Hippotub: AI Product Ideation for Hippo Inspired Bathtubs

By Tojin T. Eapen

In this project, we used generative AI tools to design a line of concept Bathtubs called "Hippotubs," which were intended to be inspired by the looks and behavior of the Hippopotamus. Our objective is to better understand how AI tools can support organizations in the process of generating raw product ideas which can then be refined later. 

The first prompt we used to generate the concepts was simply, "bathtub inspired by a hippo." While the images depicted in this context are highly realistic, they do not present any particularly novel visual features or appearances in regard to the bathtub.

The next prompt we gave the text-to-image model for the creation of Hippotubs was more detailed and described a few features of the tub that borrow from the appearance of the hippo: "A bathtub shaped like a hippo, with a large, round body and four sturdy legs. The exterior of the bathtub is coated in smooth, gray ceramic, giving it a realistic, hippo-like appearance. In the front of the bathtub, there are two small nostrils, just like a real hippo, and a pair of friendly, cartoonish eyes peering out from the top of the tub. On either side of the tub, there are two large, floppy ears, adding to the playful, hippo-inspired design." This prompt was first used to generate the below sets of designs for hippo-inspired tubs using Midjourney. The following sets of concepts were generated using the above prompt.

Hippotub Concept Set #1

Hippotub Concept Set #2

Hippotub Concept Set #3

Hippotub Concept Set #4

The same detailed prompt was also used to generate concept designs using Stable Diffusion. However, this process was challenging as only a small fraction of the images generated were useful designs. The following sets of concepts were obtained after several hundred iterations.

Hippotub Design Concept Set #5

Hippotub Design Concept Set #6

Hippotub Design Concept Set #7

The next three designs stood out as the most innovative and potentially commercially viable. We believe that these designs not only demonstrate unique features and aesthetics, but also indicates some potential for success in the market.

Hippotub Top Design #3

Hippotub Top Design #2

Hippotub Top Design #1

This post is part of a series of articles on the use of generative AI for bioinspired product ideation. The use of AI for product concept generation allows for the quick creation of many potentially novel designs, which could then be evaluated and refined to select the most promising concepts to move to the next stage of the product development process.

To learn how leading Fortune Global 500 companies such as ABB, Bosch, Google, Samsung, and NetApp have used Innomantra's Functional Innovation Methodology to turbocharge their idea management process, schedule a meeting today at calendly.com/innomantra.