The award came from DHS’ Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) for the “Human Performance and Resiliency” solicitation which sought these innovative technologies for DHS personnel.
S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) issued the solicitation, which sought solutions to identify and resolve issues before reaching crisis levels, and to promote resilience and wellness tools that could serve the mission needs of DHS components and programs, including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“The DHS workforce is often placed in situations of extreme stress while carrying out their mission-critical responsibilities,” said Melissa Oh, managing director of SVIP. “These health and wellness technologies will enhance DHS’s ability to support its employees as they work to secure the nation.”
S&T awarded Phase 1 Other Transaction Awards to five companies: Kenzen, Inc., Sana Health, Sentinel Occupational Safety, SlateSafety and Volt Athletics, Inc.
These awardees presented solutions with the potential to provide immediate impacts to DHS:
- SlateSafety, a Norcross, Georgia-based company, picked up $200,000 to develop a rugged armband that captures critical physiological information to prevent injuries to the military, industrial workers and emergency responders. The company’s advanced wearable passively collects detailed biometric information and sends the data through a variety of artificial intelligence platforms and algorithms for advanced analytics on important factors like sleep quality, recovery and fatigue levels.
- Kenzen, Inc., a Kansas City, Missouri-based company, which is women-founded and led, earned $161,600 to develop a heat illness prevention solution that uses a combination of wearable device, alerts, and advanced analytics to identify changes in core body temperature and other specific factors. The information identifies heat stress so responders can take preventative measures sooner, reducing the risk of serious illness. Kenzen’s heat-stress mitigation solution will deliver information to users working in extreme heat environments, addressing a critical health challenge that impacts the DHS mission.
- Sana Health, a Denver, Colorado-based company picked up $55,000 to develop wearable technology that leverages audio-visual-stimulation to elicit brain states that enable enhanced relaxation and recovery for users. The benefits of deep relaxation are tied directly to the impact on sleep, rest, rehabilitation, energy levels, mood and perception of pain.
- Sentinel Occupational Safety, a Fairborn, Ohio-based company, earned $119,678 to develop safety monitoring technology. Sentinel’s Safeguard platform combines wearable sensors and wireless communications with artificial intelligence and analytics software to monitor health and safety. In addition to environmental sensing for dangerous gases or compounds, it can monitor factors such as body temperature, respiration, heart rate, motion levels, posture and noise exposure. Safeguard’s real-time alerts and data would allow DHS to address stressors in a personalized and timely manner.
- Volt Athletics, a Seattle, Washington-based company, picked up $199,730 to further develop an artificial intelligence powered phone app that will help the workforce improve its overall health and wellness, especially for those who operate in high-stress and dangerous conditions. Volt’s individualized and distributed physical fitness and training programs will help keep personnel at a high level of physical and mental readiness needed to tackle challenging environments.