Improving Visual Impairment with Technology

On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts

This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss.

Today’s big idea is about using augmented reality, machine learning, and soon, fifth generation (5G) connectivity to improve vision. The Eyedaptic Eye2 is software-driven smart glasses for people with vision impairment. Dr. Roberts speaks with Dr. Mitul Mehta and Jay Cormier about how Eyedaptic uses machine learning to develop algorithms to guide augmentations that adapt to a person’s vision deficits, habits and environments to help them see better. They also discuss how 5G connectivity is going to continue to enhance the user experience for Eyedaptic users.

The Big Takeaways:

• Eyedaptic identifies a wearer’s visual defect, and adapts to that specific problem by using technology to address the gaps in vision. It applies that technology to commercial augmented reality headsets.
• Algorithms analyze what the camera in the user’s Eyedaptic glasses is looking at, as well as what the user is doing at the time, and the combination informs what the user sees.
• As augmented reality continues to develop, the next big breakthrough is going to be connectivity using 5G. This will enable the Eyedaptic glasses to transfer large amounts of data very quickly, improving future machine learning algorithms; it will also allow the device to become more mobile.

Tweetables:

• “That brought me to the whole concept of being able to use technology to fix problems with the body. One of the things I found ... was people trying to solve the problem of vision loss not medically, but with technology.” — Dr. Mitul Mehta
• “When we were able to put our technology on one of our users, this fellow couldn’t read anymore and we were able to get him to read again. Certainly, that was our first indication that this technology can really do what we hoped it could do.” — Jay Cormier
• “In essence, what these algorithms are doing is to become adaptive not only to the person’s vision deficits but also their habits and environments.” — Jay Cormier
• “The goal of any sort of vision technology company, in the end, should also be trying to help people who have ‘normal’ vision, be able to see things that they cannot currently see.” — Dr. Mitul Mehta
• “Ophthalmology is the most exciting field of medicine because ophthalmologists in general are very pro-technology and they’re always trying to get better.” - Dr. Mitul Mehta

Contact Us:

• Contact us at [e-mail] with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.

Pertinent Links:

• Lighthouse Guild
• Eyedaptic

Guest Bios:

Jay Cormier, President and CEO, Eyedaptic

• As an experienced technology executive and entrepreneur, Jay has a strong track record of founding, growing, and turning around businesses. He has completed several successful exits totaling over $750M, across embedded software, SaaS, and hardware solutions. By leveraging his background at Analog Devices, Jay has led marketing, sales, engineering, operations, strategic partnerships, business development, new product strategy and execution. As Vice President & General Manager, Jay achieved exits at Teridian, Sierra Monolithics and Mindspeed using his expertise building high performance, execution-oriented multi-disciplinary teams. Jay earned his BS in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Northeastern University.

Dr. Mitul Mehta, Medial Advisor, Eyedaptic

• Mitul is a board-certified ophthalmologist with fellowship training in medical and surgical diseases of the retina at UCI’s Gavin Herbert Eye Institute. He earned his Medical Degree from the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and also holds a M.S. in BioPhysics from Georgetown and B.S. from MIT, where he first ventured into software startups. He completed fellowship training in vitreoretinal surgery at the New York Eye & Ear, and conducts research on surgical devices and techniques, as well as on vitreoretinal diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration. Mitul is the cofounder of the online America Retina Forum and the Young Retina Forum as well as the editor of the retina section for the surgical education website, CSurgeries.com.

Host Bio:

Dr. Calvin W. Roberts

• Calvin W. Roberts, MD, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Lighthouse Guild, the leading organization dedicated to providing exceptional services that inspire people who are visually impaired to attain their goals. Dr. Roberts has a unique blend of academic, clinical, business, and hands-on product development experience. Dr. Roberts is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He was formerly Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Eye Care, at Bausch Health Companies where he coordinated global development and research efforts across their vision care, pharmaceutical, and surgical business units. As a practicing ophthalmologist from 1982 to 2008, he performed more than 10,000 cataract surgeries as well as 5,000 refractive and other corneal surgeries. He is credited with developing surgical therapies, over-the-counter products for vision care, prescription ocular therapeutics, and innovative treatment regimens. He also holds patents on the wide-field specular microscope and has done extensive research on ophthalmic non-steroidals and postoperative cystoid macular edema. Dr. Roberts has co-founded a specialty pharmaceutical company and is a frequent industry lecturer and author. He currently serves as an Independent Director on multiple corporate boards and has served as a consultant to Allergan, Johnson & Johnson, and Novartis. A graduate of Princeton University and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, Dr. Roberts completed his internship and ophthalmology residency at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in New York. He also completed cornea fellowships at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston.