Before teaching and directing neuromotor science at Temple, W. Geoffrey Wright flew on the Vomit Comet at NASA’s Johnson Space Center during graduate school. While floating weightless inside of the airplane, he realized just how delicate balance can be.
“We were studying spatial orientation and postural control, and I saw that the ability to maintain your balance is affected by your environment and visual surroundings as well as how your vestibular system responds to the background gravity,” he said.
While researching postural control and working with virtual reality (VR) technology for more than 20 years, Wright recognized the impact that VR headsets and software could have on clinical applications.
This realization led to Wright co-founding UprightVR, a startup offering a virtual reality solution to assess fall risk in older adults. He currently serves as principal scientist for the company.
“Seeing something you’re working on in the lab have an impact outside of it is rewarding,” said Wright, professor of neuromotor science in Temple’s College of Public Health. “This company is one of the most exciting things I get to do, and I don’t mind putting in extra hours to ensure it succeeds.”
Launched in 2018, the startup has commercialized portable and affordable headsets that present a series of balance tests to patients through VR scenarios to measure their reaction to various visual stimuli. The data captured helps identify sensory and motor deficits that contribute to fall risk. Physical therapists can then use this information to shape treatments. UprightVR also provides VR-based rehabilitation games that specifically treat balance deficits.
Wright explains that keeping balance requires the use and integration of three systems in the body: vision; vestibular organs in the inner ear; and the somatosensory system, which includes perception of touch, pressure, pain and temperature.
“Through this technology, we’re trying to narrow down what’s causing someone’s postural instability,” said Wright. “We try to tease apart which sense is the most impacted and might be creating this imbalance. We don’t diagnose. Instead, we determine the underlying contributors to fall risk to help treat one’s balance deficit.”
UprightVR is also now part of Temple’s Innovation Nest (iNest), which seeks to commercialize new innovations from researchers at the university and supports the growth of startups affiliated with Temple.
Temple has been instrumental in helping launch the company. The Office of the Vice President for Research assisted with the patent-filing and paperwork for starting the company and continues providing guidance on protecting its intellectual property. “Temple’s connections have put us in touch with the right personnel and expertise,” said Wright.
In addition to working with NASA on weightlessness experiments, Wright formerly served as a U.S. Air Force satellite engineer. He’s also worked with military soldiers and athletes who’ve suffered from acute and chronic concussions or traumatic brain injuries, using VR technology to test deficiencies to determine whether they were ready to return to duty or the field of play.
When assessing the market, Wright and his co-founders and advisory board saw large potential in focusing on older adults who are at greater fall risk.
“Our vestibular and somatosensory systems and vision get worse with time,” said Wright. “You see postural instability in your 50s, and it becomes really evident in your 60s. Older adults also recover more slowly, and some don’t recover. Falls change people’s behaviors. For example, falling can make them fearful, and they can become less active.
We work with physical therapists who treat older adults to identify fall risk factors and reduce those factors,” he explained.
The startup’s customer base mainly consists of physical therapists and retirement community providers. It’s also trying to get the product into more hospitals.
The UprightVR team comprises members from various backgrounds, including lead developer Gregory Teodoro, CST ’14, ’18, who is a research study coordinator in Temple’s Motion-Action-Perception Laboratory with Wright. Additionally, the company includes a sales team, business strategists and in-house clinicians as well as a board of advisors.
“We’ve been growing steadily over the years,” said Wright. “I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in every step of the process.”