SKILLPOWER, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: X224-OCSO1

Description

Problem - Roughly 30-50% of medical professionals report being “burnt-out”. New research shows that this condition is not subjective but can in fact be measured using brain imaging. Further research shows that this condition negatively impacts health outcomes for patients at scale. Medical worker burnout is now being compared to PTSD in terms of negative impact on Force Readiness. Technical Abstract – We are building a highly scalable and cost-effective Virtual Reality based technology platform that prevents and reverses medical worker burnout in a manner that can be validated with brain imaging. Current methods including group therapy and training provide little to any measurable results. Our innovation and solution already have demonstrated neurobiological validation. Customer - We are already in discussion with multiple potential customers with the Air Force. The main customer is base Medical Wings. Technical Merit – Our company has a live product, signed clients, investors and is partnering with Capital Factory and the NexCubed Digital Health Accelerator. Innovation & Impact - SkillPower’s product will use Virtual Reality (VR) and Machine Learning (ML) to customize its intervention to the unique psychology of each individual user. Natural Language Processing (NLP) will be used to further customize the coaching to the specific lifestyle and environmental vectors relevant to each individual user. Baseline statistics and foundational research already exist in both the DoD and commercial sectors on the scale and impact of this problem. Infinitely Scalable –  Most coaching programs use human coaches which are expensive, inconsistent and not scalable. Millennial consumer behavior shows a preference for receiving health advice from a smartphone via apps, VR, avatars, texting and peer-to-peer. Team – Our team is led by senior-level professionals with broad experience in digital health, mental health, mobile app development and product commercialization. Our research partner is the University of California San Diego (UCSD)