Source: RightEye
ABI Research projects that the revenue generated by sensors behind gesture control and eye tracking technology will close in on $5 billion this year. Although there is a fair amount of consumer electronics tech lumped into that figure, healthcare accounts for a substantial market segment.
Jeff Orr, research director for ABI Research, said in a statement: “Healthcare professionals are relying on these sensors to move away from subjective patient observations and toward more quantifiable and measurable prognoses, revolutionizing patient care.”
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In a phone interview, Orr said the healthcare companies harnessing this sensor technology are relatively early in their development but the market opportunity is substantial.
Here are some examples of this technology with ambitions for applications stretching from concussion detection to diagnosing vision problems to making it easier to use medical imaging software in sterile environments.
Atheer developed smart glasses combining augmented reality and gesture control resulting in Augmented interactive Reality, or AiR Glasses. The hands-free platform is designed to be used for the operating room or at a patient’s bedside so healthcare professionals can have ready access to medical records without turning away from patients.
MotionView licensed Leap Motion‘s technology for a medical imaging software platform combining a DICOM viewer for radiology scans with motion sensing as a way to view images in a sterile environment, a bit like Atheer’s approach.
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RightEye is producing eye-tracking analysis software for healthcare applications such as concussion and stroke detection as well as to identify potential vision problems that could undermine performance for the military and professional sports teams. Orr noted that the military applications stem from an interest in improving the vision capabilities in training the armed forces. Orr observed that concussion discovery and validation is an expanding market particularly with the interest in putting this technology to work for contact sports.
On the vision therapy side, Orr said the market opportunity involves using eye tracking technology to unlearn vision habits we were born with.
Neurotrack developed a 5-minute test to detect cognitive decline. It uses eye tracking technology to assess recognition memory and hippocampal impairment. Physicians provide the test. The eye-tracking technology identifies what stands out as interesting and what doesn’t and how that differs for individuals.
Tobii’s first business unit, Dynavox, was focused on healthcare applications, Orr noted. Its technology uses eye tracking and gesture control to give people with physical disabilities more control over their environment. For users unable to speak, they can use their fingers, hands or other body parts to operate a keyboard or mouse or touch screen. They can use eye tracking to write messages and have the computer verbalize those messages, according to Tobii’s website. More recently, Tobii has applied its eye tracking technology to provide feedback for videogame developers on how players interact with their game. It’s interesting because it seems so often that video game applications are adapted for healthcare.
Featured photo: Atheer
