Exercise videos - definitely not a new concept. However, what happens after you buy one and use it a few times? Usually you get bored with it and it sits there gathering dust. Why do you get bored? Because it is the same thing over and over.
DVDs allow for the video to be segmented - where you can jump right to a specific part of the DVD, right? What if someone used that idea in an exercise dvd - it would make millions!
The DVD would consist of, say, 10 warm up segments, 10 cool down segments, 10 cardio routines, 10 arm exercises, 10 ab routines - you get the point. The startup screen would allow you to choose a length (15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes?) and a focus (cardio, arms, abs, etc). The DVD would then have the intelligence to randomly choose a few segments to build your workout to the request you specified. Think about it - you could have hundreds of different routines all on one DVD!
The segments could be taped in a way that you don't notice the jumping around transitions (i.e. all begin and end with you in the same position). If done correctly, it could seem like you have a new DVD every time you run it.
You could also add a functionality to increase/decrease in realtime. If your arms aren't feeling it you could hit "more" on the screen and get another arm exercise or vice versa. You could also pick your soundtrack on the start screen.
The biggest hurdle is building a decision making mechanism into DVDs. I have no doubt it can be done, I just don't know where to start.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Breath Freshening Water Idea
I love my dogs. They are my children and treated as such. And I often lean in to give them the kisses they so obviously deserve. And I often lean out just as fast when I get a whiff of the dead-fish-put-in-a-blender-with-used-gym-socks-and-feces smell that wafts out of Oliver's mouth. He has the worst breath I have ever dealt with! I used to work in a vets office, and trust me when I say Oliver takes the cake for smelliest dog breath.
I started trying to brush his teeth. If you have ever tried to get a 65 pound dog to sit still while putting something that tastes like liver in his mouth but not letting him eat it, you will know it is impossible. He just kept trying to eat the tooth brush! So then I read on the Internet somewhere about soaking a tug-o-war rope in chicken broth and drying it - so it acts as dental floss when they chew on it. Can't say it did much of anything. I know there are mints out there but realistically Oliver would go through 4 packs a day if I wanted him to have fresh breath always. I buy so many of those "long-lasting" dental bones and chewies only to find them gone within 3 minutes.
So then I was thinking - what is something dogs do all of the time that could have a mouth-cleaning agent put into it? Drink water!
What if there was a mouthwash for dogs? Completely safe to drink. Maybe comes in a packet you empty into their water bowl every morning, maybe comes pre-mixed in bottles (hey - don't knock it, I just heard the first bottled water for dogs has hit the shelves this month). Of course they wouldn't swish it around like we do so it wouldn't be as effective, but what if each time they lapped up some water there were germ-fighting things in the water that killed off smelly bacteria? It would take a few days to get to a point you would notice a difference, but I think after a while it could significantly improve the dog's breath. It could improve their mouth health as well, maybe have a plaque-fighting agent in there (so I never have to try to brush his teeth again).
And while we are at it, why not make a similar product for people? Everyone hears twice a year how they don't brush enough from their dentist. There is such a huge push for people to drink more water anyways, Why not combine the two? Imagine if you never had to pretend someone didn't have horrible breath again. Chomping on gum has the same affect but is frowned upon in professional situations. Mints only last so long. But if you are sipping on water throughout the day that is slowly killing off bacteria, then before you know it you can be confident of fresh smelling breath.
I started trying to brush his teeth. If you have ever tried to get a 65 pound dog to sit still while putting something that tastes like liver in his mouth but not letting him eat it, you will know it is impossible. He just kept trying to eat the tooth brush! So then I read on the Internet somewhere about soaking a tug-o-war rope in chicken broth and drying it - so it acts as dental floss when they chew on it. Can't say it did much of anything. I know there are mints out there but realistically Oliver would go through 4 packs a day if I wanted him to have fresh breath always. I buy so many of those "long-lasting" dental bones and chewies only to find them gone within 3 minutes.
So then I was thinking - what is something dogs do all of the time that could have a mouth-cleaning agent put into it? Drink water!
What if there was a mouthwash for dogs? Completely safe to drink. Maybe comes in a packet you empty into their water bowl every morning, maybe comes pre-mixed in bottles (hey - don't knock it, I just heard the first bottled water for dogs has hit the shelves this month). Of course they wouldn't swish it around like we do so it wouldn't be as effective, but what if each time they lapped up some water there were germ-fighting things in the water that killed off smelly bacteria? It would take a few days to get to a point you would notice a difference, but I think after a while it could significantly improve the dog's breath. It could improve their mouth health as well, maybe have a plaque-fighting agent in there (so I never have to try to brush his teeth again).
And while we are at it, why not make a similar product for people? Everyone hears twice a year how they don't brush enough from their dentist. There is such a huge push for people to drink more water anyways, Why not combine the two? Imagine if you never had to pretend someone didn't have horrible breath again. Chomping on gum has the same affect but is frowned upon in professional situations. Mints only last so long. But if you are sipping on water throughout the day that is slowly killing off bacteria, then before you know it you can be confident of fresh smelling breath.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Exercise Machine Idea
I was watching tv the other day and there was a commercial where someone was looking for something they lost, which turned out to be a big glob of fat. I am sure I didn't do the commercial justice by that description, but that was essentially the point. It was supposed to depict how easy it is to "lose" weight by just doing little things - like taking the stairs, parking farther from the office, etc. While the commercial severely disturbed me (you try to go to sleep after seeing a huge glob of jello-y fat sitting down by the river), the idea is a good one and it got me thinking.
Most people who don't exercise claim it is because of lack of time. Yet so much of our lives is spent waiting. What if that waiting time could be turned into exercise time? I am not talking full sweaty workouts, I just mean something to keep the body moving instead of sitting in a chair.
Picture you are at the airport. Your flight just got delayed another 20 minutes - not long enough to justify lugging all of your baggage away from the gate to find something to do, so you plop down for another wait. What if there was exercise equipment - a treadmill, a stationary bike, etc - right there at the gate. You could just move a few feet from your chair and get moving while still reading your magazine and leaving your bags where they are. Or if you're settling in for a long night at the local laundromat. Or stuck in a hospital waiting room for days on end - not wanting to leave in case the doctors need you but needing to do something to get feeling back in your extremities. Or anywhere else we waste our time waiting.
Equipment requires upkeep and investment costs - true. That is where the "invention" part of this idea comes in. What if you took the piece of exercise equipment and married it with the business plan of a vending machine. The equipment was rigged with a coin/bill/credit card collector and the user paid, say, $1 per half hour to use it. The venues wouldn't really own the equipment, just lease the space to the owner of the equipment. The owner would be the one collecting money, maintaining machines, negotiating new venues, etc.
These could even get built into their own "gyms" - just some rented space where people paid by the half hour to work out instead of blowing $50/month to only end up going a few times.
I guess to me, I am tired of hearing how fat and lazy Americans are. So let's make it as convenient as possible for people to shape up and maybe they will.
Most people who don't exercise claim it is because of lack of time. Yet so much of our lives is spent waiting. What if that waiting time could be turned into exercise time? I am not talking full sweaty workouts, I just mean something to keep the body moving instead of sitting in a chair.
Picture you are at the airport. Your flight just got delayed another 20 minutes - not long enough to justify lugging all of your baggage away from the gate to find something to do, so you plop down for another wait. What if there was exercise equipment - a treadmill, a stationary bike, etc - right there at the gate. You could just move a few feet from your chair and get moving while still reading your magazine and leaving your bags where they are. Or if you're settling in for a long night at the local laundromat. Or stuck in a hospital waiting room for days on end - not wanting to leave in case the doctors need you but needing to do something to get feeling back in your extremities. Or anywhere else we waste our time waiting.
Equipment requires upkeep and investment costs - true. That is where the "invention" part of this idea comes in. What if you took the piece of exercise equipment and married it with the business plan of a vending machine. The equipment was rigged with a coin/bill/credit card collector and the user paid, say, $1 per half hour to use it. The venues wouldn't really own the equipment, just lease the space to the owner of the equipment. The owner would be the one collecting money, maintaining machines, negotiating new venues, etc.
These could even get built into their own "gyms" - just some rented space where people paid by the half hour to work out instead of blowing $50/month to only end up going a few times.
I guess to me, I am tired of hearing how fat and lazy Americans are. So let's make it as convenient as possible for people to shape up and maybe they will.
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