Outside the box

INNOVATORS: Community links, innovative decision-making processes, three-dimensional gaming figures and a time-efficient prescription dispenser on offer from Irish businesses, writes  DAVID LABANYI

BREAKOUT GAMING CONCEPTS
Interactive Action Man

A DUBLIN-BASED technology firm has developed an action figure that can interact with on-screen computer games.

The system is targeted at under-12s and replicates the traditional control panel or joystick with an interactive figurine. When the child physically moves the toy, causing it to jump or turn, the movement is instantly replicated by a similar figure on screen. Andrew Deegan, creative designer at Breakout Gaming Concepts, says the technology is a combination of computer joystick and toy.

He came up with the technology while completing his product design degree in DIT. "I had done two internships with Lego and wanted to do my final thesis on toys. So, it started from there," he says.

"The interface with computers is where the whole industry is going." The technology has recently been licensed to a hardware partner in France and Deegan expects to see the first toys enabled with the technology in stores by Christmas 2009.

"The research process was to make a series of mock models, starting with something complicated and making it simpler and simpler.

"Now We have a really simple, robust design and we have licensed the technology - it is basically an animation tool for children. If I move the arm of the action figure, its arm on the screen moves and so on," says Deegan.

He received support and funding from DIT's Hothouse programme for new companies and Enterprise Ireland. "They were instrumental both in terms of funding, but also for the expertise to bring this to market."

The technology is being commercialised in two ways. "We are licensing with two companies that produce these kinds of products and also we are looking to bring out our own characters.

"We already have revenues coming in from the licensing and we are hoping to get venture capital funds so we can develop our own toys," he says. "At the moment the technology is 'plug-in and play' but a wireless version is under development.

HELIX HEALTH
Medicine dispenser

AN IRISH software company has developed and installed a robotic pharmacy that can dispense medication automatically in a chemist's shop in Achill, Co Mayo.

The system marries software from Helix Health with a robot developed in Germany and allows the entire range of prescription medication to be stored in the automated dispenser robot.

Howard Beggs, chief executive of Helix Health, says the system reduces human error, accelerates the dispensing process and will lead to a reduction in overheads.

"They can hold your entire prescription stock. The pharmacist types in the prescription, the medicines are dispensed, they check them and give them to the patient," says Beggs.

While systems are not cheap, starting at around €100 and reaching up to €300,000 depending on the volume of medicines, Beggs says they should pay for themselves within three years.

The system claims to cut the time required to prepare prescriptions and improve stock control and "zero shrinkage" or loss, as all high-value drugs are secured.

The product is a "decade in the tweaking", says Beggs, who is confident about the future.

He says healthcare is a "consistent market" and he expects to fit the dispenser to three more pharmacies before Christmas and is in talks with a number of the larger chemists chains.

Beggs was shortlisted for this year's Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards.

MACHINE-TO-MACHINE BUSINESS NEGOTIATION TOOL
Tough decisions

RESEARCHERS IN NUI Galway have developed a software tool to allow businesses and investors make complex decisions more quickly.

Developed by Dr Laurentiu Vasiliu during the course of his PhD research, the "machine-to-machine business negotiation tool", which allows users to give accurate weightings to their preferences prior to making a particular decision, is currently being piloted by an international mutual fund company.

For potential investors in mutual funds under the pilot programme, the algorithm-based software can be used to rank investment priorities to build up a risk profile. The software uses a browser interface and will also provide evidence for decisions it generates. In funds management, it claims to reduce the risk of relying on decisions of one broker and can monitor trends.

"Using our software should show a higher or a more accurate level of fund selection, leading to a more tailored result," says Vasiliu. According to Dr Vasiliu the patented software can be used in almost any complex auction-type business situation. What sets the software apart, he says, is that it does not rely on linear decision-making, but weighs up a range of options.

The technology has been kept under wraps pending the completion of the pilot later this year, but if the trial is successful, Vasiliu says his aim is to bring it to as wide an audience as possible, rather than license the software to just one company.

Work on the project was carried out in the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (Deri), with significant funding for the team of five researchers provided by Enterprise Ireland.

Liam Ó Móráin, business development manager with Deri, says the most likely scenario for the research would be the establishment of a spin-off company next year.

"The pilot enabled us to take it out of the laboratory and into real-world solutions."

While the software is currently targeted at the financial services and procurement areas, it could, says Ó Móráin, be adapted to a wide range of business processes.

COMMUNITY TIMEBANK
Connecting communities

ONE WEAKNESS with most community groups is the interminable meetings and the breadth of issues they try to address - at least this was the experience of Louise Opperman from Glounthaune, Co Cork, as she saw participation in her local community association dwindle. She decided the best way to invigorate communities was to concentrate on what time-pressed people want and need and, along with the late Philip Mullay, she founded Community Timebank.

The concept involves using a questionnaire to register people's hobbies and concerns, putting those with shared interests in contact.

"Let's say you are interested in joining a walking club or an Irish-speaking society. If you contact the Community Timebank we can check our database to see who shares those interests and put you in touch. It's all about connections."

These connections are equally valuable for businesses and the model includes business networking and a scheme for matching people with jobs and work experience.

The Community Timebank also deals with security issues for businesses using a text alert system, in conjunction with local gardaí.

The model relies heavily on the idea of strength in numbers. For example, recent arrivals to a Glounthaune housing development were concerned about the lack of facilities for children. These parents were put in contact with one another and successfully lobbied the council to provide a playground.

Opperman won a Social Entrepreneurs Award for her work in October 2007 and is now focused on bringing the model to other communities.

Shortly after winning the award, Opperman was asked to work with the community in Ballymun in Dublin, where she completed a survey to find out what facilities the local population need as well as their hobbies and interests.

"We registered around 10 per cent of the population which is standard. To reach the remainder, we use newsletters and community talks. It is much easier once you have set up a certain number of groups," she says.

She is keen to bring the model to a more rural community and is also working in Carrigtohill, Co Cork, as well as writing a briefing document to guide communities in the establishment of their own organisation.

Opperman describes herself as a "social entrepreneur" and hopes to generate revenue as the concept spreads, with each community contributing to a national fund for expansion.