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Can I ask your opinions?

Snake Dave

Snake Dave

Schrödinger's cat
Hey everyone

As part of this compulsory Welsh Baccalaureate program I have to do in school (we're a pilot school, unfortunately), I had to come up with a business and product, and then produce a presentation. I was part of a group of 7, and we each presented our ideas and then voted on whose was the best/viable. They voted for mine, so we spent the past couple of days developing it and working on a presentation and meeting the required criteria.

Because of the nature of the product, we're gonna 'come under fire' from a few people. So I was wondering if you guys could help me out by poking holes and finding flaws. Be as blunt and as rude as you like, because I'm sure there will be people who will do just that. :grin01: We won't be in front of a panel of PhD scientists, so I don't need to worry about it being completely scientifically sound, it's more about the idea behind the product and its selling capability. I'd really appreciate your help on this, thanks. :)

Here's just some brief information on the product itself and its purpose:

Nightflash Protection is a product designed to protect the law-abiding citizen when they are their most vulnerable. Whilst this product is aimed mainly at young women, they can easily be used by anyone and was designed as an anti-rape and assault device. Here's a description of the product:

Produces incredibly bright (6 to 8 million candela) flash: causes complete blindness for approximately 8 seconds.

Causes total disorientation for up to a minute - allowing you to escape unharmed from a potentially life-threatening situation, but does not permanently harm the assailant.

Can be bought by anyone over the age of 18 with a clean criminal record, over 16s permitted use (but not purchase) with a signed license from parents.
Comes in a small package containing the Nightflash itself, a pair of polarising (to protect yourself from the flash), photochromic (change according to light intensity, so appear as normal glasses under normal circumstances) sunglasses and an instructional DVD.

Cost to manufacture per unit: £10 per kit. Store price: £18 per kit. Replacement Nightflash grenades available provided original kit badge is shown, cost to purchase: £5.

Roughly 10cm in length and 5cm in diameter - compact size permits easy storage and removal from pocket, handbag etc.

Contains stable pyrotechnic metal-oxidant (magnesium powder) and an oxidant (potassium perchlorate) - will not randomly explode in normal circumstances, upon dropping before activation etc.

One again I really appreciate this, as I know it's an arduous read.

All the best

David
 
What do you do, throw it at someone? On the ground in front of someone? I think I could have used that in the parking ramp today. Does it work in daylight?
 
I park in a ramp that is for employees only. You have to have a decal. As I walked to my truck, I walked past the driver's side of a van, like a Chevy Astro, and I was thinking to myself, that's like the van I used to drive when I did mobile x-ray. So I get to my door, (I'm parked facing the van) and there's this guy, just hovering by the passenger side of the van, drinking a bottle of water, kind of milling around. He isn't an employee. Of course I can't find my key, and I'm keeping an eye on him because he just looks suspicious. I get in, and he gets in his van, and we both start up, but he has to drive around the end of his row and into my row to exit. I drive slowly, (saving gas) and he never catches up, just drops further behind. I leave the ramp, and keep watching for him. I get about a block away before he even exits the ramp! Why was he going so slowly? The whole thing was just weird.
 
So you need to make your thing in a model that attaches to a key ring, so you can just pull it off and throw it.
 
I think it sounds great but the glasses seem more troublesome than they are worth. Is the buyer expected to wear the special glasses on a regular basis? Can they get these with a prescription or are they designed like a fashionable pair of sunglasses? I'm trying to think of situations where a woman may find herself in trouble and has to take the time to put on her sunglasses before she can use the product. It seems a little crazy. In such a situation I think it would be wiser to close your eyes (but does the product stun a person through closed eyelids??) Hope my two cents helps.
 
Oh okay Nanci, yeah, you're right that is wierd. Maybe he was waiting for someone or observing something.

Sorry! I didn't explain how it actually works. Basically, the oxidation chamber is sealed by a hollow metal cylinder inside of the main construct (a steel cyclinder with 5mm bore holes all around, apart from 2.5cm at the bottom of the cylinder. To activate it, you twist the cap 120 degrees (it'll stop when you reach the right point) and pull. It'll produce the flash in about 2.5 - 3 seconds.

Does that help?
 
jamay said:
I think it sounds great but the glasses seem more troublesome than they are worth. Is the buyer expected to wear the special glasses on a regular basis? Can they get these with a prescription or are they designed like a fashionable pair of sunglasses? I'm trying to think of situations where a woman may find herself in trouble and has to take the time to put on her sunglasses before she can use the product. It seems a little crazy. In such a situation I think it would be wiser to close your eyes (but does the product stun a person through closed eyelids??) Hope my two cents helps.
Click to expand...

That was one of our main concerns, thanks for asking.

Basically, we based our product on the idea that they would be used most if a person was walking home alone, at night (of course they can be used at any time). Therefore, if the person knew that they'd be walking alone, they could put the glasses on beforehand. If a person wasn't wearing the glasses but was cornered at any time of day, you could drop it and then close your eyes as you said. This would remove the bulk of the flash from reaching your retina, but there may be a slight after image. The theory was that if you were cornered, you'd discreetly drop the Nightflash, then close your eyes in anticipation of a punch/stab, whatever. The assaulter may not realise what it is in time, or just assume that you're closing your eyes because you're scared.

Should the person purchasing the kit have to wear prescription glasses on a regular basis, then the glasses that come with the kit can be returned to the company along with the relevant eye information so a pair of prescription lenses can be manufactured at a slight extra cost. So therefore, this allows the person to wear them and actually be able to see, instead of staggering around and just exchanging one lack of security for another, LOL.
 
I question the glasses because not only would you have prescription needs as mentioned before, but also the attacker could get a pair and wear them when they are out looking for trouble. I think a drop and run approach would work better. The attacker would be looking in your direction to see where you are going and facing the flash while you would be facing the opposite direction and running your ass off. No need for glasses if you are looking the opposite direction right?
If one is dropped in the hallway of an apartment building or something, what are the chances it will start a fire?
It's ability to disorientate multiple assailants is something that would also be a strong selling point.

Hope that helps a little and good luck with your presentation!!!
 
I agree- the glasses seems kind of piddley to me- no one is really going to wear them.
 
i say ditch the glasses. if you're going to use it, you could just twist the cap, turn you head , drop it and run. i'd think turning your head would protect you enough.
 
Glasses are not going to protect you 100% from a flash like that as there is all the peripheral space around the glasses to consider. A person will need to be carrying the flash canister in order to use it as well as needing 2 hands to use it. The time delay is enough for an attacker to know what is going to happen and to close their eyes and turn their head in time, therefore reducing the desired effect. What is the effective flash radius? Will it effect someone who is standing 10 feet away? 20 feet? Etc? If there is more than one attacker, it may not affect them all. Can you guarantee it does not have any residual effects? What about potential problems if the attacker gets injured while under the effects of the flash, say by getting hit by a car while blind or disoriented? And I can see many teenagers using it as a prank. The liability insurance will be extremely expensive, if you could get it at all.
 
Is the light directional? Or is a 360deg flash......Plus I don't like the idea of dropping it...It could bounce behind them.....
 
Sorry, it sounds like a gift to the lawyers. Sadly, even protecting yourself comes with legal liabilities these days.
 
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