Otolith Sound Inc — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: AF203-CSO1

Description

Otolith has pioneered a small wearable technology which can improve mission readiness in  environments with a high incidence of motion sickness without the detrimental side effects of pharmacological solutions. A 2009 study by the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory found that more than half of soldiers got sick while riding in vehicles. Roughly 25 percent of military personnel got sick on “moderate seas” and 70 percent on “rough seas.” In the air, as many as 50 percent of personnel get airsick; even 64 percent of parachutists reported episodes. Active and passive motion sickness (no vomiting) decrease a substantial portion of the armed services mission readiness during transportation and directly afterwards. Additionally, motion sickness is increasingly being caused by simulators and virtual reality systems which are currently being adopted by all branches of the military for training purposes. Otolith’s wearable technology represents a non-pharmacological, clinically proven method to increase mission readiness by reducing the impact of motion sickness on military personnel.   The objective of this Phase I project is to identify at least one military customer that can improve mission readiness in their personnel through a reduction in motion sickness by integrating existing equipment with nVSM motion sickness mitigating technology. Otolith has already begun speaking with cryptologic aircrew from the 97th airborne who have expressed interest in our technology. Previously, Otolith was awarded a Phase II SBIR to integrate the technology into HGU 55/P pilot helmets for the AETC to reduce trainee dropout due to motion sickness. Future Phase II integration efforts will build upon the lessons learned during that effort.   Otolith will reach this objective by conducting customer discovery and (virtually) meeting with military personnel to understand their motion sickness problems and if/how our technology can be used to improve the situations when it occurs. As necessary, Otolith may provide demonstrations of the technology to potential customers, including lending out prototypes for validation purposes. Finally, Otolith will work with the customer to develop a work plan and Memorandum Of Understanding to integrate our technology into their equipment.