Publisher’s Note: Today is part four of our ongoing Startup Summer series.
It’s part of Venture Lab Aiken (VLA), organized by the Aiken Chamber of Commerce, Make Startups in theClubhou.se in the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center (GCITC) and South Carolina Research Authority. $500,000 in seed money will be distributed.
The ABS system started this year in Major League Baseball.
In the future, baseball fans and coaches can use a different device being developed to work in the strike zone.
It is called PlateLogic, and Paul Musick came up with the concept.
“PlateLogic is a haptic device that vibrates whenever a strike has come across a plate, so when a ball hits the strike zone, it will vibrate in the official’s pocket or on his watch, like an iWatch, and tells him only when it hits a strike zone is it a strike,” Musick explained for ABD. “So, he didn’t have to guess anymore; he knows it’s a strike, so the strike zone is set. I think the device can be used for other things, but right now it’s focused on softball and baseball.”
The device is small and will be discreetly in the official’s pocket. Musick realizes, however, that baseball purists may take issue with its use.
“The idea is that it empowers people,” he said. “Before AI takes over completely, I think we empower the officials to embrace. The idea is that they only know it’s a strike; nobody else knows. I just vibrates to them, and they can still make a decision in this situation.”
The startup businesses selected for this virtual startup incubator are committed to attending weekly roundtable sessions and will have access to mentorship, training, and real-world tools to make ideas become successful businesses.
Musick said that the face-to-face component leans into their ability to share ideas, problems, and find solutions.
“I really like Zoom meetings, they are very productive and efficient, but you can’t replace face-to-face,” he said. “You can build a relationship more so face to face, and now it’s nice to have one Zoom call afterwards, but having a face to face moves a big impact, and understanding how people are walking and seeing things, so that you just build a foundation of relationships and face to face meetings.
In return, they will share a $500,000 cache of money contributed by the Angel Magnate Group.
“But when you divide that among the startups, that’s not enough to really grow and scale your business,” said Eric Parker, co-founder of Make Startups. “The real goal is to give people enough working capital in the early stages, so that they can prove out what they’re doing, so that we can connect them to broader venture capital markets.”
Musick said he knows exactly how he will use the seed money.
“I’ve already got it tested, and it would be for helping me run a pilot program at a university. I’m focusing on the SEC and ACC, either one of those two. So, it would be helping me do a pilot program at a university,” he said.
Musick has a website to follow the progress at: www.platelogics.com/
This virtual incubator runs for 12 weeks, ending in September.
