The USC Center for Body Computing (CBC), part of Keck Medicine of USC, is collaborating with a technology developer to further the digital health and wearable tech revolution.

The center will be working with the SHOP, an innovation lab from VSP Global, to pursue research on mobile health, wearable technology and the growing intersection of personalized, empowered health care.

“It’s exciting to work with VSP on an unexplored avenue of wearable health technology,” said USC CBC Founder and Executive Director Leslie Saxon, MD. “Together we’re going beyond the limitations of today’s health and wellness monitoring and giving power to consumers to become the heroes of their own health stories. As the leader in vision services, VSP supports millions of members, and we’re thrilled to have them as a USC CBC member, where we can collaborate closely on the development of this groundbreaking product.”

In March, VSP Global announced the development of Project Genesis, the first wearable prototype to seamlessly integrate health-tracking technology into the temple of an optical frame. The first generation of the device syncs via Bluetooth to a custom app, tracking the wearer’s steps, calories burned, activity time and distance traveled.

SHOP team members engaged in an intense two-day think tank earlier this summer with the USC CBC to explore commercialization pathways to take Project Genesis from prototype to market-ready product.

“As we enter into a new phase in the development of Project Genesis, it’s critical that we have the very best minds at the table to ensure we’re developing a meaningful experience that enhances the wearer’s life,” said SHOP co-leader Jay Sales. “Our membership with the USC CBC creates a partnership hub that will allow our team to engineer the next generation of this product with insight from experts outside our own bubble.”

Founded in 2007, the USC CBC functions as an interdisciplinary brain trust and innovation center within the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Member organizations are given access to expertise in medicine, business, engineering and entertainment to better navigate the complex and evolving world of wireless health care.

“Being at the USC Center for Body Computing is like being at the Knights of the Round Table,” said SHOP co-leader Leslie Muller. “With diverse perspectives and the mobile health expertise of the USC CBC, we can move Genesis into the next phase of development with a holistic approach that fuses design, technology and contextualized health care through a platform that we know best — eyewear.”

As an emerging focus for the SHOP, contextualized health care is the idea of enriching and personalizing traditional medical records with context from daily living. An example might include harnessing raw biometric data from a wearable device and transforming it into actionable insights that result in increased health and well being for the wearer.

— Sherri Snelling