Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing

AE6023 Business and Project Management and Group Design Project

Rechargeable Heating and Cooling Wireless

Gaming Chair

Dan Belcher (K1611759)

Guneet Mirchandani (K1550256)
Kamal Thapa (K1717951)
Thillaikkarasi Chandrasekaran (K1719279)

Lecturer: P. Hudson
Submission Date: 24 Jan, 2020
Table of Contents
Contribution.................................................................................................................................3
Summary .....................................................................................................................................4
The need or problem, and the target group ..................................................................................4
The product/ service/ project .......................................................................................................4
Alternatives and Competitors .......................................................................................................5
First customer or user...................................................................................................................7
Next steps ....................................................................................................................................8
References ...................................................................................................................................8
Appendices ..................................................................................................................................9
Survey questions and results ........................................................................................................9
Contribution

Surname First name KU number Contributed:

Belcher Dan K1611759 25%
Mirchandani Guneet K1550256 25%
Thapa Kamal K1717951 25%
Chandrasekaran Thillaikkarasi K1719279 25%
Summary
(To be completed by Thillai after everything else is done since it needs to add selling intentions)

The need or problem, and the target group

The gaming chair is one of the most heated and popular topics, particularly in the gaming industries,
and are different when compared to the regular chair that normally used in the office work. This is because of
their additional features such as having a neck and lumbar support cushions, sturdy base and roller,
adjustability, cooling fans, sound system on both sides of the headrests, etc. Sitting on the chair for long hours
provide discomfort and induced sore back due to prolonged sitting in the same position, and thereby affecting
the gaming and computing efforts.

The gaming chair is one of the most to-get-in-the-lists for the gamers because it allows the user to be
more comfortable whilst playing the game during their heated moments. For instance, in an online Korean
MMORPG game called ‘Elsword’, the player takes at least up to 3 to 5 minutes to conquer a single low-level
dungeon [Inc., 2020]. However, for the middle and high-level dungeon, it takes at least 15-30 minutes to
conquer it. Hence, the player needs to focus completely on the screen to battle the soldiers, monsters, mobs
and their main boss in the game. So, having an adjustable and comfortable with a sound effect on the gaming
chair will allow the gamer to enjoy their heated moment contentedly whilst playing. However, using a regular
office chair for the gaming purpose will not provide the same effects as the gaming chair because a slight
discomfort in it will affect the overall playing rank which could ruin their entire missions objectives in the
game. Furthermore, the player might feel tired after their long intense playing hours, such as raiding the
dungeons many times repeatedly and playing one-vs-one combat arena, and thus, the player would seek their
neck and back support to take a short break. Therefore, the gaming chair allows the player to lean on it more
comfortably with their build-in soft cushioning feature or can even take a short nap. Not only that much, but
it also provides a key element i.e. adjustability, which allows to adapt at different height level and angle as
desired so that the different height group people can see their PC monitor at the right angle.

This gaming chair strictly focuses on teenager age group as they have lots of free time after high
school. They find their blissful moment when they play their favourite games; even more, if they have a gaming
chair. Since the gaming chair is quite versatile and thus, it can also be used by adult and old age people for
different purposes. For instance, studying, watching movies, a mini-bed to sleep, relaxing, and so on.

The product/ service/ project

Our product is based on developing a heating plus cooling chair that could provide great comfort
among users during the extreme hot and cold weathers. As discussed above, the requirement for this product
is in high-profile amid gamers, students studying gaming technologies and people that consistently do desk
jobs.

This gaming chair comes in a package consisting of one gaming chair, one software disk and a charger.
The chair will function in both wirelessly and battery-operated technology via a lithium-ion battery to operate
the cooling fans. There will be two cooling fans each separately placed underneath the seat and at the back of
the chair and thereby, pulling in hot air around the room and generates cold air to the user. Likewise, the
heating feature will be provided by using a detachable heating cushion pad that could be attached and
detached accordingly and therefore, providing a dual comfort. The software disk that comes alongside will
allows the user to install the apps in the PC and connect to the chair wirelessly via Bluetooth. This apps allows
the user to alternate the modes i.e. either heating or cooling, on the chair and to regulate the temperature
accordingly with high-low control setting option for heating and cooling systems separately. Since a lithium-
ion battery will be used as a source of power to operate the cooling fan, so it can be recharged when the
power runs out using a charger provided.

Some additional features of the chair include comfortable headrest, adjustability, and neck and
lumbar support cushion which will provide an immense benefit for long hours of desk job for the users. The
seats will also be designed to have a mesh layout to diffuse the air evenly coming out from the fan during hot
weather.

On average, a chair with some similar feature costs approximately £200-400 in the market. So, our
product will be manufactured similarly to that of the existing product however, there will be some
modification as explained above and subsequently, supply the quality product with cost-effective to the users.
If the final prototype is advertised and sold out successfully then the funding could be from Kingston University
to manufacture in large quantity with the brand name of KU-Gaming Chair that would cost £150.

From the survey given in the appendix section, it can be seen that having a low-cost gaming chair will
make more affordable for KU student and are more likely to buy this product. More information about the
design, packaging, funding and comments from the survey are given in the appendix.

Note: The figures will be added on this section next week on Tuesday.

Alternatives and Competitors

Even though there is a lot of similar and different solutions available in the market at present for this
heating and cooling technique chairs, customers will mostly prefer to buy products that are of high
standard, attractive and modern while simultaneously being cost-effective. Our product is aimed at
conveying these long-lasting qualities meanwhile delivering great customer service because
customer service plays a crucial role too when it comes to selling a product. In this way, our product
will standout from other competitive products when these attributes are accomplished.

Some of the companies that provide similar or competitive products:

Indirect Competitors

 Thermaltake X Comfort Air Gaming Chair (£381.68) https://www.ttpremium.com/product/x-

comfort-air-gaming-chair-black-red/

Similar product aimed at heating mechanism

  Secretlab Omege 2020 Series (£304.00) https://secretlabchairs.co.uk/collections/omega-
series?utm_source=google&utm_campaign=uk-google-
shop&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=datafeed#omega_2020_softweave-
charcoal_blue&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvpqDwtOJ5wIVx7HtCh2kjgfZEAQYASABEgLdCvD_BwE

Non-similar product in terms of features but targeted at same customers

 RERE Soft Velor Heated Seat Cushion Ultra Plush (£45.00)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RERE-Velor-Heated-Cushion-
Ultra/dp/B078BFKG1M?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_10

Similar product with different feature

Direct Competitor

 Gentherm Heated and Cooled Executive Office Chair HC-321 (Cost unavailable at the
moment) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gentherm-Heated-Cooled-Executive-HC-
321/dp/B01HOMYOKS

Competitive product with slight variation in seat design

The above-mentioned companies produce relatively similar or competitive products to our concept
but still not exactly the same. We included either more or less or different features when compared
to most of them. This plays as a good strategy to earn more potential customers and our Unique
selling Point includes these various features to be combined in one product which will be reliable
with reasonable cost. As Peter Drucker’s quote says “Quality in a product or service is not what the
supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for” (The Quotations Page,
2020). Our product will follow these properties and therefore useful to consumers.
First customer or user
The product is aimed at the gaming community market which consists mainly of 18-35-year olds as
seen below from statistics taken in 2019 in the United States of America. This is a dynamic shift from
historical data when arcade gaming was still alive. As the newer generations have grown up with PC’s
and consoles, gaming is no longer viewed as a hobby but more like a part of daily lives. This leads into
a change in time spent gaming on a daily basis and our product will focus on comfortability and ease
of access to simpler experiences whilst spending the daily average of 30 minutes gaming. We expect
to showcase the chair at gaming forums within the United States to start with, for there being a
commercially large gaming convention almost on a monthly basis, and will hand out a few free
samples to V-loggers for publicity and marketing purposes. We expect to sell mostly through brands
such as Walmart, Best Buy, and GameStop. Once we have obtained market recognition through these
well-known electronic retailers and their marketing, we will launch large scale productions and
introduce the product to online retailers such as amazon, as the trend of shopping online with same
day and next day deliveries provide ease of access and comfort catches on worldwide. The last and
final thing to look at is the commercial viability of the product or in other words competitive pricing
against our future competitors. Our product provides such features that market competition is low
and we can expect to be able to compete easily, as the current competitors are sold as exclusive
premium products and our aim is to be a daily use product instead. A combination of the above
mentioned strategies should deliver a successful product.
https://www.theesa.com/esa-research/2019-essential-facts-about-the-computer-and-video-game-industry/

https://www.gamesparks.com/blog/the-average-gamer-how-the-demographics-have-shifted/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/642322/leading-consumer-electronics-retailers-of-the-us/

https://www.statista.com/statistics/189582/age-of-us-video-game-players-since-2010/

Next steps
(To be completed by Dan)

References
{Youtube video – A heated seat that goes anywhere, installed two usb fans to mesh chair for better
ventilation (to be edited later )
The Quotations Page. (2020). The Quotations Page: Quote from Peter Drucker. [online] Available at:
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/4773.html [Accessed 17 Jan. 2020].} to be edited later -Thillai}

Inc., K. G., 2020. Elsword. [Online] Available at: https://elsword.koggames.com/ [Accessed 17 Jan. 2020.]
(Please everyone put in your reference here)

Appendices

Survey questions and results