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Technology Transfer Valley of Death

Interactive 3D simulator of the 'Valley of Death' in technology transfer: watch an invention climb TRL 1-9 from lab to market, funded by grants, VC and licensing deals, and stall if the cash reserve runs dry at the riskiest, least-funded stage.

Engineering & Materials3DModerate60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version

Every invention that leaves a university lab has to cross nine Technology Readiness Levels before it reaches a market-ready product, and the funding available to it changes completely along the way. This simulator renders that journey as a 3D bridge: a token representing the technology walks from TRL 1 to TRL 9, government grants keep it funded through early research, and — if you set the VC threshold too high, the VC rate too low, or the cost escalation too steep — it runs out of cash in the unfunded "Valley of Death" between prototype and pilot stage and visibly falls off the bridge. Tune the four funding parameters and watch a real technology-transfer failure mode play out mechanically, with live cash-reserve, cash-flow, TRL and elapsed-time readouts.

⚙ Under the hood

Guide an invention through nine Technology Readiness Levels from lab bench to market, balancing government grants, VC funding and rising costs so it doesn't stall in the unfunded 'Valley of Death' between prototype and pilot stage.

technology transferTRLfunding gapventure capitallicensingengineering

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install