It's a great idea! Don't be discouraged just because someone else thought of it as well. In a lot of these "product" type projects the only thing that REALLY matters is execution. Do you think the iPod was the first MP3 player? That Google was the first search engine? Think again. An academic prototype or a paper describing an idea is worth next to nothing. Getting it to work, and getting it to work well, and getting people to use it – that's what separates the winners from the also-rans. Go for it :-)
It's a great idea! Don't be discouraged just because someone else thought of it as well. In a lot of these "product" type projects the only thing that REALLY matters is execution. Do you think the iPod was the first MP3 player? That Google was the first search engine? Think again. An academic prototype or a paper describing an idea is worth next to nothing. Getting it to work, and getting it to work well, and getting people to use it – that's what separates the winners from the also-rans. Go for it :-)