The last couple of weeks have involved crazy working hours and lots of blistered fingers, but they were all worth it as we prepared for our first two events where we could finally get Brainiac out there for everyone to try in person! The final push to the event was about 5 days of getting up at 6 AM and into bed at 2 AM. I felt like I was on an episode of Overhaulin’. We’ve learned a lot by attending these two events, most importantly that when we get a chance for someone to take a look at the product and see what it can do they are absolutely floored 🙂
Friday afternoon we moved both of our prototyping vehicles and display unit down to ImportFest to make sure everything was ready for the show on Saturday which ran from Noon until Midnight. After the show ended we packed everything up and managed to get home and into bed around 3:30 AM on Sunday morning. Then it was back up again at 6:30 AM to get the Subaru WRX and our display stand packed up and ready for the Toronto Subaru Club HyperMeet which ran from 10 – 5pm.
It was incredible to see everyone’s reaction to the product, which motivates us even more to get Brainiac to market as soon as possible! Watching people use the system also gave us loads of feedback on our user interface as well as provided a great opportunity to receive direct feedback and suggestions on how to further improve Brainiac’s features. One of the most encouraging common questions was “So when will the 10.1 inch install be available for my car?”.
Our display stand was a great way to allow everyone to try the system and also walk people through Brainiac’s features. Having our prototype vehicles there provided a great way for everyone to see how both the 7″ and 10.1″ system would look once installed into an actual vehicle and allowed us to demonstrate the product.
The installation of the 7″ Brainiac unit in the BatBerry gave us a chance to show those who preferred a 7″ double-din installation that the features of Brainiac are the same whether you choose the 7″ version or the larger 10.1″ installation. The 7″ install showed how Brainiac utilized the relay accessory to manage the actuators for the machine guns, bat disc doors and canopy and also the air suspension accessory to manage ride height.
Rob especially liked using our feature of controlling Brainiac from your smartphone to freak out the kids at ImportFest where we had the BatBerry on display for the first time. Once someone was really close to check out the fake 30 Cal machine guns he would trigger the Brainiac relay accessory from his phone to lower/raise the guns. It was fun to see people jump when something moved on the car and gave us a great opportunity to explain how we were making it all work.
These events marked the first time where we were able to show the new 3D printed prototypes of the button belt for a 10.1″ Brainiac install. It was great to see the reaction when people tried out the display stand which had no buttons and then looked inside the Subaru and saw the new button belt. Everyone liked the new design with the buttons better and felt it was a great addition. Of course I also had to choose an orange color scheme to suit the Subaru’s orange Katzkin leather interior 🙂
One lucky attendee at the Toronto Subaru Club HyperMeet bought some raffle tickets and walked away with a gift certificate for a free Brainiac 7″ or 10.1″ installation and a Brainiac relay accessory! Congratulations Matt!
It was really fun to see the reaction on everyone’s face when experiencing Brainiac and learning about its features. We heard lots of comments like “This is amazing!”, “I’ve never seen anything like this before!”, “When can I order?” and “You’re really onto something here!” which drives us to push even harder to where we can start the pre-order process!
Workshop 12 