Glossary / Prototype

Prototype

An early working build used to test design and integration. In hardware it is the first of several increasingly production-like validation stages.

Introduced in Introduction — Introduction of Tangibles.

Related terms

• Internet of Things (IoT) — The network of connected devices — projected to grow from roughly 15 billion in 2020 to 75 billion by 2030 — pressuring every hardware category to become smart and connected.
• Over-the-air updates (OTA) — Delivering new firmware and features to a device remotely after sale, turning a fixed product into one that keeps improving in the field.
• Proof of concept — An early experiment showing that a technical idea can work at all — before users, polish, or production enter the picture.
• Systems engineering — The traditional discipline of mastering physical constraints and technical trade-offs to make hardware work — strong on the "how," historically distant from the customer's "why."