OculoMotor Technologies (OMT), a New Jersey-based startup company, has been awarded a $1,000,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant. The two-year grant provides funds to support OMT’s continued development of its SPOT vision screening platform, which combines the power of virtual reality with eye tracking to help detect binocular vision disorders.
The broader impact and commercial potential of this project is to rapidly screen for binocular vision disorders that impact over 20% of the general population, and over 50% after concussion. Unlike simple vision problems that can be corrected for with glasses, binocular vision disorders take longer to treat, and are typically underdiagnosed. Childhood diagnosis of these vision disorders is correlated with attention disorders and poor performance in school, so early detection and treatment is vital to student success.
This project will develop a virtual reality screening platform for a variety of binocular vision disorders. It will take advantage of eye tracking technology to precisely measure the eye movements of the wearer in response to specifically designed visual stimuli. Software will rapidly and automatically quantify recorded eye movements and correlate them to real-world values, which may guide optometrists and other eye care professionals in their diagnostic assessment. It also has the potential to help non-eye care professionals to screen for binocular disorders.
“Our team is very excited for the opportunity provided to us by the National Science Foundation. We look forward to sharing our technology with optometrists and the broader community in the near future,” said John Vito d’Antonio-Bertagnolli, CEO of OMT.
For more information, contact the OMT team at info@omtvr.com.
About OculoMotor Technologies
OculoMotor Technologies (OMT) is an early-stage biotechnology company building platform technologies for vision diagnosis and rehabilitation. The company’s goal is to enable clinicians to increase revenues by integrating research-backed virtual reality diagnostics and rehabilitation into their existing workflows. While other VR startups are entering the optometric space, OMT’s solutions differ by providing rigorously tested evidence-based diagnostics and therapies in engaging gaming environments, while also giving clinicians unparalleled data-driven insights into patient oculomotor performance.
OMT was incorporated in 2018 by a team of researchers and friends from New Jersey Institute of Technology. Initial research on their IP began in 2014. OMT received equity funding from Foundation Venture Capital Group in 2019. OMT currently employs a talented team of nine people in their office at the VentureLink incubator in Newark, NJ.
About the National Science Foundation’s Small Business Programs
America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $2 million to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.5 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. For more information, visit seedfund.nsf.gov.