latest update!!! Dear Shareholders,
We are going into a very important and exciting time for Torvec. In the next year we expect to complete our design and manufacture of both a fixed and variable displacement hydraulic pump and develop and start selling our WAM WatchTM.
We have completed the design changes from the summer and have been testing the latest revision of the pump. The pump performs well at lower pressures and the results match our theoretical model. Over the last 3 months we have developed or improved our engineering models to include measurement of thermal, structural and fluid mechanics. We will continue to improve our mathematical models. This is an important step in the development of our engineering. Having a mathematical model that is accurate will reduce the time it takes to create solutions to potential problems, and limit the number of designs that have to be manufactured for the development of the product.
We are reviewing these results and will be working on solutions to any issues. Our changes to date have been to improve the concept of our unique design. What we are now doing is incorporating all that we have learned in each of the previous designs into our models, and then to steel. This is not a change in the concept, but a packaging or dimensional revision. We have confidence in the concept and are working through the engineering issues.
Through our testing over the last months we have noted design changes that we intend to make. We did not feel these changes would dramatically change our efficiencies, thus we were planning our MSOE testing without them. However our modeling now shows these changes could help our efficiencies. By making these changes now, we should be able to develop a pump that will be close to the final production model. We will also be able to incorporate more of the design into the variable displacement pump design, helping to lessen the time line for that product. Also by updating our design now we may be able to eliminate one trip to MSOE for testing ($40K). Because of this we are now planning to go to MSOE in April.
We understand that we are a little behind our schedule, but hope to make up at least some of it in the fixed, and especially in the variable displacement pump timeline. Our current plan is the most efficient way to complete both designs. Our plan is still to have a product ready by the end of 2015 and starting to have revenue in 2016. We will increase our efforts to accelerate our timelines.
OUR GOAL IS TO BUILD A PUMP THAT WILL BE SMALLER, LIGHTER AND MORE EFFICIENT THAN THE COMPETITION - AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
As to our new technology, I would like to start by saying that I know most of you invested in a powertrain company. I also know, and lecture, that a “Golden Rule” of business is to stay focused-especially for startups and turn-arounds.
That being said I also know that sometimes (though rarely) important and exciting opportunities can arise that merit action. I feel that, in this case, to let paradigms and conventional wisdom blind us from this potentially world changing technology is not in the best interest of the shareholders. And so, after much thought, debate and consideration I have decided to start a new chapter for Torvec - a new direction. WE ARE NOW A POWER AND SAFETY COMPANY.
This technology meets all 5 of my parameters for a business model:
1. Huge potential market
2. Proprietary technology
3. High margins
4. Recurring revenue
5. Does real good for our clients and the world.
Our new technology is called the WAM (Warning Alertness Metrics) Watch. I want to point out that the breakthrough innovation is not in the hardware that we are constructing, but in the concepts, software, and algorithms we are developing.
Two dynamics that are now occurring in the world are very important and encouraging for the success of our new invention.
It is estimated that the wearable computing devices market will grow to 485 million devices sold by 2018.
The Degradation of Alertness is a growing concern and the consequences in some areas are approaching epidemic proportions. For instance it is estimated that 250,000 drivers per day fall asleep at the wheel. Serious and fatal truck, bus, train, and automobile accidents are occurring at an alarming rate.
The purpose of monitoring alertness is to prevent these and other emergency situations from happening rather than dealing with them after the fact. For instance waking someone up after they have fallen asleep at the wheel is too late.
There are many millions, if not billions, of dollars being spent on research and technology to either wake people up or predict some sort of alertness problem. Here is a description of some major technologies being developed:
There is a device that attaches to the ear that sounds an alarm if the head tilts forward. This of course happens after the user falls asleep.
There is a device that is placed on the dashboard of a vehicle that when it starts to buzz demands the user to hit it. It times the response and after ascertaining other information (prior to use) from the user claims to predict an alertness problem. Besides the many unpredictable variables that are inherent in the technology it is also disruptive and distracting.
Automobile manufacturers are creating technologies that signal a driver, by sounds or vibrations, that they are wandering on or veering off the road. Again this can be too late.
Another important technology is an infrared camera that watches and records eye and head movements. This method can be 100% accurate in predicting that the person is in imminent danger of falling asleep. The problem is that in simulations it works fine, however in actual conditions it may create many false positives. This can be caused by allergies, too much humidity in the air, bright lights, twitches and many other outside and uncontrollable events. Also regular glasses or sun glasses may impede the technology.
SO AS OF NOW THERE IS NO LEADING TECHNOLOGY WE KNOW OF THAT SOLVES OR AT LEAST SOMEWHAT REMEDIATES THE PROBLEMS.
Research has proven that a key discriminator for detection of a decrease in alertness is a quantifiable decrease in responsiveness to stimuli. The difficulty to date has been to create a means to measure and quantify that decrease in responsiveness without being disruptive or distracting to a user while performing their job. We believe that no single metric has been found that can be used in a practical way to measure this degradation in responsiveness and to properly correlate it to the degradation of performance of the user. Our invention presents the use of a wearable device that, by means of a unique prescribed movement, measures many multiple reaction times and amplitudes. This creates a profile of responsiveness and compares it to an established individual baseline profile in order to alert the user and/ or other parties that their responsiveness, and thus their performance, appears to be degrading.
The WAM Watchis a device consisting of hardware and software that indicates a Degradation of Alertness in a user. This is especially important when an individual’s alertness is essential in properly performing tasks and fulfilling responsibilities. The WAM Watch may also have the potential to help the user keep more alert. This can create real, positive and powerful changes in many areas.
Most people know when they are tired or impaired however they feel they can get through it. The purpose here is to notify them that they are in danger before the danger actually manifests itself. Existing studies show that people are very poor judges of their own conditions.
We believe that the processes that can be created using the WAM Watch can indicate Degradations of Alertness and thus give important information to the user and other parties. These degradations can be caused by drowsiness, medications, alcohol or other drugs, sickness, psychological problems, thought distractions, etc. Actions taken upon a warning from this technology will lead to a better and safer environment. The device can also be valuable in other kinds of emergency and security situations.
Using the abilities of The WAM Watch we believe that uses can be programmed and created for:
Truck drivers
General public drivers
Airline Pilots
Train Engineers
School and over the road bus drivers
Security guards
“Man Down” Systems
Security systems for store clerks, children, or emergency notifications
Campers, Hunters and Hikers
Surveillance Agents
Students
Military
People in meetings
Health Professionals
People with health problems
People monitoring critical processes (i.e. air traffic control, nuclear facilities)
Through extensive third party studies we intend to show a definite correlation between Responses to our Prescribed Movements, and Alertness. Our preliminary studies give us confidence that this correlation is real.
The WAM Watchalso has the advantages of:
A unique movement that communicates information regarding alertness with a minimum of distraction or disruption to normal activities.
Easy to understand and react to.
Potentially has the added benefit of actually helping a user to stay alert.
Versatile and flexible settings to allow users to customize the parameters of the device in order to work with and/or establish safety systems.
Ability to communicate with other devices such as telematics systems, cell phones, etc. to notify other parties of a pending or existing emergency situations.
WAM Watch software can be purchased as an application (App) when devices such as smart phones, smart watches etc. are manufactured with all the necessary hardware,
Being relatively inexpensive this creates real, measurable value propositions.
Potential to change the world for the better.
We believe that we have sufficient expertise to make this product successful. Aside from some great improvements we have made in our “new” engineering staff, we are working with some of the world’s foremost experts in sleep and neurology as it pertains to alertness and sleep. We are acquiring the best hardware and software technologies or “gold standards”, in analyzing and recognizing the dynamics of the degradation of alertness. We have just hired a hardware and software engineer who headed up a design team that created a technology using the same type of hardware and sensors that we are using. His extensive knowledge and expertise is in exactly what we are doing.
We have done a couple of industry focus groups as well as talked to some potential users and have found great excitement for the technology. We are continuing this process.
Lastly, we believe that there is no other company, big or small, who is doing what we are doing. From our, and our patent attorneys, searches we believe this is a novel approach to a very large and dangerous problem.
Nov. 2-Nov. 9th was federally dubbed” Drowsy Driving Week” to make people aware of this issue. The WAM Watch has the potential to save lives and enhance the safety of millions of people.
We believe the potential worldwide market for the WAM Watch is over 700 million users. We are working on some exciting marketing and sales structures to create recurring revenue streams.
Although we have filed for patent protections to this unique technology, I still do not want to divulge the real inner workings of the WAM Watch at this time. We will keep you up to date as our clinical trials progress. If they show the correlations we think that they will, this should be a very exciting product.
Dick Kaplan, CEO
Safe Harbor Statement
This report may contain forward looking statements regarding Torvec's future economic performance and prospects that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ from those described in such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include those described from time to time in Torvec's SEC reports, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2013 and our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2014.
Contact Us
1999 Mt. Read Blvd.
Building 3
Rochester, NY 14615
(P) 585-254-1100
(F) 585-254-1105
Email Contacts
General Information: info@torvec.com
Investor Relations: investorrelations@torvec.com
Technology Questions: tech@torvec.com
Sales Questions: sales@torvec.com
CEO Updates
November 10, 2014
Dear Shareholders, We are going into a very important and exciting time for Torvec. In the next year we expect to complete our design and manufacture of both a fixed and variable displacement...
Read more: November 2014
