In our previous interview with Clayton Banks, the investor and Silicon Harlem founder spoke about the next generation of entrepreneurs–Millennials and Generation Z–and their potential to use technology to not only improve infrastructure and efficiency, but quality of life. I get to work with this new crop of entrepreneurs everyday at the Zahn Center. In this blog, I’ll introduce you to Lucid Motion, a startup developing a human-generated power device that fights muscle atrophy. Their potential market is the aging population, and they hope to create a smart device to improve quality of life for the elderly.
But their idea is much more than just a device; it’s a shift in mindset, a cultural change, all fueled by a passion to give back to the generations before us. Lucid Motion is made up of CCNY biomedical engineering students Anuoluwapo Bolarinwa, Christian Fong, and Daniel Villarroel; and Philadelphia-based architectural designer Javier Villarroel (Daniel’s older brother). The project was inspired by the Villarroel brothers’ grandmother, and I’ll let them tell the rest of the story…
Daniel Villarroel: I think the idea was born when my grandmother from Chile moved here to live with us. She has Alzheimer’s, and my mom has been her primary care provider for two years now. Javier and I go home to help out. A lot of people think that Alzheimer’s is purely a mental disease, but it affects a person physically as well. My grandmother doesn’t remember or understand how to do things like shower or feed herself.
Katherine Olives: And besides that, there’s the mental change.
DV: Exactly. The mental change takes a toll on you. My grandmother was once extremely active and social. Now, because of her disease, she doesn’t leave the house very often. She’s not independent. She doesn’t talk much anymore, doesn’t interact with our family. She has a longing to do what she once did, but often doesn’t have the mental or physical strength for it. So there’s a depression that comes along with not being able to do what you once loved doing. We realized that most of the aging population struggles with this.
KO: So you’re developing this device for them—the aging population?
Javier Villarroel: Overall, we’re looking for people who are living a more sedentary life, whether that’s the elderly or someone suffering from an injury. What if we could create a device that encouraged people to get outside again, do the things they love?
KO: I think that would have tremendous impact on our society. It sounds like you’re really getting to the problem behind your idea.
DV: Right now we’re still very much falling in love with the problem, as Zahn encourages us to do. Since we’re still conducting customer interviews, we’re still figuring out if our initial idea is what our customers want. I’ll have to admit though, the interviews right now have been a little discouraging.
KO: Really, how so?
DV: We’re just not sure if muscle loss is really the main problem behind this. It’s hard to tell what the elderly want or really need. Many doctors and patients have told us that muscle loss is just a part of life, a part of the aging process.
KO: Right, it’s almost like you’re up against a societal barrier.
DV: Exactly. We have to convince people that you don’t have to accept a sedentary lifestyle. We don’t have to accept the traditional aging process. My grandmother has done so much for us, and I feel like it’s time that we give back to this generation. We shouldn’t put them in homes and forget about them. If you’re spending each day sitting inside, not able to pursue your passions, it makes you anxious. There’s no will to live. It’s not right for them to believe that this is just a process, there’s nothing to do about it. A lot of research goes into making people live longer. What’s that worth when you can’t even walk? We need to pay attention to the quality of that life. Let’s make sure we can make these 100 years very enjoyable.
JV: Our value proposition reflects this. Our intent is to improve an individual’s independence. It takes into consideration the physical and social aspects.
Anuoluwapo Bolarinwa: Even my father who’s a pretty active person has started to get tired on walks, he might say things like “I’m getting older, I can’t do that anymore.” And even though he looks completely healthy, he’s losing muscle at a greater rate. Our device could help give them that little boost that could make a difference.
KO: And what exactly do you envision your device doing? What else like this is on the market?
AB: Although we’re still conducting research, we would like to build a prototype that would self-diagnose and offer treatment depending on an individual’s muscles. We’d also like to explore how a smart element could help researchers further understand the aging process.
DV: There are a lot of electrical stimulators on the market, I even saw one at the mall, but it’s not passive. You would use it to stimulate, say, your ab muscles, and it runs on electricity or battery.
AB: For the elderly, this can cause cardiac arrest. We’re trying to create a device like this that can run off of a person’s own energy, and convince the individual to move more. We also need it to be safe for the elderly to use.
KO: I’m excited to see how your idea develops, especially as you talk to more potential customers and learn from them. And, like you said, there are a lot of barriers to get past.
JV: The issue that we’re trying to tackle is definitely controversial. To most people, the issue—aging–we’re trying to solve is pointless and eminent.
DV: We’re here to show that social norms can be broken, that there is a way to change the trajectory of your life, and dictate the aging process.
At the Zahn Center, we’re excited to see this team take off, and can’t wait to see where they are come Demo Day (April 30th). If you know someone Lucid Motion could interview, or if you want to learn more about the team, visit lucidmotiontech.com
Lucid Motion will also be one of the CCNY startups featured at the Zahn Innovation Summit on March 6th, which includes skill-building workshops for entrepreneurs, a fireside chat with NYC’s CTO Miguel Gamiño, and a panel of leading investors. Tickets to this incredible event are now on sale, but running out fast. Reserve your seat today.
