Concussions hit close to home for industrial engineering graduate Cory Garlinghouse.
Growing up playing soccer and basketball, he endured several head injuries. During a championship soccer match, one such injury sidelined him for a cognitive assessment before he rejoined his teammates.
“I was determined to return to the field that game, but I wish there had been something to prevent that,” said Garlinghouse, a native of Scotts Mills, Oregon. “It worked out, but there was considerable risk involved.”
His high school friend, a football player, faced a different fate. After multiple minor concussions, he experienced a severe one that caused him to lose consciousness and two weeks of memory. He stayed out of school for three months and battled depression.
“Stories like that motivate us,” Garlinghouse said.
As part of an entrepreneurial senior project team, he contributed to an award-winning idea: a portable headset designed to track eye movements and diagnose concussions within 5 minutes.
Now, Garlinghouse and economics graduate Connor Heffler, the founders of ODIN, are refining their prototype through the Summer Accelerator. This 12-week program at the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) provides students with the resources to turn their ideas into startups.
“During our senior project research, we interviewed athletics staff at about 30 high schools across central and Southern California, and the response was overwhelmingly positive,” Garlinghouse said. “They not only wanted a device, they wanted one now.”
ODIN’s Big Win
ODIN, named after the Norse god for his all-seeing ability, clinched first place and a $15,000 prize at the CIE’s annual Innovation Quest on April 27. The contest allows Cal Poly students to pitch their innovative business ideas to a panel of judges, aiming to secure startup funding.
“We were really confident going into the competition,” Garlinghouse said. “We could prove it’s something that will work, and we had so much affirmation from trainers, concussion specialists and coaches.”
ODIN joins several other Innovation Quest finalists in the current Summer Accelerator cohort.
Garlinghouse and Heffler will spend the next weeks consulting with health professionals, researching and analyzing biometric data. They plan to have a headset ready to track eyes and collect data by the end of the summer while awaiting approval for human testing.
The project originated with the senior project team that also included James Bell (biomedical engineering), William Li (computer engineering) and business administration majors Jack Denger and Jeremy Tai.
Given an open-ended assignment in their entrepreneurial class, they united with a common goal: creating a device that would address both sports-related and medical needs.
“We interviewed over 100 parents, coaches and athletes to identify a pressing need, and the predominant concern centered around youth concussions,” Garlinghouse said.
They identified the weaknesses of traditional concussion tests like the SCAT5, which involve a series of verbal and physical assessments to evaluate symptoms, cognitive function and balance. These tests can be time-consuming and subjective, relying on a rubric and the examiner’s judgment.
They began brainstorming ideas for a faster and more objective solution, ultimately developing a headset with ocular tracking technology that captures eye movements while playing a video.
“Our goal is to make it so simple that it can be used without any training,” said Garlinghouse, citing a youth soccer club as an example of who could use the headset for screening.
They built their first device on a senior project budget of $300, with $75 allocated for marketing. After winning Innovation Quest and securing an additional $10,000 through the Summer Accelerator, they were eager to invest in high-end equipment.
Looking to the future, Garlinghouse hopes to conduct clinical studies within a year and potentially partner with a medical facility.
“It’s pretty exhilarating to see a problem and the solution we envisioned being something that people want,” he said. “I’m so excited about the impact we can make.”
By Emily Slater
About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunities to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members, and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo County. For more information, visit here.
