Function Oriented Search-Cross-Industry Tech Comparison

Understanding Function Oriented Search

Function Oriented Search (FOS) is an innovative approach designed to foster creativity and innovation by identifying and comparing existing technologies across various industries based on their core functions rather than their form or industry context. It revolves around understanding a system's initial problem or need, defining its 'Main Useful Function', translating this into an 'Abstract Function' which is a broader, more generic statement of the function, and then searching for technologies in different industries that perform this abstract function. This method facilitates the discovery of cross-industry applications and solutions, leveraging functional similarities to inspire innovative thinking. For example, the problem of preventing allergies can be abstracted to 'separating particles from a gas flow', leading to the identification of industrial cyclones used in cement production for dust collection as a leading technology solution based on the principle of centrifugal separation. Powered by ChatGPT-4o。