ATU693 – ATDev with Owen Kent

Hi, I’m Owen Kent, the co-founder of ATDev, and this is your Assistive Technology Update.

Hello, and welcome to your Assistive Technology Update, a weekly dose of information that keeps you up to date on the latest developments in the field of technology designed to assist individuals with disabilities and special needs. I’m your host, Josh Anderson with the INDATA Project at Easterseals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. Welcome to episode 693 of Assistive Technology Update. It is scheduled to be released on September 6th, 2024. In today’s show, we are super excited to welcome Owen Kent, the co-founder at ATDev on the show to talk about a really cool accommodation that they’re working on, and just talk about all the other great things they’re doing.

We’re also happy to welcome back Amy Barry with Bridging Apps with an app worth mentioning. Don’t forget that you can always reach out to us. We look forward to hearing from you with your questions, your comments, or even your suggestions for folks that we should have on the show. You can send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org, or call our listener line at (317) 721-7124. Our guest today, Owen Kent, actually came as a suggestion from another guest, so just know that we do take suggestions for guests from, not just our previous guests, but also our listeners. It’s hard to stay up on AT and know exactly who to try to get on the show, so we always value your recommendations, your comments, your questions, and anything else that you’d like to send. So don’t forget, you can send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org, or call our listener line at (317) 721-7124. Thank you again for taking time out of your day to give us a listen, now let’s go ahead and get on with the show.

Listeners, we are super excited to partner with our employment program here at Easterseals Crossroads to offer Assistive Technology and Employment full-day training, coming up on Thursday, October 3rd from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Eastern Time. This marks our final full-day training of the year here for us here at INDATA, and as I said, we’re very excited to partner with our employment program here at Easterseals Crossroads in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. During this training, we are super excited to welcome folks from JAN to present on inclusive strategies for welcoming applicants and including employees with disabilities. I’ll also present on assistive technology, job placement, job accommodation, and all that fun stuff, and then we will welcome the folks from our employment program here at Easterseals Crossroads for a whole seminar on the job search, as well as an employer panel featuring representatives and some employers here in Indiana, and how they work to employ individuals with disabilities.

So we’re very, very excited for this training, and as I said, it will happen on October 3rd to kick off National Disability Employment Awareness Month. If you are interested in attending any of our trainings, but especially this one coming up on October 3rd, you can go over to eastersealstech.com, check out our full-day trainings and sign up right there. It is free to attend, but you do have to register, especially if you need any of those continuing education units or CEUs. This training is available both online and in person, so if you’re not able to make it here to Indianapolis, you can always join us online, or if you happen to be in the neighborhood, please do stop by. We always love having folks in person now that that is again a possibility.

So if you’re interested in learning more about assistive technology and employment, please do join us for our full-day training on Thursday, October 3rd from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Eastern here at Easterseals Crossroads and online. You can check that out at eastersealstech.com. I will also put a link down in the show notes where you can go and secure your tickets. Don’t forget it is free to attend, but you do have to register in order to be able to attend that day, both in person and online. We look forward to seeing you there.

Listeners, up next, we are very excited to welcome back Amy Barry from Bridging Apps to the show, with an app worth mentioning. Take it Away, Amy.

This is Amy Barry with Bridging Apps, and this is an app worth mentioning. This week’s featured app is called Peak Brain Training. The Peak Brain Training app features short daily workouts for your brain that focus on things like memory, coordination, language, problem-solving, and more. The workouts are different each day and get more challenging as your skills improve. These short daily workouts and personalized games adapt to your skill level, helping users improve cognitive performance, while in-depth performance analytics track your progress. Some of the great features of this app are that it sets a reminder for you to play one to seven days a week, and a time that works for you. The activities in the app are clearly categorized by the skill they’re meant to improve, allowing users to see which types of skills they’re doing well in, as well as which areas they may need more practice.

We think this app is great for older adults and anyone who wants to exercise their brain. Studies have shown that small declines in the area of memory, both visual and verbal, may occur, along with some short-term memory loss as you age. The brain, like any muscle, needs exercise to stay in shape. The more exercise the brain gets, the better it is at processing information. Memory exercises for seniors can help short and long-term memory recall. Peak Brain Training is currently available for both Android and iOS devices, and it’s free to download with optional in-app purchases. For more information on this app and others like it, visit bridgingapps.org.

Listeners, today, I am excited to welcome Owen Kent, the co-founder of ATDev to the show, to tell us all about the exciting work that they are doing. Owen, welcome to the show.

Hey, thank you, Josh. I’m happy to be here.

And I am happy to learn more about ATDev, but before we do that, could you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?

Sure, yeah. My name’s Owen. I live in Colorado, a little bit north of Denver. I have spinal muscular atrophy, so I’ve actually been involved with Easterseals for a good part of my life. I was a camper, back when I was in middle school, probably, out in the Colorado camp, and that was just a really wonderful experience I had there. And then after I graduated high school, I went out to UC Berkeley, where I got my degree in film, which I like to say, which is why I run a robotics company now. But I’m a lifelong wheelchair user, power wheelchair, and yeah, I’ve just been really fortunate to benefit from some of the advances in technology throughout my lifetime. I was born in the early ’90s, and so just seeing the trajectory of what was available to me when I was a kid versus what was available to me today is just something that’s always really inspired me, and ultimately led me to want to start my own company to build some of the more groundbreaking technologies.

Nice. And I’m so glad you put all that in there, because for every kid whose parents says that that degree in film’s never going to do anything for you, you can show them that it can get you a job at a robotics company. But I love the way that you put that. Owen, I guess this leads me on to what is ATDev?

So ATDev is my company. It stands for Assistive Technology Development, and we intentionally wanted to leave the name Pretty blue-sky, because our mission is to really build the future of mobility devices. So we’re starting out with an at-home physical therapy device. My co-founder, Todd Roberts, he is an exoskeleton designer and mechanical engineer. So we were actually roommates at UC Berkeley, and came to find out that we shared a mutual passion for building assistive technology, and I pitched to him the idea of using robotics to do at-Home physical therapy, because as a wheelchair user, and someone with chronic atrophy in my joints, I’ve always had struggles accessing the amount of physical therapy that I wanted, whether that was from a lack of insurance reimbursement, or just simply the logistical challenges of having to go to the office and get out of my chair for an hour appointment, I might only get 10 to 15 minutes of actual therapy.

And so the idea really caught on. And that was back in 2019 when we met. We incorporated our company in 2020, and received some early grant funding through the National Science Foundation, and then later SBIR from the NIH. So yeah, that was the inception of our company. But in the future, we have a number of plans and ideas on how to allow people to live independently, regardless of their age or disability.

That’s great. I want to dig in a little bit deeper. You said using robotics for at-Home physical therapy. Can you tell me, at least as much as you can, what the device or the thought behind the device you’re working on is?

Yeah, sure. So the device is called Reflex, and it’s a single-jointed knee exoskeleton, designed for doing rehabilitation following a total knee replacement, or really any knee surgery. So it’s adjunct therapy for the physical to prescribe, and the patient would bring it home with them, and the device is able to provide passive range of motion, as well as active resistance training. And really, because the other exciting thing is it also is telehealth enabled, so it’s able to send real-time updates to the clinician, in order to monitor the patient’s progress, which we really think is going to help improve outcomes, and enable physical therapists to be more efficient in the patients that they serve.

And that’s wonderful, because I’ve known more people than I can think that actually have had some sort of knee surgery. And sometimes it goes really well, and sometimes it doesn’t. And I don’t know how much of that is them not doing the things they’re supposed to be doing afterwards and everything. So I’m sure from a physical therapy or a physical therapist’s standpoint, that’s great because you know are they doing their exercises? Are they doing everything that they need to do to get back up to strength? But also, like you said, with having the data of, if something isn’t working or is going wrong, you’ve got that in real time, as opposed to the just, “I don’t know, I’m never good at telling the doctor anything. Well, it hurt last Tuesday,” or, “Oh, this didn’t seem okay.” But actually to have that data, I’m sure would be an amazing help to them, as well as just probably bring down the amount of time that people need to recuperate from the surgery itself.

Exactly, yeah. From some of the research we’ve done, compliance for at-home physical therapy is around 30%, and those numbers are… It’s also like when the dentist asks you how often you brush your teeth, you tend to exaggerate the numbers. But yeah, we’ve been really fortunate to partner with a number of academic universities and hospitals to run some studies and as well as signing some distribution agreements. So we hope to do a limited market release in the U.S. actually later this fall.

Oh, very cool. That was going to be my next question, was what phase of R&D are you in? But it sounds like it’s at least limited going to maybe be out there where some folks can try to start using it.

Yep, that’s right. Like I said, limited market release. We’re starting with the VA and the worker’s comp. We just signed a distribution agreement with Apex Health Group, and they’re a national group, so we’re really, really excited to be able to start helping people recover faster.

That’s great. I can see that going a lot of places beyond just the knee. When the technology works and everything, I can really see that going to so many different places. I’ve got to admit, when you first said exoskeletons and at-home physical therapy, I had this picture of just an evil robot physical therapist yelling at you to do your exercises, and it always scared me. And I love that you brought up the, not lying, but always over-exaggerating maybe how much you actually complied with the treatment plan. Because I don’t think anything could be further from the truth. The folks who seem to do the best in physical therapy hate their physical therapists because they’re actually doing the work.

Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think it’s a cool example of how myself, as someone with a pretty significant disability, has been able to use technology in a new way. So initially, I had the idea because I have a Kinova Jaco robotic arm on my chair, and I was noticing that I was using it to stretch my body. And that’s where the idea came from, and then as we went through a number of different startup accelerators, we realized that the problem space is actually far larger than just people with neuromuscular conditions. And that’s what ultimately led us to focus on total knee replacements as our beachhead mothership. So I really like that journey.

Oh, definitely, definitely. And oh, you kind of said a little bit, and I want to just push you a little bit, where do you see ATDev going in the future? I mean, this is a great starting-off point, but where can you really see it going as it just continues to progress?

So like I said, our mission is to build the future of mobility. And really what that means to me is allowing people to live as independently as they want, with the support of technology, whether they have mobility issues from a chronic disability, like I do, or an acquired disability, or just simply from aging. A lot of my family, I want to see them age in place, in their home, and be comfortable, and not have to go to a nursing home if they don’t want to. And so our vision is to build a ecosystem of robotic devices, primarily at home, that are enabling people to live independently. And with a specific focus on mobility and getting people rehabilitated faster, as well as developing the next generation of robotic wheelchairs, and designing what the future of mobility is.

Nice. Very, very cool. And while I do love this device, I also just can’t wait to see just how far it all goes. Owen, as somebody that’s, well, not done assistive technology since the ’90s, but you just mentioned a little bit, and I always like to find out about folks’ journeys, but you talked about the difference in technology from when you were younger to today. What’s the biggest difference that you see, or I guess that you experience, from back then to now really in access or accessibility, or in the technology that you can use?

I grew up in a house where we didn’t have TV. I grew up in the mountains of Colorado, and so I think I got my first computer when I was four or five, and I don’t even know if we had the internet until later. And so for someone with a disability, just the amount of independence I’ve been able to get through something as simple as a Bluetooth mouse is something that has enabled me to not only live independently, but go through college and graduate and ultimately start my own startup, which is pretty challenging for anyone to do, let alone someone with some real mobility issues. And what I’m particularly excited about is to be building a platform technology where a lot of these different innovations like smart home technology, for example, can be working in concert with other assistive technology devices, to be able to really enhance independence, and also improve the experience for at-home caregivers as well.

Yeah, that’s a problem that most people don’t really talk about, it’s the at-home caregivers and just the shortage of those that there is.

Exactly.

I’m not sure how it is in Colorado, but I assume it’s like everywhere. I know here in Indiana, there’s some pockets, especially of the state. You brought up rural Colorado, here in rural Indiana, it’s hit or miss whether there’s anyone to be able to assist, or anything that can take the burden off that, well, that whole group of folks.

Yeah. And that’s really the problem that we’re aiming to solve at ATDev. Currently, in the U.S., 15 million people require at-home care of varying degrees, and that number is expected to double by 2040 as the population ages. So as you know, there’s already a caregiver shortage, and some real serious funding issues, and just a few years that’s going to be at least twice as severe. And so I really think that we have to leverage these new technologies to reduce the burden on caregivers, to be able to provide effective and quality in-home care.

Yeah. And anything we can do to, well, and you brought it up earlier, allow people to be independent in their homes as long as they want to be and really can. And like you brought up, there’s already a caregiver shortage that’s going to get worse. So we don’t want that to be the barrier that makes folks not be able to live independently. So any tools we can do, and we’re happy that ATDev’s working on tools to be able to help folks be able to just stay home and stay dependent, and do what it is that they really want to do. Owen, just because I have you on, so I have to ask, because hopefully this will help other folks out there, but like you said, starting a startup is really rough for anybody, so if anybody out there, I don’t know, is a film student and their roommate’s a robotics student and they think they have a good idea for a startup, what kind of advice can you give to them just from the experiences you’ve had doing this?

Yeah. Well, for me, I’ve really been blessed to have a really wonderful co-founder, and that has made the experience far more tolerable. You really want to work with the best people that you can, because that’s ultimately what you’re going to… It’s like being married.

Yeah. Except for I think you spend more time with the co-founder than you get to with your spouse.

Yeah, exactly. But I think also, you really need to be able to take rejection. You want to be able to really still believe in yourself and what you’re doing, and believe that you’re… Well, for me, I’m definitely driven by wanting to make a positive impact and go around. I don’t think that I would be as satisfied just running a database management company for banks or whatever it would be, although maybe the funding would be easier. I’m particularly motivated by building technology that will improve my life, somewhat selfishly, but also improve the lives of other people.

Yeah, I think that’s awesome advice. Awesome advice. Well, Owen, if our listeners want to find out more about ATDev and all the cool things that you’re up to, what’s a good way for them to do that?

So we’re on LinkedIn. You can go to our website, assistivetechnology.dev, or atdev.tech, and feel free to email me. My email is owen@assistivetech.dev, and I’d be happy to chat anytime.

Awesome. We’ll put all that information down in the show notes. Owen, thank you so much for coming on today, for telling us about ATDev, and really also just for giving us some insights on what it takes to start up such a, I want to say ambitious idea, and be able to get a product to where it is and just, I love hearing about the motivation to get it all started, and then just the, I don’t know, the luck, fate, whatever, to be able to partner with a co-founder who has some of the other skills and drive, so you can work together to make these cool things. We’re looking forward to seeing everything that comes out of it in the future as well. So thank you so much for coming on.

Thank you, Josh. My pleasure.

Do you have a question about assistive technology? Do you have a suggestion for someone we should interview on Assistive Technology Update? If so, call our listener line at (317) 721-7124. Send us an email at tech@eastersealscrossroads.org, or shoot us a note on Twitter @INDATAproject. Our captions and transcripts for the show are sponsored by the Indiana Telephone Relay Access Corporation, or INTRAC. You can find out more about INTRAC at relayindiana.com. A special thanks to Nikol Prieto for scheduling our amazing guests and making a mess of my schedule. Today’s show was produced, edited, hosted, and fraught over by yours truly. The opinions expressed by our guests are their own and may or may not reflect those of the INDATA Project, Easterseals Crossroads, our supporting partners, or this host. This was your Assistive Technology Update, I’m Josh Anderson with the INDATA Project at Easterseals Crossroads in beautiful Indianapolis Indiana. We look forward to seeing you next time. Bye-bye.