Senior Dylan Rose never expected to win the early adopter contest for Google Glass, so when he got an e-mail saying he was one of 8,000 people selected to buy the glasses before their official release, he was overjoyed. However, the taste of victory turned to ash in his mouth once he saw the price: $1,500. At that moment, the first seed for Kai, a phone-to-ear interface, was planted in Dylan Rose’s head.

     Dylan Rose said Kai is a cheaper alternative to Google Glass that integrates a voice assistant into a 4 centimeter by 2.5 centimeter speaker that attaches onto glasses behind the ear.

     “[Kai can be used for] texting, calling, even reading out notifications to you that you can respond to,” said Dylan Rose. “There [are] some practical [uses] like setting reminders, setting calendar [dates] and appointments, as well as some cool ones like calling an Uber or searching [fun facts] online through the voice interface.”

     Dylan Rose said the main goal of Kai is to reduce smartphone usage overall. 

     “By putting [Kai] on your glasses behind your ear, it kind of puts it out of the way, and you just wear it throughout the day without you even realizing it’s there,” said Dylan Rose. “And all those smart functions ultimately lead to reduced smartphone usage. So [if] you’re driving, instead of pulling out your phone, you hear a message spoken to you, you can respond to that message, you can interact with your phone without having to use that screen.”

     According to Dylan Rose, the road from idea to product has been a long one. First, he had to create an alpha version of Kai that worked with few errors. Next, he had to design the physical product. This step was challenging: Dylan Rose went through seven design variants before reaching the final shape.

     Once the design was finalized, Dylan Rose said he began to focus on marketing. He made a website for Kai called Glimpse Wearables to introduce to his device.

     Then, to find connections and funding, Dylan Rose created a Kickstarter project.

     Beginning on Nov. 22, Kai will be available for pre-sale to the public through a Kickstarter project. Kickstarter is a website on which people can support products or businesses of entrepreneurs by funding their creations. Dylan Rose’s goal for the project is $100,000. Kai would cost $130 for the first 300 people who support the project and $150 for anyone who funds Kai after that. The projected retail price is $200.

     According to Dylan Rose’s father, Scott Rose, Dylan Rose has been relentless in the pursuit of making Kai a reality.

     “He thinks about this almost every minute of the day,” said Scott Rose. “[And] it’s not so much the business opportunity, [but] really doing something that helps people out and [creates] something new and unique that solves a real problem.”

     Dylan Rose said being a member of GBN DECA has helped him throughout the process of developing Kai.

     According to DECA Co-sponsor Joe Bruno, DECA trains students to think like entrepreneurs.

     “You’re constantly thinking, ‘What is it that could potentially be solved here?” Bruno said.  “What problem needs to be solved? Why is it that someone wants a new product or service?’”

     In addition to changing his mindset, Dylan Rose said DECA also prepared him for the business world.

     “DECA was great in not only sparking my interest in business, but enabling me to think like a businessperson,” said Dylan Rose. “Product design, making a product, that’s one side of it, but getting it into people’s hands, that’s business.”

     Scott Rose said he helped Dylan Rose develop Kai and work out technical aspects of Glimpse Wearables through his technology and business background, even putting Dylan Rose in contact with many businesspeople who gave him advice regarding his startup.

     “I’m probably a lot more critical [of Dylan Rose] than any of the outsiders, and sometimes that can lead to some heated discussions around the dinner table,” said Scott Rose. “But he has, on his own, networked into [many partnerships].”

     According to Dylan Rose, Kai is just the beginning of Glimpse Wearables.

     “I have a lot of products down the line that I would like to introduce,” said Dylan Rose. “Specifically with Kai, I’d like to see this turn into a full-on smart glasses product line. So it starts with just an attachment, but I could see it going into frames. [Glimpse Wearables] is centered around creating this voice interface and putting it into these [easy] to use wearables. That’s what I’m looking to do. Those are the types of products I’m looking to make.”