Many of the most inspiring moments at the IoT Evolution Expo each year come out of the presentation of the Business Impact Awards, given to companies whose work contributes to the advancement of the Internet of Things.
Last week, among the companies honored was HARMAN, a fast growing leader in connected technologies. The company is arguably one of the most if not the most innovative company and active ecosystem partners involved in massive deployments including connected cars, cities, health, agriculture, energy and more. HARMAN does inspiring and important work, including creating simulation-based enterprise software as part of HelpMeSee’s innovative training management platform.
HelpMeSee is a leading global non-profit organization on a mission to end cataract blindness, the leading cause of blindness worldwide. With HARMAN, this group of eye surgeons have created an advanced simulation based training to meet the increasing demands for cataract surgeries worldwide, pioneering a virtual reality surgical simulator adapted from extensive experience in simulator-based aviation training.
Since 2012, the campaign has supported over a quarter million surgeries through 242 partner surgeons across India, Nepal, China, Vietnam, Madagascar, Togo, Sierra Leone, Peru and The Gambia, and with HARMAN as their software partner can now expand further to address the tens of millions of people around the world who otherwise would have no access to cataract surgery.
The company announced this innovative for-profit/non-profit partnership, to scale high-quality, affordable surgeries, according to Jacob Mohan Thazhathu, president and CEO, HelpMeSee.
The surgery takes approximately five minutes to complete per eye. Though the procedure is relatively quick and low-cost, many people in the developing world suffering from cataract blindness do not have access to this sight-restoring surgery. This simulator-based training management will help train the thousands of cataract specialists needed in order to make these surgeries available globally to more than 20 million people blinded by cataracts.
HelpMeSee leveraged HARMAN’s software services to develop a simulation-based training management for delivering standardized cataract surgery training, enabling surgeons around the world to learn how to perform the five minutes per eye procedure. Together the organization and company have rolled ut an application that allows development of a library of pre-configured training scenarios, making it possible for trainees to learn, practice and become experts at performing the procedure.
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“As software services become a critical component of for many industries, from health care to communications to automotive, technology-savvy companies are increasingly turning to HARMAN for advanced and proven cloud, mobility and analytics solutions that enable stronger and more fulfilling experiences across connected enterprises, connected homes and connected cars,” said Sanjay Dhawan, president, HARMAN Connected Services, in HARMAN’s news release. “We are extremely proud to play a role in HelpMeSee’s incredible mission to train more cataract specialists, and ultimately improve the lives of their patients around the world.”
Carl Ford (News - Alert), Executive Producer of the IoT Evolution Expo said, “The Internet of Things is not just about things – it is about solutions that help improve lives. HARMAN working with HelpMeSee have taken on as a mission that has extended applications into other healthcare challenges going forward. We applaud this for-profit and non-profit collaboration.”