bebop sensors award write up

BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH


Contents

Industry Challenges .................................................................................................... 3

Technology Attributes and Future Business Value ..................................................... 3

Conclusion........................................................................................................... 5

Significance of Technology Innovation .......................................................................... 6

Understanding Technology Innovation .......................................................................... 6

Key Benchmarking Criteria .................................................................................... 7

Best Practice Award Analysis for BeBop Sensors ............................................................. 7

Decision Support Scorecard ................................................................................... 7

Technology Attributes ........................................................................................... 8

Future Business Value ........................................................................................... 8

Decision Support Matrix ........................................................................................ 9

The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards ..................... 10

Research Methodology ........................................................................................ 10

Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices ................................................................................................................. 11

About Frost & Sullivan .............................................................................................. 12



Background and Company Performance

Industry Challenges

Currently, there is a lot of interest in wearable electronics, including smart fabrics with

special integrated functionalities, such as responsiveness to environmental stimuli and

tools to enable an individual to more intuitively interact with his or her environment. One

of the key functionalities in next-generation smart fabrics is sensing capabilities able to

detect and monitor various key parameters, including physical parameters such as

pressure, force, shape, motion, and presence. However, a key challenge faced by

developers is to procure or produce sensors that can acquire reliable data over time.

Because rigid sensing systems do not work well in fabrics, sensors in this kind of

application need to be flexible to provide optimum results. Another challenge for product

developers is to find ready-to-use sensors customized for their specific application. For

example, certain applications require a wider temperature tolerance or ability to perform

under high stress and resistance to water.

Technology Attributes and Future Business Value

Industry Impact

BeBop Sensors’ technology has evolved from sensing technology that was initially

developed for musical instruments. Its earliest sensors gathered input from people to

control musical instruments, such as pad controller devices for Keith McMillen Instruments

(KMI). BeBop Sensors has developed this base technology further, employing it to

improve wearable sensor systems. Various smart fabric sensors are available in the

market, but they tend to focus on monitoring physiological parameters, or they cannot

monitor multiple parameters, which is a key to how BeBop Sensors stand out in the

market. Plus, sensor reliability tends to be a key issue with many of today's wearable

sensors. BeBop Sensors, however, offer superior reliability, which has been proven

through its deployments in musical instruments, as mentioned earlier.

BeBop Sensors uses fabric with conductive, resistive, and dielectric inks to enable stable

pressure and touch sensors. The sensors are also of negligible weight and thickness (0.2

mm), enabling optimum comfort. Its flexibility and stretchability also allows easy

integration into fabrics making these sensors very attractive compared to competing

sensors.

Product Impact

The core technology is based on printed piezoresistive sensors. Piezoresistivity refers to

electric properties that change upon the application of pressure. The outputs from these

sensors, when placed in varied geometries, enable the fabric to detect various parameters

such as bend, force, position, torsion, location, rotation, angle, torque. For example,



multiple sensors can determine the distribution of pressure. The change of pressure on

different sensors can monitor the motion, bend, and other aspects of the interaction.

The sensors can be used in various products such as clothes, hospital bed sheets, and

shoe insoles, to name a few. Their potential uses in clothing, wearables, sports

equipment, and industrial process lines, are virtually limitless. This is primarily because

BeBop has focused on reducing the footprint of the systems, as well as making the

sensors flexible. However, a most important aspect of the sensors is their cost, which is

very low compared to competing sensors. To have a substantial impact and gain market

share, OEMs need to price the final products to be relatively competitive with traditional

clothes or other devices.

Scalability

BeBop Sensors has considerable expertise in printing technologies for manufacturing the

sensors at high volumes. This expertise is hard for even OEMs to replicate. As a result,

BeBop provides OEMs with a final sensor module that can be easily integrated into their

products or solutions. The company has two manufacturing facilities in North America and

China, which are equipped to handle volume production. The company has a flexible

manufacturing line that can ramp up volume in 30 to 60 days.

BeBop continues to invest in R&D to enable advanced features, such as lower footprint

sensors; greater tolerance to temperature, humidity, and other environmental factors; as

well as higher dynamic range sensors. Since smart fabrics is currently a niche application

segment poised to witness rapid growth in the future, it is imperative to continue

sustained technology advancements to meet and exceed end user demands.

Most companies tend to focus on a particular application segment with a limited operating

range. However, the key is to be able to provide OEMs with a gamut of options, which

BeBop Sensors does easily.

Visionary Innovation

BeBop Sensors has its roots in the musical instruments company KMI. Its pressure-

sensing technology has been used in musical keyboard controllers, which proved a major

success. This generated interest from various OEMs in diverse fields. Understanding the

potential of the sensor technology, Keith McMillen, founder of BeBop Sensors, spun out

the company to cater to the needs of OEMs.

BeBop Sensors also realized that, to enable user-friendly smart fabrics, integrated sensors

and circuits needed to be flexible. This led the company to transform its rigid and semi-

rigid sensor technology to flexible electronics now manufactured with printed electronics.

To do this, the company has worked with renowned materials company DuPont

Microcircuit Materials (DMM) to develop printing inks that are used to develop the circuits

used in the fabrics.



Application Diversity

As mentioned earlier, the most definitive application for BeBop Sensors is wearable smart

fabric. This sector can include smart clothing, accessories, insoles, wearable controllers,

and so on. These devices aid in athlete training and fitness monitoring. Knowing the

interaction (such as position and angle) between an athlete’s foot and the ground, for

example, enables accurate monitoring and even improvement of his or her gait. In

automobiles, fabric sensors can monitor the presence or absence of passengers in

individual seats. This can assist the deployment of smart airbags and in car steering

wheels to sense driver alertness. In healthcare, BeBop Sensors in bedsheets can

determine whether the patient has turned or is positioned properly. Robotics is another

key application area for BeBop’s fabric sensing technology. Robots require a sense of

touch to accurately interact with its environment, as well as for mobility.

Other potential applications are in manufacturing lines, where the sensors can determine

the presence and position of individual items, and in military/defense applications, such as

wearable water reservoirs that detect when a soldier is in danger of being dehydrated, or

measuring a soldier’s activity to determine if one is down or only laying low.

BeBop Sensors’ technology has such a wide application scope because it can integrate

with multiple fabric types, including felt, cotton weave, spandex, and artificial silk.

Moreover, the sensors can be fine-tuned to operate at different dynamic ranges and

temperature tolerances. Competing technologies are not as broadly compatible or flexible.

Customer Acquisition

BeBop Sensors has already received a lot of interest from different industries. Its best-in-

class sensors, ability to manufacture in volumes, and solutions tailored to specific

industries have given BeBop very high customer acquisition potential. With advancements

in data analytics, various companies have developed software and models to analyze data

generated from body worn sensors. However, the acquisition of data has remained a

major challenge until now. BeBop has resolved this challenge, which also opens the door

for BeBop to collaborate with or supply, companies involved in the “quantified self”

market.

Conclusion

Fabric embedded sensors are part of an emerging field that holds a lot of potential in

various industries such as wearables, sports, healthcare, and manufacturing. OEMs find it

challenging to develop or procure smart fabric sensors that are multi-functional, reliable,

and low-priced. Luckily for them, BeBop Sensor’s innovative smart fabric sensor

technology meets these requirements, and Frost & Sullivan feels that it is the ideal

solution to propel further growth for today's flexible fabric sensors industry. Because of its

strong overall performance, BeBop Sensors is recognized with Frost & Sullivan’s 2015

Technology Innovation Award in Smart Fabric Sensors.



Significance of Technology Innovation

Ultimately, growth in any organization depends upon finding new ways to excite the

market, and upon maintaining a long-term commitment to innovation. At its core,

technology innovation or any other type of innovation can only be sustained with

leadership in three key areas: understanding demand, nurturing the brand, and

differentiating from the competition.

Understanding Technology Innovation

Technology innovation begins with a spark of creativity that is systematically pursued,

developed, and commercialized. That spark can result from a successful partnership, a

productive in-house innovation group, or the mind of a singular individual. Regardless of

the source, the success of any new technology is ultimately determined by its

innovativeness and its impact on the business as a whole.



Key Benchmarking Criteria

For the Technology Innovation Award, Frost & Sullivan analysts independently evaluated

two key factors—Technology Attributes and Future Business Value—according to the

criteria identified below.

Technology Attributes

Criterion 1: Industry Impact

Criterion 2: Product Impact

Criterion 3: Scalability

Criterion 4: Visionary Innovation

Criterion 5: Application Diversity

Future Business Value

Criterion 1: Financial Performance

Criterion 2: Customer Acquisition

Criterion 3: Technology Licensing

Criterion 4: Brand Loyalty

Criterion 5: Human Capital

Best Practice Award Analysis for BeBop Sensors

Decision Support Scorecard

To support its evaluation of best practices across multiple business performance

categories, Frost & Sullivan employs a customized Decision Support Scorecard. This tool

allows our research and consulting teams to objectively analyze performance, according to

the key benchmarking criteria listed in the previous section, and to assign ratings on that

basis. The tool follows a 10-point scale that allows for nuances in performance evaluation;

ratings guidelines are illustrated below.

RATINGS GUIDELINES

The Decision Support Scorecard is organized by Technology Attributes and Future

Business Value (i.e., the overarching categories for all 10 benchmarking criteria; the

definitions for each criteria are provided beneath the scorecard). The research team

confirms the veracity of this weighted scorecard through sensitivity analysis, which

confirms that small changes to the ratings for a specific criterion do not lead to a

significant change in the overall relative rankings of the companies.



The results of this analysis are shown below. To remain unbiased and to protect the

interests of all organizations reviewed, we have chosen to refer to the other key players

as Competitor 2 and Competitor 3.

Measurement of 1–10 (1 = poor; 10 = excellent)

Technology Innovation

Technology

Attributes

Future

Business Value Average Rating

BeBop Sensors 9.5 8.5 9.0

Competitor 2 8.0 7.0 7.5

Competitor 3 6.0 6.0 6.0


Criterion 1: Industry Impact

Requirement: Technology enables the pursuit of groundbreaking new ideas, contributing

to the betterment of the entire industry

Criterion 2: Product Impact

Requirement: Specific technology helps enhance features and functionality of the entire

product line for the company

Criterion 3: Scalability

Requirement: Technology is scalable, enabling new generations of products over time,

with increasing levels of quality and functionality

Criterion 4: Visionary Innovation

Requirement: Specific new technology represents true innovation based on a deep

understanding of future needs and applications

Criterion 5: Application Diversity

Requirement: New technology serves multiple products, multiple applications, and

multiple user environments

Future Business Value

Criterion 1: Financial Performance

Requirement: High potential for strong financial performance in terms of revenues,

operating margins and other relevant financial metrics

Criterion 2: Customer Acquisition

Requirement: Specific technology enables acquisition of new customers, even as it

enhances value to current customers

Criterion 3: Technology Licensing

Requirement: New technology displays great potential to be licensed across many sectors

and applications, thereby driving incremental revenue streams



Criterion 4: Brand Loyalty

Requirement: New technology enhances the company’s brand, creating and/or nurturing

brand loyalty

Criterion 5: Human Capital

Requirement: Customer impact is enhanced through the leverage of specific technology,

translating into positive impact on employee morale and retention

Decision Support Matrix

Once all companies have been evaluated according to the Decision Support Scorecard,

analysts can then position the candidates on the matrix shown below, enabling them to

visualize which companies are truly breakthrough and which ones are not yet operating at

best-in-class levels.

High

Low

Low High

Fu

ture B

usin

ess V

alu

e


BeBop Sensors

Competitor2

Competitor3



The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best

Practices Awards

Research Methodology

Frost & Sullivan’s 360-degree research

methodology represents the analytical

rigor of our research process. It offers a

360-degree-view of industry challenges,

trends, and issues by integrating all 7 of

Frost & Sullivan's research methodologies.

Too often, companies make important

growth decisions based on a narrow

understanding of their environment,

leading to errors of both omission and

commission. Successful growth strategies

are founded on a thorough understanding

of market, technical, economic, financial,

customer, best practices, and demographic

analyses. The integration of these research

disciplines into the 360-degree research

methodology provides an evaluation

platform for benchmarking industry players and for identifying those performing at best-

in-class levels.

360-DEGREE RESEARCH: SEEING ORDER IN

THE CHAOS



Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices

Frost & Sullivan Awards follow a 10-step process to evaluate award candidates and assess

their fit with select best practice criteria. The reputation and integrity of the Awards are

based on close adherence to this process.

STEP OBJECTIVE KEY ACTIVITIES OUTPUT

1 Monitor, target, and screen

Identify award recipient candidates from around the globe

Conduct in-depth industry research

Identify emerging sectors Scan multiple geographies

Pipeline of candidates who potentially meet all best-practice criteria

2 Perform 360-degree research

Perform comprehensive, 360-degree research on all candidates in the pipeline

Interview thought leaders and industry practitioners

Assess candidates’ fit with best-practice criteria

Rank all candidates

Matrix positioning all candidates’ performance relative to one another

3

Invite thought leadership in best practices

Perform in-depth examination of all candidates

Confirm best-practice criteria Examine eligibility of all

candidates Identify any information gaps

Detailed profiles of all ranked candidates

4

Initiate research director review

Conduct an unbiased evaluation of all candidate profiles

Brainstorm ranking options Invite multiple perspectives

on candidates’ performance Update candidate profiles

Final prioritization of all eligible candidates and companion best-practice positioning paper

5

Assemble panel of industry experts

Present findings to an expert panel of industry thought leaders

Share findings Strengthen cases for

candidate eligibility Prioritize candidates

Refined list of prioritized award candidates

6

Conduct global industry review

Build consensus on award candidates’ eligibility

Hold global team meeting to review all candidates

Pressure-test fit with criteria Confirm inclusion of all

eligible candidates

Final list of eligible award candidates, representing success stories worldwide

7 Perform quality check

Develop official award consideration materials

Perform final performance benchmarking activities

Write nominations Perform quality review

High-quality, accurate, and creative presentation of nominees’ successes

8

Reconnect with panel of industry experts

Finalize the selection of the best-practice award recipient

Review analysis with panel Build consensus Select winner

Decision on which company performs best against all best-practice criteria

9 Communicate recognition

Inform award recipient of award recognition

Present award to the CEO Inspire the organization for

continued success Celebrate the recipient’s

performance

Announcement of award and plan for how recipient can use the award to enhance the brand

10 Take strategic action

Upon licensing, company may share award news with stakeholders and customers

Coordinate media outreach Design a marketing plan Assess award’s role in future

strategic planning

Widespread awareness of recipient’s award status among investors, media personnel, and employees



About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth

and achieve best in class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's

Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined

research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation

of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages almost 50 years of experience in

partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment

community from 31 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit

http://www.frost.com.

http://www.frost.com/

bebop sensors award write up

Technology

technology attributes

sensing technology

best practices awards

best practices recognition

key functionalities

key challenge

degree research

research methodology