Let’s Go There: Telepresence Tours

Review: I loved your elevator pitch as it addressed some serious pain points while generating interest for me as a tech teacher. The possibility of travelling and teaching everywhere is the dream of any classroom teacher and your confidence and credibility carries that dream into reality. Your concept is very attractive from a pedagogical point of view and I can see why, as a teacher, this woud succeed. You've achieved a strong story-telling narrative in both your pitches through your pacing, green-screen and video editing skills. That narrative led you from pain point to concept to business venture and all the way back again in a seamless way that felt fluid and confident. I know it isn't easy to stare at a camera for long periods of time and I can impressed by how well you maintained a persuasive and knowledgable tone. I get a sense that you know exactly what you're talking about and as an EVA, I would be interested in investing in you. I wonder to what extent competitors like Google's Expeditions and other VR travel-based ideas would affect your venture. Would that be something worth capitalizing on or would it be a competitor? Overall, thanks for the a strong pitch that demonstrates your originality, confidence and knowledge. Also, bonus points for a definitively awesome name.

REVIEW: This is neat but you're competing with a plethora of other big contenders in this business. What would make this standout is a true, real and proper relationship with these organizations that will allow you to see and explore meaningful experiences. You see it time and time again in places like Science World, or other museums. They cheapen the learning experience, it doesn't captivate me. In fact, many children get bored. I like the expert bit. This is where you're going to capture your audience. The cost also works for you, though could be an issue as a smaller business. Eventually, it will be matched. Not sure the robot is necessary. Perhaps mounted go-pros + other simple tech might make it seem a bit cooler. The setup aspect seems good. Would love to see the drone aspect as well. Overall, neat.

Brilliant. This is a great idea and though I can see some challenges with language and transmission of video from remote areas, even still images and interaction with a guide would be a fantastic connection The venture and elevator pitch are very well done and you have done a great job presenting the idea, the need, the potential market and profit as well as the future potential for expansion and growth. Your presentation is professional and well timed with images and I would be iinterested as an investor in pursuing this venture but would want more information about the partner groups and perhaps a pilot study (which of course is beyond the scope of this assignment but you definately have captured my interest and attention!). One question I have is the need for robots -why not use iPads or rugged tablets? These are more portable and seem less expensive and mobile. With a SIM card they would be able to connect and transmit as well as any mobile robot device and remote headsets would function as the communication with the students. A selfie-style stick as the tool for connecting with the guide would work well and the tablet is less of a target for thieves and less likely to be trampled by other visitors to the sites. We just purchased several Mesa2 tablets from Juniper Systems and these devices are amazing in that they have incredible resolution, great audio and can function in a wide range of environmental conditions and even underwater for short periods of time. They boast you can drive over it and it will be fine - I am not brave enough to test this :) but the claim certainly gives the impression the tablets would survive well in any environment and be tough enough to last many, many tours. Great venture idea and one I hope exists one day.

Dan Bosse, great work on the venture. I went the website route because I thought sustaining the energy for a full length pitch would be too difficult but you have done a nice job. Do you have access to a green screen?

Firstly, I like how you have introduced yourself immediately with a description of your credentials. As an investor, I am counting on you, and I quickly know why you are qualified to run this business. You go on to succinctly lay out the benefits of the telepresence venture. I can, by 2:10, know exactly why this product will be needed.

I think a real strength of your venture is the fact that you market to teachers and admin at the school level but also to the educational institutions. I work on the educational committee of an Aquarium and one perennial stumbling block is how to get the experience to the audience. So I see the need from a teacher’s point of view but also from that of the sites they wish to visit.

Another strength of your pitch is the detailed explanation of how it works, from the business, training, and logistics, to the credentialing and feedback on interpreters. You really seem to know this venture inside and out.

I think one weakness might be the lack of real or predicted numbers. You seem to understand revenue streams intimately and your apparent knowledge is reassuring to an amateur investor like myself, but if I were to invest, what are you asking and what am I to expect in return?

Lastly, your elevator pitch and long-form pitch are full of great images brought together with good editing, but from 3:10 onward your pitch consists of you speaking from that boardroom. Perhaps you could have broken up the last part of your pitch with some more images or figures.

Nice work.

Dan, that was a very good idea for a venture that I can definitely see pick up. I especially felt assured as a potential investor that the rating system for guides to reassure their quality would maintain quality. Your list of ideas for expansion were very well detailed, and I was particularly interested in the drone idea - I hope it really does become a reality someday! Your subtle jab as well towards VR tours being a thing of the past as well reassured your confidence in your company, and at the same time question my recent investment in Google Cardboard devices. My biggest concern would be a stable internet connection at all of these sites to ensure high quality video between the guide and the students, because I doubt that going to Machu Pichu for example would have a good enough connection to stream video elsewhere in the world. Otherwise I think this is a great idea and company to invest in because its not a far fetched idea and it can even be started right away and improved with time. If you do pursue this, please let me know because I would be interested in taking my kids away from their classrooms in Japan even for just a few minutes!

Hi Dan, I enjoyed the elevator pitch as it seemed very clear what the idea is and the fact that it provides the viewer with the application of the idea. You have clearly provided the need for this product and the gap in the market that exists for a product such as this. I wonder if there may be a logistical issue with recruiting guides, reliability and functionality of guides when the time differences do not allow for real time guides. Each museum or site may be subject to limited hours of exposure to the public which inhibits this service if it is meant to be paired directly with an individual person. Or is it pre-filmed with a live individual interacting with the viewer? I am a little unclear about the revenue stream explained. Are the institutions paying for all the set up costs entailed with signing up for Telepresence? Will individual students be paying for the tour or will this be marketed as packages to school districts at a reduced cost? Somewhat like choosing a channel package from the cable company. The logistics of coordinating international locations without a base of operations in each city could problematic for the initial roll out of this product. The technology and internet also concern me. I have attempted to do skype chats internationally for students and that posed so many logistical nightmares that I was completely stopped any future attempts at coordinating them again. Also, are students viewing this through simply a screen like Skype or is this going to be attached to a wearable for a more in-depth experience such as the Google Cardboard? This certainly has great potential and opportunity for school classrooms, particularly social studies classrooms. Overall, I still think it is a pretty neat idea and would definitely want to try this service out if it existed.

REVIEW: I think the biggest selling point of this venture is its ability to create a virtual reality for a low cost, using some of the newer technology available, like low-cost VR headsets and 360 degree webcams. It’s one thing to have students passively watch a live video feed from a far-off place, in which their viewpoint is constrained only to whatever the camera happens to be pointing towards. It is something else entirely to give someone the ability to look around and truly immerse themselves into the chosen environment. As a biology teacher and someone who is fascinated with the natural world, with a specific interest in evolution and Darwin, I proposed a trip to the Galapagos several years ago. The costs were prohibitively expensive, and I was not able to get enough students to sign up, so the trip fell through. If there were instead, a *virtual* trip, using your system, we would have been able to schedule a trip time, and have students ‘plug in’ to ‘visit’ the Galapagos from my school in Vancouver. While the real trip would have cost quite a bit more, there is one major factor that “Let’s Go There!” lacks: interactivity. Yes, students can ‘look around’. But part of the experience of going somewhere with a guide is the ability to ask questions. Perhaps a live ‘chat’ (which could be problematic if done by voice, due to lag issues or multiple participants speaking at once) could work. If students are plugged into headsets it would be tricky to have them type questions (voice-to-text?). Maybe a queued question stream via microphone & tour guide headset could be implemented?

Hello Dan, As a Founder and CEO of "Telepresence Tours" I was instantly able to identify what your market focus and pain point is for your venture. Your idea is very unique and I can see myself as a Social Studies teacher wanting to use it in any of my classes, but perhaps especially in Comparative Civilization because we study different world cultures. This venture would help enrich the student's learning experience. As an EVA would be some what concerned about privacy concerns and firewall security. There could be a lot of moving parts to make this happen and that could increase the risk of one of the data streams being hacked and exposing the students to unwanted material. However overall I think this is solid and has some really interesting potential.

Hi Dan,

What a fantastically well thought out concept for virtual field trips. I like the cheek in the title of your company too. Your presentations were very professionally done, and I applaud you for the length and smoothness of your narration, not easy to do.

I like the concept of bringing the world to the learner in a more engaging way than a textbook or movie might try to do. Why stop at just one telepresence machine at one location, you could have multiple cameras and angles to give a more surround experience. Could you also hook up Google Cardboard? Just trying to understand how students experience the screen in their classrooms and how to have them 'active' participants while watching the screen.

I was struggling to understand how your organization is organized between minutes 2:56-3:41. It would be great if you could add some visuals cues to show the relationship between who is an Educational Partner and your relationship with them; also just to give some clarity in language, are interpreters also the guides? Who hires the guides, this was unclear; also do you train them or you train the interpreters?

I believe at minute 3:42 you explain that you are the general contractor, which helps explain the relationship a bit better. However, if that is the case, I am not sure I understand your revenue streams and how the money flows - do classroom teachers contract with your company and pay you, then you pay the Educational Partners, who in turn pay the guides?

I really liked your growth ideas, drones, YES! I can see drones picking up something at the location and delivering right to your classroom. Exciting! A virtual gift shop also a nice idea, who doesn't want a souvenir.

Also, did you have an ask amount for investors?

Great job, Dan.

Hi Dan! I definitely agree that this market that you have determined is certainly untapped. Schools are definitely looking for other opportunities to bring the World to students. I thought of a challenge that you might have in implementing this venture, excuse me if you mentioned it in your pitch. From my understanding, the tours would be run synchronously thus requiring some type of WiFi or 4G LTE connection to your telepresence devices. As a result, you would be at the mercy of the integrity of the infrastructures on both sides of the connection. I think we have all experienced dreaded disconnections with Skype and Google Hangouts in our time in the MET program. This may limit your venture to developed countries and locations with ubiquitous access to mobile infrastructures. Perhaps a way around would be to record asynchronous VR tours, especially in those less equipped locations.