VA New England Center for Innovation Excellence (NECIE)

Augmented Reality and 5G

NECIE Rideshare Project

Transportation is a major barrier for homeless Veterans to receive the care and services they need. NECIE is committed to removing this barrier by providing rideshare services for Veterans engaged with any of the VHA Homeless Programs. The NECIE Rideshare Project not only gives Veterans easier access to VA facilities, but to resources for housing, employment, food, and community services. Lack of transportation has traditionally left homeless Veterans at the greatest risk for missed appointments, which extends to impact VHA staff, operations, and other Veterans. This solution will simultaneously provide VHA Homeless Program staff with a resource to be more efficient in delivering whole health support for the Veterans that need it the most.

iBOT Chair by Mobius Mobility

The IBOT Personal Mobility Device (PMD) is a robotic, multi-modal product that provides people with disabilities, including disabled Veterans, with new levels of freedom and independence. The innovative design offers iBOT PMD users with cutting-edge functionality that can transform the way disabled Veterans interact with the world. It has four driving modes that allow the user to climb curbs, negotiate terrain including sand, snow, and hiking trails, move and interact at eye-level, and even climb stairs. An iBOT PMD also has a remote mode that facilitates loading it into a motor vehicle. NECIE is leading the collaborative project with Mobius Mobility LLC to deliver iBOT PMDs to each of the 25 VA Spinal Cord Injury and Disability (SCI/D) Center Hubs. At each VA SCI/D Center, one iBOT will be used to train VA clinicians and provide demonstrations to disabled Veterans for whom the iBOT may be appropriate.

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BioFab USA and ARMI

VHA is collaborating with BioFabUSA and ARMI to institute large-scale manufacturing of engineered tissues and tissue-related technologies. Bio-manufacturing has the capacity to revolutionize health care on a global scale, and VHA is committed to making sure Veterans are first in line to benefit. BioFabUSA and ARMI teamed up with VHA to catalyze their mission of driving research, development, and distribution of engineered tissues and bio-manufacturing technologies.