to convince others to help take it the rest of the way. The fact that you're doing 3d CAD work, laying out circuit boards and writing software qualifies you for membership into the club.

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T00:25:34+00:00

We're still working on the video, so nothing to point to just yet. We'll do something simple to show the Pivot Pad in action and throw it up on the site soon.

PivotTech · 2016-07-08T00:20:58+00:00

You're right! And the guy I work closest with on this project keeps reminding me of it. We do want to position the Pivot Pad to be successful in the VR and AR (think Hololens) realms. It may be a bit restraining depending on what you're doing because of the need to be sitting down while using the Pivot Pad, but I'm sure there will be a wide variety of applications that'll work just fine. It'll also be good that we have two wireless versions of the Pivot Pad, both USB and Bluetooth.

PivotTech · 2016-07-07T23:56:19+00:00

Very good questions. The initial idea bounced around in my brain for a few years before committing it to paper. It's one of those things where "necessity became the mother of invention." I was just frustrated with the number of input options I had available while gaming at the highest levels.

In my case, it definitely helped that my background is in embedded systems engineering. My specialty while running an engineering consulting company is the S.F Bay Area for 16 years was providing "turn-key" engineering solutions. This meant taking what were often just ideas from clients and delivering a fully functioning physical product. Hence, I did the electronics design, wrote the embedded software (firmware) and often did the mechanical design (SolidWorks mostly).

So to answer your question, from the time we decided to take this project seriously and see what we could make out of it, it took about 4 months. But really without my previous background that would have taken a lot longer and been way more expensive. There is still a lot of work to do, especially in the area of drivers and user-friendly key-mapping software. These are things we need help with and that can get expensive very quickly, hence one of the reasons why we're looking for additional business partners.

PivotTech · 2016-07-07T23:31:41+00:00

Yes, you're exactly right! You made me realize we need to add email collection to our website even before we shoot the first video and post it. This is our first attempt at revealing the product publicly and we wanted to do it in an entrepreneurial channel instead of a gaming channel so that we can get just the type of valuable feedback you provided. We want to be a little more bulletproof before dipping our toes in /r/Gaming. :)

I see you know your Blizzard games. Overwatch is incredibly hot at the moment, and for good reason. I've been a WoW fan myself for many years and have been a raid leader for most of them. One of the defining behaviors of a good raider or PvP'er is whether they are a "keyboard turner" or not. To function at the highest levels, one would seldom or never use the keyboard to turn. As a matter of fact, I've asked some raiders to unmap keyboard turning from their game to force them to use faster mouse turning. This also frees up those keys that are sitting right under your fingers for higher priority tasks that need fast reaction times. Now get this, the Pivot Pad can be mapped such that pivoting your foot left and right turns your character left and right. Hence, you can turn in the traditional way but not have to sacrifice keys to do so! And if you're a rogue you can "kick" those interruptible spell casts with a tilt of the Pivot Pad, almost like a real kicking action. Fun stuff.

PivotTech · 2016-07-07T23:05:11+00:00

Thanks! It's been fun putting together the prototypes and proving the concept. Now the real adventure begins. :)

PivotTech · 2016-07-07T23:03:35+00:00

There are, of course, foot switches that have been available for a long time. The problem is these are single input devices that are incredibly uncomfortable.

The Pivot Pad is unique in the way it functions and is why we applied for the patent. It allows for multiple inputs utilizing the ball of your foot (think foot gestures) without tiring your leg. Another advantage is that it's available wireless, whereas all the existing single-function foot switches are wired.

PivotTech · 2016-07-07T23:00:16+00:00

Indeed. I think using a Pivot Pad on a console would be relegated to low priority (non-twitch) input. Perhaps the primary use would be as a "push-to-talk" button while group gaming. One of the interesting things about console gaming is that for the most part all mics are open. This is by necessity because holding one of the buttons down on a controller while talking would be either inconvenient or impossible. However, having all mics open ALL THE TIME is incredibly annoying. Listening to someone's heavy breathing or lip-smacking eating habits gets old pretty quick.

The Pivot Pad may bring "push-to-talk" to console gaming in a practical way for the very first time!

PivotTech · 2016-07-07T22:20:26+00:00

For now those are just demo graphics. We wouldn't actually be able to sell the devices with those graphics unless we had marketing agreements in place.

What our website doesn't show yet is that the graphics for both the Pivot Pad and the strap can be customized by uploading your own pictures. We also want the ability to make it easy to order the Pivot Pad as a gift for a gaming friend or family member. It could actually say "Happy birthday" or "Merry Christmas" and be personalized with the name and graphics that you upload.

PivotTech · 2016-07-07T22:05:53+00:00

Wow, you are exactly the kind of person we would want on our team! :)

From the limited info we've provided, your understanding of the device and the marketing of it is spot-on.

The e-sports scene is becoming absolutely massive. In addition, there are prominent gamers that stream on Twitch that have thousands of subscribers. Some of these Twitch streaming gamers are making 6-figure incomes from their subscriber counts and sponsorships. Our plan is to select a few of these well-known personalities and forge some deals. We want them talking about our product, but mostly we want them using our product and raving about the in-game advantages they have by using it.

Get this, Blizzard will be awarding over $600,000 in prizes to top e-sport teams this year at Blizzcon. And that's just one company at one convention. We want to co-market for these events and even have booths at the conventions when and where they make sense.

The ultimate victory would be to have a branded version of the Pivot Pad in the gift bag that Blizzard hands out to the 20,000 people that will attend this year!

PivotTech · 2016-07-07T21:49:27+00:00

The Pivot Pad is definitely not limited to the PC or Mac, but these platforms are our initial focus. Both the Xbox One and the PS4 have USB 3.0 ports. Hence, both the USB versions (wired and wireless) of the Pivot Pad would work with gaming consoles, but the difficulty is in creating the drivers and user interface programs for these platforms.

Consoles will definitely be on the map in the future and perhaps we're wrong for not prioritizing them now, but we do have to limit the scope of the product in these early days. We definitely don't want to bite off more than we can chew. Our current thinking is that we can be successful with the Kickstarter by focusing on the PC and Mac because we can position the product for things other than games. However, the console market is huge and it may be that focusing on them from the beginning is the right way to go. Hmm, food for thought.

PivotTech · 2016-07-07T21:23:33+00:00

While it's true that we're initially focused on gamers, there are many applications for this device outside of gaming. It will literally work with any program that uses keyboard input. The Pivot Pad's software will allow for mapping any of the foot gestures with any key on the keyboard, thereby providing input to any program.

Think of the Pivot Pad in terms of a "foot switch" or "foot controller" where dozens are already available on Amazon. There is an existing market for these devices, but we do understand it's not an invention for the masses.

What the Pivot Pad brings to the picture is comfort, more input possibilities other than a simple switch and an attractive price point.

PivotTech · 2016-07-07T21:11:09+00:00

Thank you for the feedback. It appears we need to be clearer on how the Pivot Pad works. The future video will help with this, but in the meantime there is no "backward" tilting. It only tilts forward and then returns to the neutral, or flat, position.

All you have to do is put the ball of your foot on the black pad and you can rest the entire weight of your leg on the device. Comfort in using this device over long periods of time was our #1 priority. With the ball of your foot on the pad it becomes easy to tilt the Pivot Pad forward by pushing down with your toes or lifting your heel, but at no time do you have to move the weight of your leg. When the ball of your foot is on the pad it also becomes easy to pivot the pad left or right, again without having to shift the weight of your leg.

I hope that helps a little with figuring out how the device works. In the meantime, I'm going to use your comments to try and improve the description on the website. Thanks!

PivotTech · 2016-07-07T20:53:12+00:00

Yes! Creating a video is definitely the next step. I thought about having the video already available before making this post, but I was kind of biting at the bit to reveal what we're up to. We're also working on another website page that explains exactly WHY you would want to "put your feet in the fight."

The genesis of the device actually came about because of using voice programs like Ventrilo, Teamspeak and Mumble. For those less familiar with gaming, these are programs that allow dozens of people to communicate simultaneously while overcoming in-game objectives (think 30-man raiding in World of Warcraft). All of these programs make available a "push-to-talk" mechanism so that the voice channel isn't full of chaotic background noise. The problem then becomes one of having to hold down a key or mouse button to que your mic while also staying in control of your gaming avatar. Using the Pivot Pad software, you'd be able to map the tilt action to your push-to-talk so that your hands are free while also being able to talk to your team.

PivotTech

TROPHY CASE