Alma-based InvoTek launches new laser product
by May 18, 2011 3:50 pm 80 views
Alma-based InvoTek has launched a new product using safe laser technology that enables a person with limited movement to write, communicate and control their environment.
The product will be unveiled Friday (May 20) at the Abilities Expo 2011 in Newark, N.J.
The Safe Laser System projects a low-power light-beam onto a light-sensing customizable keyboard. The device can generate a synthetic voice or output keystrokes to a computer. InvoTek developed the product in conjunction with researchers at Arkansas State University and produces the system in Alma.
Charlie Thompson, a 40-year-old North Little Rock resident, uses the Safe Laser System.
“After my accident, I only have a little movement of my arms, but not much,” Thompson said. “I really didn’t have many prospects for improving my quality of life or accomplishing the personal goals I’ve set. With the Safe Laser System, I am now enrolled in classes at a local Bible college and use the system to write my papers.”
InvoTek President Tom Jakobs said the device provides flexibility of use for many situations.
“The exciting thing about the Safe Laser System is that it is adaptable to a user’s abilities. The user can wear the laser pointer on the head, the hand, or even on a toe. In addition to its use in communicating, we’ve seen people with very little movement improve their range of motion by using the Safe Laser System,” Jakobs explained in a press release.
Jakobs, with degrees in bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago and in theology from St. Gregory University, started InvoTek 21 years ago with a vision to help others. Today, his business card reads "Compassion Driven Innovations" underneath the company logo.
In 2003, InvoTek’s work on the device earned them a $500,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to further develop and enhance the Accupoint head tracker, part of a set of such grants totaling $1.95 million at that time.
The company established the “Be Extraordinary” program in cooperation with the Arkansas Spinal Cord Commission.
“The program identifies people with severe disabilities who want to accomplish a life goal. The goal can be wide ranging — improved participation in their health care, access to books, better communication with family or friends, the ability to advocate on their own behalf, or accomplish an educational or vocational goal,” the company noted in a statement.
In addition to ASU, InvoTek has established connections with several other university research centers, including Duke, University at Buffalo, Penn State, and the University of Nebraska.