Please following items in the preparation of project descriptions. The applicant must answer all the items below, otherwise the application dismissed. That reads "TODO" you can write text, insert images or tables. The application can not be longer than 20 pages, excluding the cover, summary, table of contents and bibliography. It is forbidden to change the width margin nor have the font size smaller than 11-point Calibri (Body) or equivalent. If application is made for other than MS Word format example PDF, the applicant must pay close attention to page number before submitting the application. Those who do not have access to MS Word are advised to use OneDrive. Additional information and rules can be found on the website Rannís. The application deadline is at. 16.00 per application deadline is entirely equation 15 February and 15 September except where these days carry a weekend or public holiday. The application deadline moves to the next ordinary working day.
At it's core HiDef: Knits will be an easy-to-use design app for creating handmade knitwear that even non-computer savvy grandmothers can use on tablets and the web. However, the HiDef: Knits app will also offer users the ability to publish and sell their designs via a web platform created with two goals in mind. Firstly, this will enable users who have limited or no experience in knitting to design garments and outsource the knitting to others. Secondly, this will empower popular and prolific users, who choose to sell their designs, a potentially valuable income source.
Current knitting related apps on the market aren't sophisticated enough to generate even the simplest of garments and are mostly used to keep track of ones progress in a written pattern. There are a few desktop software solutions available that create illustrative pattern schematics, but they have steep learning curves and are generally too expensive for self-publishing designers and hobby knitters. Also, these apps were created with sewing designers in mind, so there is minimal support for generating meaningful patterns for hand-knitting. However, there is an abundant selection of software for creating knitting charts that can be translated into written directions. Even though parts of the solution have already been created as standalone programs, unfortunately, most of these are incompatible with one another and many of the businesses behind these apps are currently out of business or are no longer in active development.
The HiDef: Knits app will incorporate all of these components and ideas into a holistic intuitive solution that enables aspiring and experienced designers alike to create bespoke knitting patterns. Additionally, HiDef: Knits will uniquely offer a 3D rendered preview of the newly designed knitwear draped over a mannequin that matches user specified measurements complete with proposed yarn and weave.
Additionally, all HiDef software will be developed and released as free and open-source software (FOSS), which means that everyone is free to use, copy, and change the software source code in any way to custom fit their needs. We believe this is ethically aligned with the openness of knitting and other textile arts which evolved from folk traditions that have been passed down for thousands of years in every culture on the planet.
Lýsið verkefninu og markmiðum þess. Hverjar eru áætlaðar niðurstöður/afurðir verkefnisins, hvers eðlis eru afurðirnar (t.d. tæki, búnaður, hugbúnaður, þjónusta).
Describe the project and its objectives. What are the estimated results / products project nature are the products (such as tools, equipment, software, service).
Throughout history there has always been a strong tradition of knitting with the earliest
knitted artifacts dating back as far as the 11th century. Knitting is largely a feminine utilitarian art form that unites women across cultures and continents.
Many countries have a rich heritage of knitting. Iceland is known worldwide for
both our unique wool, such as lopi, and the traditional Icelandic lopapeysa, which is a unique variation of fair-isle knitting of a blouson with a circular yoke. The renowned
lopapeysa, is relatively new, as it first documentation is from the 1960s. However, as
years go by, the design of the traditional woolen sweater has changed in line
with fashion trends and there are endless variations of patterns in terms of
silhouettes and texture. For instance, in the case of the lopapeysa, there are
now variations that button-up, open with a zipper, have an added hood, as well as inset pockets- the list goes on. But all of these evolutions share the same underlying baseline structure.
Knitting can be very rewarding as it's generally done as a labor of love. Yet, studies have shown that knitting also has many health benefits[1]; doing it is a form of meditation for many. Knitting used to be considered passé and only in the domain of grandmothers, but in recent years there has been a massive resurgence. Knitting (and crocheting) has turned into a favored pastime for men and women of varying ages especially in global hipster culture. The revival is partly due to celebrity fans like Kate Moss and Amanda Seyfried who took up knitting, but perhaps the largest contributing reason that created the knitting revival is thanks to the Internet. On-line tutorials help wannabe knitters become self-learned novices and later experts. Social media apps like Instagram gives knitters channels to show off their creations to the world.
Ravelry is a social networking site with over 6.45 million registered users that consists exclusively of knitters, crocheters and other textile enthusiasts. Ravelry connects enthusiasts and professionals and is both a social platform where users can share and discuss their knit work, but also a venue for distributing knitting patterns, both for free and for sale, within the site. There is also very lively groups on Facebook, such as Handóðir prjónarar with over 17 thousand (mostly) Icelandic members.
Knitters take great pride in their work and most practitioners know of the untold hours of knitting disasters and unwanted frogging[2] or where a knitter unravels hours upon hours of meticulous work. This may be due to reading the pattern incorrectly or an unflattering fit. Since one size does not fit all, the objective of HiDef: Knits is to simplify the process of designing original pieces, as well as altering knitwear for a perfect fit and a professional finish.
A user starts by entering desired and needed body measurements into the HiDef: Knits app (cf. Figure 1) for constructing their garment. The first version of HiDef: Knits will solely focus on sweaters, cardigans, dresses and skirts since they share similar building blocks. For these types of garments there are a total of 17 body measurements that need to be considered for an individual fit, namely: shoulder width, chest/bust circumference, armhole depth, raglan depth, waist circumference, hip circumference, length from hip to waist, front and back neck length, body length at front and back, length from armhole to lower edge, sleeve length, upper arm width, wrist width, length from center back to wrist.
Figure 1 Measurements
Based on these body measurements it's important to incorporate ease (i.e. extra width) in the pattern design in order for the wearer to move comfortably in a garment. For instance, 5cm ease for body circumference is sufficient, but 10cm is preferred when designing outerwear. The HiDef: Knits app will make the necessary "ease additions" that are appropriate to each pattern shape based on the user's choice of style, such as: standard, roomy, tight, form fitting (i.e. negative ease) or user defined.
From here the software will offer constructional elements for the user to play around with. Figure 2 depicts several classic torso silhouettes (i.e. front and back pieces) and Figure 3 demonstrates classic sleeve silhouettes that a user could define in the HiDef: Knits software. The user starts by defining the shape of the garment, and building on classical silhouettes those would be: tapered, kimono or blouson. Next the user decides on length (cropped, waist, hip or knee length). The next step is armhole shaping, the most common silhouettes being dropped shoulder (cf. left most variation in Figures 2 and 3), set-in shoulder, raglan, circular yoke (e.g. lopapeysa) or saddle shoulder. The choice of armhole shaping effects the design of the sleeve piece, and the HiDef: Knits software makes sure that the front, back and shoulder pieces all correspond to one another for perfect joining. This is extremely important for achieving a comfortable fit. Other design elements for the sleeve pieces have to deal with the look towards the cuff, as they could be a lantern sleeve or straight sleeve with or without any tapering. If there are to be cuffs (classic fold-back, bell cuff or placket cuff) on the sleeve that design element is to be incorporated into the sleeve piece for seamlessness.
Figure 2 Classic torso silhouettes
Figure 3 Classic sleeve silhouettes
Going back to the torso (i.e. front and back pieces) there are other structural elements to consider, such as necklines (the classic boat-neck, square, round or “V” shaped) which also effect the choice of collar (straight, split, turtleneck, cowl, shawl). And then there is also the question of whether the garment is tapered or not, and a choice of edging. Similar to the sleeves if the design is lantern, straight, or etc.
Moreover, if the garment is open, i.e. a cardigan, then there are several possibilities. Center closure with zipper, overlapping or independent front band or perhaps rounded front edges. This also adds the choice of lapels (classic or notched) and buttonholes (if necessary).
As the user is designing a garment there is a 3D rendering of the approximate look of the garment. So there is an interactive feature how the choice of constructional elements effects the overall look and feel of the design.
From here the user defines the texture and color arrangement of the garment. With the prototype starting with the most commonly used stockinette stitch, garter stitch and ribbing, with lace and cable knit support coming later. The user can combine available stitch patterns for practical and aesthetic purposes. If the user chooses stockinette stitch, there will be fair-isle[4] support.
As garment fit is important, the knitting gauge needs to be correctly estimated before making any translations from measurements to numbers of stitches and rows. At this stage is where the choice of yarn comes into play as well as the individuals knitting tension is decided.
With all of these structural components, HiDef: Knits software will produce a chart that any knitter can follow with the correct number stitches for cast-on and where to make decreases and increases along with appropriate bind-off techniques. The software will also take into consideration the knitters personal preferences such as whether the output should be a multiple piece construction (which is the most common version), or a one-piece construction (the "preferred" approach in Iceland), where the latter does not include selvage stitches as there are no joins needed to connect the front and back pieces together.
Gerið grein fyrir stöðu þekkingar (e. state of the art) innanlands og erlendis á þeim sviðum sem verkefnið nær til og hvernig verkefnið getur bætt við núverandi þekkingu á viðkomandi sviði.
Please describe the state of knowledge (e. State of the art) domestically and abroad in the areas for the project and how the project can add existing knowledge in the relevant field.
To truly understand just how important open source has been in shaping the modern tech startup powered world, look at your smart phone for a second. If your phone runs Android, it wouldn't exist without open source software. Android is the most popular operating system in the world and it is open source. Next, look at your favorite apps that you depend on daily. If Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Slack, AirBnB, or Gmail are among those apps, those would cease to run if not for open source software working behind the scenes. When large tech companies in Sillicon Valley are acquired for vast sums of money, it is seldom talked about just how integral open source played in allowing these companies to sprout up as quickly as they did. It was recently estimated that at least $143M of Instagram’s $1B acquisition (that's 15% of Instagram's value) came from open source components. Software engineers who choose to work in open source as opposed to proprietary companies (like Microsoft) become intimately aware of the universe of open source tools, libraries, and frameworks that are available to them which makes development time easier and faster.
When it comes to algorithm design, machine learning, and software that deals with complexity and optimizations (like an app such as HiDef: Knits) it is important to keep close ties to academia as new techniques and optimizations often emerge and can be leveraged into new features. Most academic research participates in open source in order for effective peer review to occur. Thus, building HiDef: Knits with open source at it's core will allow greater ease of integration with cutting edge research as it is discovered and published. Keeping a close eye on and relationship with acamdemia will pave the way for future feature development such as clever suggestions to the garment designer. Imagine an "auto-complete" for a new pattern design.
Lastly, by being an open source project, HiDef: Knits will be available to the world in a unique way that many tech startups are not. This "openess" will allow others to contribute ideas, audit the code, and explore the overall concept, app, and web platform as it evolves and grows over time in ways that closed source proprietary software cannot. The licensing and overall culture of open source software is a very "hands on" engaged process. When app users get to feel a part of and apps creation they often yield wonderful ideas and feedback, which dovetails really nicely with conducting usability studies and making user experience improvements. This is crucial in getting accurate input, reaching optimal consensus from users, and then perfecting the product offerings over time.
Gerið grein fyrir þeirri vinnu sem hefur átt sér stað áður en ákveðið var að hefja verkefnið. Hefur tæknileg eða markaðsleg forkönnun verið gerð? Hefur frelsi til athafna verið kannað með leit í einkaleyfisgagnagrunnum?
Give an account of the work that has taken place before the decision to start the project. Have a technical or market pilot study been conducted? have freedom of action have been investigated in search of patent databases?
After consulting 200 Icelandic knitters only 82% had designed a garment for themselves and of this 82% only 10% of those have published their patterns. The remaining 18% did not consider themselves designers. The majority built their work on existing patterns in terms of calculating the number of stitches needed. Some created their garments on the fly and as a result of their undocumented approach their designs werenot repeatable. Generally, designers write down calculations with a pen and graph paper, but this is often done in an erratic way such that they didn't feel comfortable in publishing their work with others. Those who published their work mostly used Excel to manage their calculations and offered a grading of sizes.
From personal observations, when knitters share their original designs on social media, the comment threads are bombarded with questions about pattern availability. For hobbyist knitters, the excitement of starting a new project often supersedes detailed pre-planning. This causes problems later as there may be last minute alterations from what one initially planned on which might not work correctly due to forgotten decreases or increases which can result in a poorly fitted garment. Also, since it's not known beforehand if a project will be loved by many, it's can be extremely hard to retrace ones steps in order to publish a pattern in a coherent way for others to follow, let alone use the appropriate terminology and abbreviations. The objective of HiDef: Knits software is to help aspiring designers (both for personal use and pattern distributions) for easier pre-planning. The result will be an overall improved knitting experience as there is minimal painstaking assembly process due to forgotten structural elements.
Gerið grein fyrir væntanlegum markaðsgeira og stöðu markaðar. Gerið grein fyrir þörf á markaði (innanlands og/eða erlendis) og á hvaða hátt afurðin svarar henni. Lýsið samkeppnisaðilum og á hvaða hátt afurðin er frábrugðin afurðum annarra samkeppnisaðila.
Please describe the potential market segment and market position. Please describe the the need of the market (domestic and / or foreign) and the manner in which the product answers it. Describe the competitors and the way the product is different from the products other competitors.
As mentioned before in section 1.3, of the over 200 Icelandic knitters polled, the majority of knitwear designers use pen and graph paper to create their designs.
There are several software solutions that aid in creating fair-isle designs (multi-color imagery) in knitwear. Knit Visualizer by Knit Foundry is knitting software that has not been updated since December, 2008 and is essentially a chart wizard that translates chart symbols to knitting abbreviations. Knit Foundry offers a free demo version for users to interact with the software, however, the interface is not intuitive for knitting novices and there are no libraries included unless you buy the full version, which is a flat-fee of $185. This price point is considered far too high for most Ravelry users. The output of the software is user-defined charts and can be based on 40 common stitches and 75 different cable stitches. A drawback that is frequently discussed in Ravelry forums is the written pattern generated would always need editing to group repeats, etc. Nevertheless, a nice program to get illustrated charts for knitting.
Similar to Knit Visualizer is Knitting Chart Editor, a by StitchMastery. While priced lower at £60, the full version includes hundreds of predefined stitches including 150+ cables, Estonian stitches, brioche, beading and twined stitches. StitchMastery also offers a stitch font library which can be purchased seperately. Not only does Knitting Chart Editor include more types of predefined stitches than Knit Visualizer, but the software also has the ability to detect repeated stitches and automatically annotate them. However, the last version was released in 2014 and there is no new software development announced. Reviews on Ravelry and experienced knitters blogs [7] warn prospective users that there is a steep learning curve to the program, and the manual is often not sufficient. However, pattern instructions for repeats are easily created and charts are nicely formatted.
Another competitor is EnvisioKnit by Jane of EnvisioKnit Design Studio, which is priced at $99. Unlike StitchMastery, the manual is easy to navigate and learn from, while many commands are intuitive. [8] Otherwise, EnvisionKnit has very similar capabilities to that of StitchMastery. Another chart visualizing application is KnitBird which prices at €59 and only offers a chart without any automated written instructions. However, KnitBirds's main feature is not offered by any of the other applications is an image importer where you can adjust the level of pixelation/detail.
Furthermore, users who purchase and download Knit Visualizer, StitchMastery, and KnitBird software report encounter technical difficulties installing all the programs depending on their hardware. Compatibility is also often an issue, especially with software that has not released an update in many few years. HiDef: Knits would be a web-based application, only requiring an updated browser and iOS and Android on tablets have great updating interfaces that nudge users to update software easily.
Note none of these programs offer a 3D rendering of textures based on ones created stitch chart.
Unfortunately, none of these aforementioned software applications take the design process further, in particular in terms of pattern grading (i.e. sizing), which is the main selling point of HiDef: Knits. However, there is a web-based application called Prjónamunstur.is and that is a good tool for designing an Icelandic lopapeysa with your own fair-isle pattern. There is even a simple 3D rendering of the garment, and with a downloadable PDF instruction of your design available in several languages. Although this is similar to what HiDef: Knits will provide. Prjónamynstur's drawback is that it only produces fair-isle blousons that have a circular yoke and only based on 3 body measurements (shoulder circumference, sleeve length, and length from armhole to lower edge). HiDef: Knits, on the other hand, will be designed with more flexibility, and choice of constructional components. Therefore, an Icelandic lopapeysa would only be one possible configuration of many for possible garment design within HiDef: Knits. Moreover, Prjónamunstur hasn't been updated since March, 2015 and requires Microsoft SilverLight to run, e.g. making it obsolete for latest versions of Chrome.
Commercial fashion industry use computer aided design (CAD) software. At the forefront is Kaledo (previously known as PrimaVision) by Lectra, with customers such as Louis Vuitton, Hermès and H&M. Another, CAD based fashion software is SmartDesigner by ASP Creation. Both of these solutions are not meant to deal with knits especially. They are for general fashion design, but offer a knitting module for viewing. Since these solutions are marketed for commercial industry, they are well beyond the price range of self-employed knitwear designers. Furthermore, based on the documentation the knit modules are focused on relatively simple cable knits and fair-isle knitwear as they are meant for mass-production, hence detailed nuances of hand-knitting with a professional finish are not addressed as they are not efficient for such manufacturing. The CAD fashion software is essentially designing knit textiles to be made with industrial knitting machines, that are then cut and assembled just as is done with normal woven fabrics. However, when dealing with hand-knits, each piece is knit from one continuous yarn, and only cut at the very end. Thus its shaping is determined by the choice of decreases and increases, and the choice of bind off techniques that are all detailed in the knitting pattern.
Garment Designer by
Cochenille Design Studio is a relatively affordable software solution for
garment design, priced at $199. However, current version was released in 2005
and ridden in errors, despite being sold as compatible with Windows 10.
Plug-ins are available (for Win XP to 8.1) at extra cost, around $25 a pop.
The garment design is limited to a drop-down pane of predefined shapes and sizes.
It's possible to adjust some measurements, but the overall shape is predefined
with limit options in terms of flexibility of design.
Moreover, if contradictory design elements are chosen together,
or input variables are invalid, the software's error handling is not intuitive
of what is wrong or the the program freezes. Therefore, this program is not
appropriate for unexperienced designers as the learning curve is quite steep.
Furthermore, Garment Designer is marketed for general pattern design to help
with grading. There is only a basic knitting module, with limited options of
creating unique stitch texture or fair-isle charts. The output is also hard
to convert to standard knitting instructions (they don't give up repeats etc.)
Therefore, Garment Designer would need to be done in conjunction with a more
sophisticated knitting chart editor/visualizer as previously discussed.
Since these programs are not designed to be compatible with one another,
this requires a lot of manual conversions that consequently hinders the flow
of the design process.
To summarise, most knitting software out there are chart illustrators, where some can even recognize pattern repeats that preferred when publishing written directions. Prjónamunstur offers additional grading, but only for lopapeysa styled garment. Garment Designer has more variety in terms of tailoring, but the learning curve is steep and software development is no longer active. Same applies for professional CAD fashion software, but they are priced too highly for the target audience of HiDef: Knits. Moreover, Garment Designer's knitting module is very rudimentary as development efforts were for pattern design for sewing.
HiDef: Knits target audience is not computer savvy and the usage needs to be simple to implement. Therefore hardware requirements or third party support needs to be minimal or easy to install and sustainable in terms of few upgrades are required by our users. For this we plan to create a light version that could be run on tablets, but full functionalities as desktop web-application. Therefore, the back-end server engineering and shared libraries needs to be flexible enough to cater to both of those architectures.
Given the number of knitting visualization software out there, and most forum posts on Ravelry discussing the pros and cons of those programs, the main complaint is poor user experience- the design isn't intuitive enough and the learning curve is too steep. As a result, many aspiring designers are deterred of making the effort of streamlining the design process and continue to use graph paper and manual calculations of stitches. Therefore an intuitive user interface and good user experience is key for the success of HiDef: Knits.
To help with user experience, realizing draping of a knitted garment on a 3D model will allow the user to preview the garment without having to create an actual sample and having a model wear it. The draping will be based on shape and type of yarn chosen as yarn weight can have unexpected effect of the draping which is hard for designers to anticipate. The objective of the 3D model is to incorporate movement as well, because many faults of unexperienced designers is to create a garment that might look pretty and fitting but the design is so constrained that it is uncomfortable to wear. By watching the 3D model move you could spot those problematic designs flaws beforehand.
Regarding garment design and grading, when there are custom stitch patterns used there needs to be care in how to effectively mix and match stitches such that the pattern repeats harmonize. Here the 3D modelling will also help with showcasing how different pattern pieces work together and choice of finishing techniques (e.g. bind-off, cast-on, decreases, increases) effect the overall look of the garment.
The research project with University of Iceland is challenging optimization problem with respect to aesthetics and functionality of knitwear patterns. Data will be obtained from Ravelry, and learning algorithm's features will be based on pattern difficulty ranking, users' project status statistics, pattern attributes, and imagery to name a few. The optimization model will then be used to auto-generated knitting patterns, where high-scoring ones would be uploaded and sold on HiDef: Knits hosting service as a mean of income source for HiDef: Knits continued development.
Lýsið mögulegum afleiddum tækifærum sem geta orðið til, t.d. vegna nýrrar þekkingar í verkefninu og/eða vegna notkunar afurðarinnar.
Describe the potential secondary opportunities that can lead to, for example, for new knowledge of the project and / or the use of the product.
Future work for HiDef: Knits is support for designing socks, hats, skirts, pants, shawls, and other accessories. A natural extension would be to add support for other types of textiles, especially crochet (that is not currently addressed in the market). Moreover, it should be relatively straight forward to translate the software for woven textiles, where the shaping would be done via burst seams or gathers. Note, that since the project is developed as free and open source, outside parties would be able to build upon the HiDef: Knits framework, not necessarily for textiles production, but for instance, gaming developers could strip down the knitting intricacies away from the program and just use the 3D modelling of garments as a standalone program for more varied avatars.
Direct usage of HiDef: Knits software would render a knitting pattern based on the users design. The designer is free to publish the pattern for others to use, either free of charge or commercially. HiDef: Knits will not put impose any non-commercial license, however, most likely there will be an attribution clause to help with marketing of the HiDef: Knits solution, similar to Creative Commons license Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
HiDef: Knits users can also use the pattern to create their garments to sell. This could be beneficial for those who knit for a living. For instance, Ylur is a small Icelandic knitwear company that creates beautiful garments for children. Ylur's production is domestic machine knitting but with hand-knitted finishing touches. Ylur has agreed to be a beta-tester for HiDef: Knits.
Lýsið áætlun fyrirtækisins um hvernig farið verður með mögulegar óefnislegar eignir (einkaleyfi, vörumerkjavernd, hönnunarvernd) sem fást úr verkefninu.
Describe your business plan on how to be a possible intangible property (patent, trademark protection, design) obtained from the project.
According to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, software patents should not exist under European law.[3] Moreover, all of HiDef: Knits features are based on known processes, and will be developed and licensed as free and open-source software (FOSS), therefore there is no grounds for a patents needed.
A strong principal of the creators of HiDef: Knits is to create free and open source software (FOSS). Given the nature of how many of past knitwear software solutions have either discontinued development or are rarely updated, and therefore become obsolete in terms of hardware and software requirements.
We believe that creating a solution that is FOSS will benefit future users and knitting communities the world over. Therefore even if we decide to not support the solution any longer by cutting updates or no longer releasing patches, the knowledge gained by the project will not be lost and could be picked up by other knit-programmers-enthusiasts in future.
Along similar lines, users can take a piece of the open source software and tweak it to suit their needs. Since the code is open, it's simply a matter of modifying it to add the functionality you want. This is not applicable to proprietary software.
The software will be developed open to the public from GitHub at https://github.com/HiDefTextiles/HiDefKnits.
Gerið grein fyrir því hvernig verkefninu er stýrt, hverjir stýra því og ábyrgð hvers þátttakanda. Tilgreinið verkefnisstjóra, hverjir sitja í stjórn verkefnisins og verkaskiptingu hennar.
Give an account of how the project is managed, who control and responsibility each participant. Specify the project manager, who is in control project and its division of labor.
The administration of HiDef: Knits is composed of a project manager and core developers of HiDef: Knits along with outside advisers from knitwear industry and University of Iceland. The role of the project manager is to plan, organize meetings, communicate information as well as to monitor and ensure the proper progress of the project. Project manager is responsible for keeping track of project accounting and project progress and report to Rannís.
Dr. Helga Ingimundardóttir is the project manager for HiDef: Knits and the core-developer of HiDef: Knits' back-end engineering. Helga holds a PhD in Computational Engineering from the University of Iceland, and has BSc. degree in Mathematics. Helga was software developer at Valka ehf. from 2012-2015, where she was lead developer on software for a X-Ray guided cutting machine that automatically removes pin bones and cuts fish fillet to the desired portions. Since 2015, Helga has work for AGR Dynamics as a SQL specialist for implementation and customization on AGR's inventory optimization software. See CV for details.
Helga is a fourth generation textile designer. Her grandparents owned and operated the knitwear manufacturing company ICESHEEP from 70s through 00s. Helga is familiar with the design process for knitwear through ICESHEEP. Helga has also been known from designing and visualizing her own fair-isle patterns through MATLAB programming. Helga is the co-owner of Þóruson slf. and CEO of HiDef: Knits.
Ólafur Þór Magnússon is the core-developer of the 3D modelling. Ólafur graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BFA) from Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California in 2014. There he specialised in animation and visual effects (i.e. VFX). Moreover, he has taken several advanced character animation trainings from iAnimate. Ólafur has worked as a visual effects artist at RVX, 3D artist and animator at Clockwork Alien Games, 3D Modeler and texturer at inHouse, and he is currently a character animator at CAOZ Ltd. See CV for details.
Brennan Novak, an American national based in Berlin, and is the core-developer of the user interface. Brennan has extensive knowledge on UI/UX design and a great advocate for open-source software. His skill sets mainly lies in interface design, user experience design, front-end engineering, web development, and branding. For the last sixteen years Brennan has worked for web startups, consulted for Fortune 100 companies (e.g. Nike), worked at advertising and digital agencies, as well as served individuals and small to medium sized businesses, as well co-founded several FOSS projects.
Brennan's two main projects in recent years have been MailPile and Qubes OS. MailPile is a self-hosted e-mail client with easy encryption support, and Qubes OS is a security-oriented operating system. Both MailPile and Qubes OS are FOSS.
Árni Heimir Ingimundarson is the co-owner of Þóruson slf. Árni graduated with a masters of international business from Reykjavik University in 2010 and a masters of tax administration from Bifröst in 2011. He is currently the CEO at Talnaberg ehf., an accountant firm in Iceland. Árni will be the CFO and operation talent for HiDef: Knits.
Dr. Tómas Philip Rúnarsson has advisory role to HiDef: Knits and will be a research collaborator regarding machine learning and optimization of auto-generating knitwear patterns. Tómas is a professor of Operations Research within the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, at the University of Iceland. See (CV)[RANNIS/cv_tpr.pdf] for details. Tómas will supervise a Masters student on this research collaboration, and Helga will co-supervise.
Páll Kristján Pálsson has advisory role to HiDef: Knits. Páll teaches innovation, entrepreneurship, product development and marketing at University of Iceland. He has been on the board of several start-ups. See CV for details. Páll is currently the general manager of GLÓFI, which is a leader in the development and commercial manufacturing of woolen knitwear in Iceland.
Áslaug Einarsdóttir has advisory role to HiDef: Knits. Áslaug is retired, but in the past she worked as a tailor before starting her own knitwear company ICESHEEP in the 1970s. Áslaug was the primary knitwear designer working mostly with lopi. Since retiring in 2005, Áslaug has limited herself to personal hand-knits.
Ef um er að ræða samstarfsverkefni, gerið grein fyrir eðli samstarfsins og gildi þess fyrir verkefnið. Gerið grein fyrir hlutverki allra samstarfsaðila í verkefninu. Lýsið samstarfi bæði við innlenda og erlenda samstarfsaðila.
If the case of a cooperative, describe the nature of the partnership and value for the project. Please describe the role of all partners project. Describe cooperation both with domestic and foreign partners.
Ragnheiður “Ragga” Eiríksdóttir has agreed to be a beta-tester for HiDef: Knits (cf. enclosed declaration of cooperation) with emphasis on pattern readability meant for hand-knitting. Ragga owns and operates KNITTING ICELAND, that publishes publishes knitting-related material, such as books and tutorial DVDs. Ragga has published several knitting books, such as Prjóniprjón, and offers an extensive collection on Ravelry of self-published patterns. Ragga is also a known knitting instructor, she has taught at workshops, on-line courses on Craftsy, and on Knitting Iceland's knitting tours around Iceland. Ragga has collaborated with world renowned knitting designers, such as Stephen West of Westknits and Steven Mark Berg of StevenBe. Ragga's connections to the knitting scene and knowledge of publishing will be invaluable for the marketing and development of HiDef: Knits.
Fanney Svansdóttir has agreed to be a beta-tester for HiDef: Knits (cf. enclosed declaration of cooperation) with emphasis on patterns meant for domestic machine knitting. Fanney owns and operates YLUR, a knitwear company located in Selfoss, Iceland. Ylur's production is a combination of domestic machine knitting and hand-knitting finishing.
Páll Kr. Pálsson is our contact at GLÓFI, a commercial knitting manufacturer in Iceland. Glófi produces mostly for its own brand, VARMA, but also for other designers and companies under their brands such as Cintamani, Farmers Market, Vík Prjónsdóttir, Andrea by Andrea and Júniform. Our collaboration with Glófi will help us better understand the commercial market and further learn how make our HiDef: Knits suit the needs of that market
The collaboration with University of Iceland is to auto-generate knitting garments that would be optimized with respect to aesthetics and functionality. Dr. Tómas Philip Rúnarsson, professor at University of Iceland, will supervise a masters student in computational engineering (position to be advertised for the school year 2017-18). The research project is machine learning based on identifying and extrapolating key features that identify with popular patterns on Ravelry. The feature can be text sentiments analysis in conjunction with image pattern analysis. Patterns detected will be constrained by optimizing them with respect to functionality. Dr. Helga Ingimundardóttir of HiDef: Knits, will co-supervise the MSc student.
Gerið grein fyrir kostnaði og fjármögnun verkefnisins. Hvernig verður brugðist við ef áætluð fjármögnun til verkefnisins stenst ekki?
Please describe the costs and funding. How will react if the projected funding for the project does not?
The majority of the funding is needed for salaries in order for the developers to dedicate their time and effort for development of HiDef: Knits and getting the software off the ground. There will be four employees, each specialising in a specific part of the software solution:
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Helga will develop the back-end, knitting, oversee social media, and all managerial work (e.g. board meetings, communication with Rannís, etc.) for the entire duration of the project scope,
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Ólafur will create the 3D modelling (full-time for 4 months),
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Brennan supervises the user-friendly interface and has invaluable experience with marketing and branding software. As he currently living in Berlin, we will be working remotely. He will be working part-time for the majority of the duration of the project scope.
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Árni Heimir will be responsible for all financial matters of HiDef: Knits.
Other operational costs are for co-working space, yarn to produce realistic textures and stitches, website costs (hosting, domain registration, etc.).
HiDef: Knits is a passion project, so if funding falls through, development will be done in the developers spare time, when possible. Generally, an open-source project stands or falls with the involvement of the core developers and the participation of the community that surrounds it usage. Therefore, full-time development is preferred in the initial stages in order for the project to gain momentum and to be a the point of accepting contribution from outside volunteering developers.
Therefore, without sufficient funding, the direction of HiDef: Knits would be to strip down the proposed functionalities, and focus on only creating support in creating grading software for for simple stockinette stitch and basic ribbing (leaving cable knit and lace stitch support to other programs). Constructional elements build upon a tapered pullover, and releases between modules (sleeves, collars, neckline etc.), would be postponed.
The 3D modelling of the garment is a novelty that none of our competitors have, and as it would help the designer visualize the final product before starting the time-consuming process of actually knitting the garment. Therefore, we believe this is an essential feature to HiDef: Knits. However, without sufficient funding we will not add support of natural movement to our mannequin, only fixed rotation. Moreover, 3D modelling of certain finishing techniques will have to be prioritized.
Perhaps if there could be some cooperation between the already established knit chart visualisers, which could import the HiDef: Knits pattern pieces as a template for further stitch design. Although, it would be preferred the stitch design would be done in the same software environment as the garment construction as there might be some alterations needed to incorporate prettier pattern repeats of stitches.
Lýsið viðskiptalegum markmiðum. Gerið grein fyrir veltu sem afurðin getur skapað umsækjendum á markaði fyrstu 5-10 árin eftir að afurð kemur fyrst á markað. Hvaða markaðshlutdeild er stefnt að.
Describe your business objectives. Please describe the turnover of the product may applicants made the market the first 5-10 years after the product comes first market. What market share is planned.
Despite the software being open-source, we intend to offer it freely in source code form only, and provide the executable binaries to paying customers, i.e., offering the commercial service of compiling and packaging of the software. The HiDef: Knits solution is still free and open-source, but we would own the platform which would be in active in where we could monetise for further development.
We will sell HiDef: Knits as a hosted service, this entails extensions that is not available with the source code. Then on the hosted solution we could offer both regular and enterprise subscriptions. Since this product is aimed at self-employed designers or personal use the price for accessing the hosted services is not fully determined. Either by a flat-fee for using HiDef: Knits with price range of $20-$30 per user a year (similar pricing as a knitting handbook), or we would adopt in-app purchases; where we charge per library modules (i.e. sleeves silhouettes, collars, bind-off techniques, etc.). Enterprise users would have non-restrictive access for publishing a pattern, which would allow sharing from the service itself (similar to publishing on Ravelry, where we'd take a percentage for hosting their patterns), and have extra features such as hand-editing or automated inclusion of their own brand.
Another means of revenue, would be to offer commercial technical support contracts and services. In that case, professional business (e.g. knitting magazine publishers) would pay for development of a particular feature they would like to have.
The most straightforward approach of funding would be selling of our branded merchandise, i.e., selling auto-generated patterns of garment design with HiDef: Knits software on our hosted service. The auto-generated patterns are part of the cooperation research agreement with University of Iceland (cf. enclosed letter of intent).
There could also be a advertising-supported software approach taken, where we would for instance partner up with a yarn manufacturer by proposing their yarn for a pattern.
Other ways for achieving financial return for the costs on open-source software would be in the form of training seminars, where we could teach proper use of the HiDef: Knits software, along with other related skills beneficial to our demographic, such as consulting on how to market your designs, model photography, etc.
Gerið grein fyrir hvernig á að koma afurð á markað (þ.á m. aðferðafræði, áætlaðri markaðshlutdeild, fjármögnun og framleiðslugetu). Lýsið markaðstengslum og bolmagni umsækjenda til að koma afurðinni á markað. Hver er helsta markaðslega óvissan í verkefninu?
Give an account of how to bring a product to market (including methodology, estimated market share, financing and production). Describe the market context and capacity of the applicants to bring the product to market. What is the main commercially uncertainty in the project?
Initially HiDef: Knits will presented at the annual craft- and trade-show Handverk og Hönnun at Reykjavík City Hall and offer a demonstration for members of Heimilisiðnaðarfélag Íslands. Subsequently, HiDef: Knits will be presented abroad at textiles expos, knitting workshops and conferences.
CCC, Europe's largest association of computer hackers, organizes an annual "Congress" in Hamburg, Germany that attracts numerous makers, tinkers, and craft people from all over the globe. We anticipate showcasing HiDef: Knits at this event as as well as other free and open source software events around Europe and the US, such as FOSDEM in Brussels and OpenSource Bridge in Portland, OR.
Moreover, we will be submitting a research paper of our findings on the research collaboration with University of Iceland at the annual Learning and Intelligent OptimizatioN (LION) conference series. We believe this quirky combination between academia and knitting will be likely to be talked about and get media attention and establish the HiDef: Knits brand.
Primary marketing efforts will be done via social media and knitting forums. We will focus our efforts to Icelandic Facebook knitting groups such as: Handóðir Prjónarar (with 17,000 users), Prjónaklúbbur Jónu (with 9,000 users) and Prjónavélaklúbburinn (with 1,000 users) but internationally we will target designer forums on Ravelry (with 6.45 million users). Based on statistics[9] from Ravelry user database, there are 346 Ravelers per 10,000 Icelanders or approximately 12,000 Icelandic Ravelers. We estimate a modest market share of 0.5-1‰ internationally and 1-5% in Iceland, this would mean approximately 3,000-7,500 users of HiDef: Knits software in future (thereof 170-850 Icelandic subscribers). For an yearly subscription fee of the services of $24 this could yield revenue of 9.5-23 million ISK a year in addition to other means of funding discussed in section 4.1.
Lýsið á hvaða hátt niðurstöður verkefnisins geta aukið verðmætasköpun á Íslandi umfram tekjur af afurðinni (hagræðing eða auknar tekjur annarra innlendra aðila vegna notkunar afurðarinnar).
Describe the manner in which the results of the project can increase value creation in Iceland excess income of the product (efficiency or increased revenues by other residents the use of the product).
The emphasis of HiDef: Knits is being an intuitive easy-to-use design tool, that even the not so computer savvy grandmother would be able to use or even be useful for those limited or no experience in knitting to design a garment that they could outsource the knitting to. HiDef: Knits aim is to enable hobby knitters to self-publish their designs for others to make. Where the output of HiDef: Knits could be a valuable income source for those users who to choose to sell their pattern to others.
Note, of over 262 thousand currently uploaded patterns on Ravelry, 22% of them are published for free. Among the knitting community, there is a general consensus that when designing knitwear patterns there is considerable amount of time, energy, skill, expertise and creativity involved that deserves to be compensated for. The vast majority of patterns on Raverly are sold for an estimated $5.05 per pattern (PDF download and paid via PayPal). Knitwear patterns are quite price sensitive and based with prices from 2008 they have only increased in terms of inflation.[5]
Most knitwear designers on Ravelry do not make a living by selling their patterns, and Iceland is no different in that regard. There is considerable effort that goes into designing and publishing a pattern, with on average 34.5 hours spent on each pattern in the production stage for an experienced knitwear designer not to mention initial cost for approximately £130 for yarn, tech editing, test knitting.[6] By using HiDef: Knits, it would be possible to reduce the manual labor needed in terms of tech-editing (valued at £30) and human errors that are common due to miscalculation could be avoided, making the patterns virtually error-free. Because, if errors are found the designers are confronted with increased post-production cost in terms of working out the error, possibly even having to send the pattern back to the tech editor for review, which can often take more time than the initial production. That is why good pattern creation for the beginning is of paramount importance, and doesn't cause unnecessary confusion for the knitters using the pattern.
Of 200 Icelandic knitters polled about garment design and software usage, 82% considered themselves designers, but only 10% had published their patterns. Most did grading of their patterns for various sizes, but a third only did one size. The reasoning why most of the designers did not share their work was mostly due to the effort of self-publishing patterns as the design process was not structured and done ad-hoc, and sometimes free-form knitting process. By using the HiDef: Knits software, it would be possible to close the gap of aspiring designers to published designers.
[1] Geda, Yonas E., et al. "Engaging in cognitive activities, aging, and mild cognitive impairment: a population-based study." The Journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences 23.2 (2011): 149-154.
[2] Frogging is when knit work is undone – it is called frogging because frogs say “rip it, rip it.”
[3] Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure. "Patentability and Democracy in Europe". From http://swpat.ffii.org/index.en.html. Retrived: 2016-09-12.
[4] Fair-isle knitting is when multiple colors are knitted simultaneously over a single row.
[5] Casey Forbes (June, 2013), Ravelry forum discussion on pricing http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/for-the-love-of-ravelry/2612404/1-25#12.
[6] Woolly Wormhead (2014, September), "The true cost of a pattern." http://www.woollywormhead.com/blog/2014/9/17/the-true-cost-of-a-pattern.html.
[7] Stephanie Tallant (2011, May), "Software Review: Stitchmastery Knitting Chart Editor" http://www.sunsetcat.com/2011/11/05/software-review-stitchmastery-knitting-chart-editor/.
[8] Stephanie Tallant (2011, July), "Chartmaking Software Review: EnvisioKnit". From http://www.sunsetcat.com/2011/07/12/chartmaking-software-review-envisioknit/.
[9] Ravelry (2014, February), "4 out of every 100 Ravelers are cats". From http://www.ravelry.com/about/fourmillion.