SME Instrument Phase 1 feasibility study aimed to explore the technical and business feasibility of meeting the requirements that have been identified to be prerequisites both to developing of fully functional prototype and pilot deployment of the Wowtto platform and, later, to commercial Wowtto success globally.
Regarding technological solutions for digital on-car advertisement displays, two possible technological alternatives were analysed: (1) e-paper technology based electronic displays which could be mounted on the outside of the car (initially this was regarded as primary option) and (2) LCD panel based electronic displays mounted inside car. Findings of the feasibility study led to decision to develop a solution based on inside mounted LCD screens. Following this decision holders for mounting LCD displays and the overall in-car display system was developed and successfully tested in real environment for over 2 000 hours.
Shifting focus on screen mounting inside of the car and taking more cost-effective solution (LCD panels) allowed us to pilot-test full cycle of ordering advertising on the car: driver mounts device, configures mobile phone to connect to device, drives around the city and shows advertising based on location, statistics (locations, probabilistic views, time) are available for the client through a reporting system.
The assessment of availability and usability of location data gathered by mobile operators for better probabilistic ad-targeting solutions and visibility metrics was carried out on the basis of real historical data provided by mobile carrier on the number of devices available in a certain hour of a day in a current location. The assessment showed that this data could be used for enriching probabilistic ad-targeting solutions and visibility metrics. Regarding future collaboration, the data could also include elements which could be used for segmentation of the audience: male/female, age, computed interest, model of the phone used, etc.
Seeking to establish investor network and sources of finance we have established contacts with venture capitalists and angel investors in the Baltic area, however our contacts revealed that timing for this task was unfavourable as the volumes of available risk capital was low due to the shift between EU budget programming periods – risk capital funds co-financed under 2007-2013 EU structural funds programmes were already invested, while risk capital funds under 2014-2020 ESIF programmes were not available yet (however venture capital funds under 2014-2020 ESIF programmes are expected to be available in the nearest future). Also we started preparations to attract grant funding for the full-scale development and piloting of Wowwto service. These activities would be of particular importance in the near future.
The update of the freedom-to-operate and IP protection plan found no patent that would limit or prevent commercialisation of the Wowtto platform. Constant monitoring of patent information will be continued to make sure no patents are infringed. Current IP protection strategy foresees keeping most the intellectual property as confidential know-how, but nevertheless the possibility and commercial potential of patent protection for new relevant IP is analysed as new potentially patentable device and solutions are being developed.
Results of all other tasks of the feasibility study allowed us validation of user needs and updating of the business plan. Also we developed software part of real-time digital advertisement platform, which allow us to pilot-test Wowtto platform in real environment (based on 10 cars and several customers).
A detailed business plan for full-scale piloting of Wowtto system in one city (Vilnius) was developed and we will further pursue efforts to attract necessary financing, both from venture capitalists and grants for research, technological development and innovation.
