Dive Brief:
- Vizzario, a Davis, CA-based startup, has raised $2 million but is keeping what it will use the money for close to the chest.
- The company's CEO Dr. Khizer Khaderi is a faculty member and director of neuro-ophthalmology at the University of California Davis Eye Center, as well as the founder and director of its Sports Vision Lab. The Lab specializes in eye care, diagnostics, and research for athletes.
- A blog written by Dr. Khaderi on the company website, mentions their technology being created that allows apps and games to be "visually intelligent" and assesses vision "based on the visual demands of your life."
Dive Insight:
Dr. Khaderi's same blog post refers to the promise of eye tracking and other metrics to measure eye function. "Eye tracking is one of the darlings in the wearable sensor space...and can be used with mobile apps to test for eye conditions, such as glaucoma." Eye tracking can also be used to detect concussions, as reported by Forbes.
The Glaucoma Research Foundation says glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness, has no cure, and may have no symptoms. More than 3 million Americans have glaucoma.
A report by MarketsandMarkets estimates the medical diagnostics eye-tracking market will grow at a CAGR of 34.8% from 2015 to 2020 due to its potential use for analyzing the brain and diseases from eye movements.