i3 - March/April 2019 - 49

By Reve Van Croft

Business

CT R E P O RTS

Increasing Social
Connections at CES 2019

ocial isolation is increasing despite the fact we live in an
evolutionary time for technology. A Study in the Indian
Journal of Psychiatry showed social isolation is as deadly
as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and with 115 million American
seniors, at least 50 percent could suffer from loneliness. The
Consumer Technology Association Foundation recognizes how
prevalent this epidemic is and launched its first pitch competition
focused on the topic. AARP Innovation Labs sponsored the event,
which was emceed by Daymond John - AARP Brand
Ambassador, founder and CEO of the $6 billion lifestyle brand,
FUBU, and co-star of ABC's business show, Shark Tank.

"Helping to drive the development of innovative new products
and services that focus on the
interests and needs of people age
50-plus is an important element
of AARP's mission," said AARP
CEO Jo Ann Jenkins. "The CTA
Foundation Pitch Competition
will help deliver new solutions to
a large and, so far, underserved
market and spotlight a key
opportunity that other businesses are missing out on."
Out of 90 entrants, eight startups were chosen to compete in
the pitch competition with one
shared goal - creating a solution
that increases social connection.
● Fishball: Clip-on lens to turn
iPhone into a 360-degree photo and
video camera.
● Glowbl: Video conferencing solution
to allow multiple types of content to be
shared at once.
● GoSun: Solar stove with fuel-free
technology that is low-cost, portable,
versatile and durable.
● House of Haptics: Wearable bracelet
to send human touch over distances.
● Language Hero: Smart language
training app that enables people who
speak different languages to quickly
and efficiently communicate with each
other via video chat.
C TA . t e c h / i 3

aging community. Each entrepreneur
was also asked questions ranging from
manufacturing costs and business strategies to product roadmaps and milestones
by industry experts Denise Gibson, chair
and co-founder of Ice Mobility; Andy
Miller, SVP for Innovation at AARP;
and Allyson Plosko, sector manager for
health at Village Capital. After the presentations, the audience voted for
Healium and Waverly Labs.

Two Innovations
StoryUP's Healium was developed by
CEO Sarah Hill to help herself deal with
areas of confined stress and realized this
could also help others, such as veterans.
These individuals could use their emotions to visit places in the virtual world,
where ordinarily they
could not go physically as
a therapeutic way to
reduce stress and experience the world.
Founder and CEO of
Waverly Labs, Andrew
Ochoa previously
worked in groups where
colleagues were in other
countries and often
communicated in different languages. Ochoa
and his team created the
AARP CEO Jo Ann
sophisticated "smart,
Jenkins and Daymond
John at CES 2019.
translating earbuds" that
can translate 15 languages and 42 dialects
in 1.5 to 2 seconds called Pilot.
● StoryUP Studio's Healium:
Shark Tank's Daymond John and
Biometrically controlled virtual and
AARP's Jo Ann Jenkins also had a fireaugmented reality travel for areas of
side chat where they discussed how
confined stress.
technology is now a resource that can
● Tikaway: "Connected" camera
enhance each aspect of a person's life at
glasses that provide hands-free video
different stages, especially those 50
collaboration.
and older. Jenkins explained AARP's
● Waverly Labs: Earpiece that transfocus is on the future and the value the
lates 15 languages and 42 dialects
60-year-old organization can provide
while providing music streaming and
for its 38 million members.
voice calls.
The CTA Foundation is excited to
The entrepreneurs competed on
build on this success, promote innovaEureka Park's Start Up Stage for the
chance to be a finalist at AARP's grand tions and address the needs of older
adults and people with disabilities. To
pitch finale this fall. Each company
had three minutes to present how their learn how you can support this imporproduct reduces social isolation for the tant work, visit: SupportCTAF.org.
MARCH/APRIL 2019

http://www.SupportCTAF.org http://CTA.tech/i3

i3 - March/April 2019

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