Proof Of Concept
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Proof of concept (POC or PoC), also known as proof of principle, is a realization of a certain method or idea in order to demonstrate its feasibility, or a demonstration in principle with the aim of verifying that some concept or theory has practical potential. A proof of concept is usually small and may or may not be complete. These collaborative trials aim to test feasibility of business concepts and proposals to solve business problems and accelerate business innovation goals. A proof of value (PoV) is sometimes used along proof of concept, and differs by focusing more on demonstrating the potential customers
use case In software and systems engineering, the phrase use case is a polyseme with two senses: # A usage scenario for a piece of software; often used in the plural to suggest situations where a piece of software may be useful. # A potential scenario ...
and value, and is usually less in-depth than a proof of concept.


Usage history

The term has been in use since 1967. In a 1969 hearing of the Committee on Science and Astronautics, Subcommittee on Advanced Research and Technology, ''proof of concept'' was defined as following: One definition of the term "proof of concept" was by Bruce Carsten in the context of a "proof-of-concept prototype" in his magazine column "Carsten's Corner" (1989): The column also provided definitions for the related but distinct terms ' breadboard' (a term used since 1940), '
prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
', 'engineering prototype', and ' brassboard'.


Examples


Filmmaking

''
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'', often shortened to ''Sky Captain'', is a 2004 science fiction action- adventure film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut, and produced by Jon Avnet, Sadie Frost, Jude Law an ...
'', '' 300'', and ''
Sin City ''Sin City'' is a series of neo-noir comics by American comic book writer-artist Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in ''Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special'' (April 1991), and continued in ''Dark Horse Presents'' #51â ...
'' were all shot in front of a
greenscreen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and displa ...
with almost all backgrounds and
props A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...
computer-generated. All three used proof-of-concept short films. In the case of ''Sin City'', the short film became the prologue of the final film.
Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...
sometimes creates short animated films that use a difficult or untested technique. Their short film ''
Geri's Game ''Geri's Game'' is a 1997 American computer-animated short film produced by Pixar and written and directed by Jan Pinkava. The short, which shows a senior named Geri who competes with himself in a game of chess, was Pixar's first film to featur ...
'' used techniques for animation of cloth and of human facial expressions later used in ''
Toy Story 2 ''Toy Story 2'' is a 1999 American computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The second installment in the ''Toy Story'' franchise and the sequel to '' Toy Story'' (1995), it was directed by John ...
''. Similarly,
Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...
created several short films as proofs of concept for new techniques for water motion, sea anemone tentacles, and a slowly appearing whale in preparation for the production of '' Finding Nemo''.


Engineering

In engineering and technology, a rough prototype of a new idea is often constructed as a "proof of concept". For example, a working concept of an electrical device may be constructed using a breadboard. A
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
application often requires a demonstration of functionality prior to being filed. Some universities have proof of concept centers to "fill the 'funding gap'" for "seed-stage investing" and "accelerate the commercialization of university innovations". Proof of concept centers provide "seed funding to novel, early stage research that most often would not be funded by any other conventional source".


Business development

In the field of business development and
sales Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in ...
, a vendor may allow a prospect customer to try a product. This use of proof of concept helps establish viability, isolate technical issues, and suggest an overall direction, as well as provide feedback for
budgeting A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmen ...
and other forms of internal decision-making processes. In these cases, the proof of concept may mean the use of specialized
sales engineer Sales engineering is a hybrid of sales and engineering that exists in industrial and commercial markets. An engineering degree is not mandatory for a sales engineer, as long as they have sales knowledge and sufficient technical knowledge of the ser ...
s to ensure that the vendor makes a best-possible effort.


Security

In both computer security and encryption, ''proof of concept'' refers to a demonstration that in principle shows how a system may be protected or compromised, without the necessity of building a complete working vehicle for that purpose.
Winzapper Winzapper is a freeware utility / hacking tool used to delete events from the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 Security Log. It was developed by Arne Vidstrom as a proof-of-concept tool, demonstrating that once the Administrator account has ...
was a proof of concept which possessed the bare minimum of capabilities needed to selectively remove an item from the
Windows Security Log The Security Log, in Microsoft Windows, is a log that contains records of login/logout activity or other security-related events specified by the system's audit policy. Auditing allows administrators to configure Windows to record operating system ...
, but it was not optimized in any way.


Software development

In
software development Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development invol ...
, the term 'proof of concept' often characterizes several distinct processes with different objectives and participant roles: vendor business roles may utilize a proof of concept to establish whether a system satisfies some aspect of the purpose it was designed for. Once a vendor is satisfied, a prototype is developed which is then used to seek funding or to demonstrate to prospective customers. The key benefits of the proof of concept in software development are: *The possibility to choose the best technology stack for the software (application or web platform) *A higher probability of investors' interest in the future software product *The ability to simplify and improve the ease of testing and validating ideas for the software's functionality *Receiving valuable feedback of a target audience (users) even before building a full-scope system *Onboarding first clients before an official software release A 'steel thread' is technical proof of concept that touches all of the technologies in a solution. By contrast, a 'proof of technology' aims to determine the solution to some technical problem (such as how two systems might integrate) or to demonstrate that a given configuration can achieve a certain throughput. No business users need be involved in a proof of technology. A
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
project refers to an initial roll-out of a system into production, targeting a limited scope of the intended final solution. The scope may be limited by the number of users who can access the system, the business processes affected, the business partners involved, or other restrictions as appropriate to the domain. The purpose of a pilot project is to test, often in a production environment.
Tech demo A technology demonstration (or tech demo), also known as demonstrator model, is a prototype, rough example or an otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of s ...
s are designed as proof of concept for the development of
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s. They can demonstrate graphical or gameplay capabilities crucial for particular games.


Drug development

Although not suggested by natural language, and in contrast to usage in other areas, ''proof of principle'' and ''proof of concept'' are not synonymous in drug development. A third term, ''proof of mechanism'', is closely related and is also described here. All of these terms lack rigorous definitions and exact usage varies between authors, between institutions and over time. The descriptions given below are intended to be informative and practically useful. The underlying principle is related to the use of biomarkers as surrogate endpoints in early clinical trials. In early development it is not practical to directly measure that a drug is effective in treating the desired disease, and a surrogate endpoint is used to guide whether or not it is appropriate to proceed with further testing. For example, although it cannot be determined early that a new antibiotic cures patients with pneumonia, early indicators would include that the drug is effective in killing bacteria in laboratory tests, or that it reduces temperature in infected patients—such a drug would merit further testing to determine the appropriate dose and duration of treatment. A new anti-hypertension drug could be shown to reduce blood pressure, indicating that it would be useful to conduct more extensive testing of long-term treatment in the expectation of showing reductions in stroke (cerebrovascular accident) or heart attack (myocardial infarction). Surrogate endpoints are often based on laboratory blood tests or imaging investigations like X-ray or CT scan. * ''Proof of mechanism'' or PoM relates to the earliest stages of drug development, often pre-clinical (i.e., before trialling the drug on humans, or before trialling with research animals). It could be based on showing that the drug interacts with the intended molecular receptor or enzyme, and/or affects cell biochemistry in the desired manner and direction. * ''Proof of principle'' or PoP relates to early clinical development and typically refers to an evaluation of the effect of a new treatment on disease biomarkers, but not the clinical endpoints of the condition. Early stage clinical trials may aim to demonstrate Proof of Mechanism, or Proof of Principle, or both. A decision is made at this point as to whether to progress the drug into later development, or if it should be dropped. * ''Proof of concept'' or PoC refers to early clinical drug development, conventionally divided into the
phases of clinical research The phases of clinical research are the stages in which scientists conduct experiments with a health intervention to obtain sufficient evidence for a process considered effective as a medical treatment. For drug development, the clinical phases ...
Phase I ("first-in-humans") and Phase IIA. Phase I is typically conducted with a small number of healthy volunteers who are given single doses or short courses of treatment (e.g., up to 2 weeks). Studies in this phase aim to show that the new drug has some of the desired clinical activity (e.g., that an experimental anti-hypertensive drug actually has some effect on reducing blood pressure), that it can be tolerated when given to humans, and to give guidance as to dose levels that are worthy of further study. Other Phase I studies aim to investigate how the new drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolised and excreted (ADME studies). Phase IIA is typically conducted in up to 100 patients with the disease of interest. Studies in this Phase aim to show that the new drug has a useful amount of the desired clinical activity (e.g., that an experimental anti-hypertensive drug reduces blood pressure by a useful amount), that it can be tolerated when given to humans in the longer term, and to investigate which dose levels might be most suitable for eventual marketing. A decision is made at this point as to whether to progress the drug into later development, or if it should be dropped. If the drug continues, it will progress into later stage clinical studies, termed Phase IIB and Phase III. Phase III studies involve larger numbers of patients—commonly
multicenter trial A multicenter research trial is a clinical trial conducted at more than one medical center or clinic. Most large clinical trials, particularly Phase III trials, are conducted at several clinical research centers. Benefits The benefits of multicen ...
s—treated at doses and durations representative of marketed use, and in randomised comparison to placebo and/or existing active drugs. They aim to show convincing, statistically significant evidence of efficacy and to give a better assessment of safety than is possible in smaller, short-term studies. A decision is made at this point as to whether the drug is effective and safe, and if so an application is made to regulatory authorities (such as the US Food and Drug Administration
FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
and the
European Medicines Agency The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of medicinal products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products or Euro ...
) for the drug to receive permission to be marketed for use outside of clinical trials. Clinical trials can continue after marketing authorization has been received, for example, to better delineate safety, to determine appropriate use alongside other drugs or to investigate additional uses.


See also

* 3D printing *
Case study A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular fi ...
*
Concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...
*
Feasibility study A feasibility study is an assessment of the practicality of a project or system. A feasibility study aims to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats pr ...
* PoCGTFO *
Prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
*
Sanity testing A sanity check or sanity test is a basic test to quickly evaluate whether a claim or the result of a calculation can possibly be true. It is a simple check to see if the produced material is rational (that the material's creator was thinking ration ...
*
Tech demo A technology demonstration (or tech demo), also known as demonstrator model, is a prototype, rough example or an otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of s ...
* Technology readiness level *
Technology demonstration A technology demonstration (or tech demo), also known as demonstrator model, is a prototype, rough example or an otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of ...
* Trinity (nuclear test)


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Evaluation methods