Finishing a workday with a persistent headache; having difficulty driving for long distances; get hopelessly dizzy when watching a 3D movie; discard nighttime reading due to lack of concentration; being the slowest person in the office to read a report, or having the sensation of seeing double in moments of fatigue. These are situations that can creep into the daily lives of many, but are often attributed to fatigue, stress or a dizzying pace of life for some, when in reality they can go further. And four out of ten people are affected, many without knowing it, by visual dysfunctions that have nothing to do with wearing glasses. And this proportion not only occurs in the case of adults, but is replicated in the case of children.
Eva García Ramos and Juan Carlos Ondategui-Parra founded Wivi Vision in 2016 precisely with the aim of diagnosing and treating these visual dysfunctions, with methods that went beyond traditional ones. The company has taken a “big leap” in this sense, according to Ondategui-Parra, who has more than 25 years of experience as an optometrist. Already 20 years ago, it was proposed to change traditional methods to diagnose and correct these dysfunctions., which can range from problems focusing to seeing double or blurred due to poor fine alignment of the eyes, to difficulties in reading due to poor oculomotor control that leads the reader to make random and meaningless jumps. “We talk about visual efficiency,” summarizes Ondategui-Parra.
Thus, Wivi targets problems linked “to the functional part of vision”, and not to ophthalmological problems, which have glasses and lenses as a solution. “We focus on eye movements, in their functional part: we are the physio of the eyes”, illustrates García Ramos. And Wivi replaces the traditional exercises that are carried out using objects such as cardboard and strings with colored balls and a subjective evaluation with a technology that includes Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data and 3D combined with gamification. This combination has resulted in a series of video games that evolve based on how the user performs, and that measure their progress objectively. This technology reaches the user through a screen surrounded by sensors and special glasses to measure eye movements, which are located in specialized visual health centers, including optometrists and optical centers. Through games that feature Wivi, an alien-looking character, the company’s equipment makes it possible to diagnose, treat, and train vision in an objective and measurable way.
In a year that includes its landing in the United States, the company estimates that it will close this year with four million in turnover.
In traditional methods, objectivity does not exist, and treatments require periods of six to twelve months, with “low loyalty” and little motivation on the part of the user, according to Ondategui-Parra. With his technology, Wivi Vision allows you to correct 95% of cases of visual dysfunction and do so in a month and a half in the case of mild ones, and two and a half in the case of severe ones. “Before, you didn’t even know when you were going to finish. Clinically, it represents a very radical change,” claims the co-founder. Times are greatly reduced by the use of AI systems, which build data that is generatively taken into account in the design of the following exercise: “From a clinical point of view, it is the maximum expression of a personalized treatment.” ”. For this reason, for now the company has not registered regressions in any of its more than 10,500 users, when with traditional methods they occur in about a third of the cases, according to the company’s founders.
With extensive experience in the technological field, García Ramos joined Ondategui-Parra’s aspiration to revolutionize the approach to visual dysfunctions after meeting him after his mother suffered from an illness that affected her vision. After some time considering options, the now CEO of the company was inspired during a technology conference in Las Vegas, and called Ondategui-Parra determined and convinced that the project could be carried out and contribute to improving the vision of adults and children, in an area unknown to many. In fact, 20% of cases are confused with dyslexia, and no less is the number that is misdiagnosed as ADHD.
Beyond the dysfunctions
Wivi Vision is looking beyond the diagnosis and treatment of these dysfunctions, and also offers its technology to train vision and improve skills. This is a training that focuses on professionals who want to improve their performance.ranging from lawyers to consultants, but above all, it is directed towards one profile: that of athletes.
“We have been making small inroads into different sports because, just as you train the physical part, you can train the functional part of vision,” García Ramos points out. With this visual training, the athlete gains efficiency and precision and, therefore, speed. “It can give you tenths of a second: it gives you time. And gaining decision time is something that interests every athlete and coach,” Ondategui-Parra emphasizes.
Promoting this approach to sport is one of the lines that Wivi Vision has on the table, but it is not the only one. The company has also launched new services to cover various age groups, and plans to boost penetration in Spain, also through the public system. Another of the great focuses is on the other side of the Atlantic, with its landing in the United States. It is doing so with Vision Rehab Technologies as the exclusive distributor of the Catalan company’s technology in American centers.
Currently, Wivi Vision has about 80 devices installed in Spain. These are added to the fifty that are beginning to be placed in the United States, which will increase to a total of 200. With these forecasts, The company estimates to close this year with four million in turnover. “This should be the year of the leap,” predicts García Ramos.
The company, which has recently gone from having 10 to 14 workers, faces this year after having closed a four million round led by Adara Ventures and with the participation of actors such as Hearstlab, Avançsa, Caixabank DayOne, BBVA Spark and Banco Santander. With more than 70 awards under its belt, including the Bioèxit of the CataloniaBio & HealthTech association, The company looks at the market without competitors that provide the same services and that use AI to generate the video game tailored to the user, Ondategui-Parra guarantees: “There is no one in the market that does evaluation with a clinical pattern and that offers specific training with medical certification.”
