Access-H20: Sensor-driven smart faucet to enable and empower independent drinking and grooming for individuals impacted by spinal cord injury

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The goal of the I-Corps™ Program is to accelerate the translation of biomedical research to the marketplace by providing training to SBIR and STTR grantees in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship. Under this program, the NIH will foster the development of Nasoni, with a focus on teaching Nasoni researchers how to gain a clearer understanding of the value of its inventions in the marketplace, and ultimately how to advance their technologies from the research lab into the commercial world. This program is designed to complement activities within the scope of the parent SBIR Phase I (R43) grant, to help accelerate the commercialization of Nasoni's Access H2OTM derived from NIH funded technical feasibility studies. Through this program, Nasoni's I-Corps™ team will participate in an entrepreneurial immersion course. The I-Corps™ curriculum uses a hypothesis-driven method of customer discovery to gain insights into the issues associated with technology commercialization. As part of this program, Nasoni's team members are required to get "out of the lab" and gather information by conducting many interviews (i.e., 100+) with potential customers, strategic partners, and other third-party stakeholders. During the course, Nasoni's I-Corps™ team will share what they learn with I-Corps instructors and other teams, gaining new insights into the prospective impact of the technology being developed under the SBIR grant. It is anticipated that the feedback and learning gained during the I-Corps™ program will help inform Nasoni's Phase II SBIR project and commercialization strategies. .